Tim, I started with one year old seedlings which were bare-rooted and potted in 4" pots. That was 2003. It's hard to believe it's only been that long. The trees were fertilized and many put on two year's growth with Boon's soil mix and BioGold fertilizer. In spring 2004 I wired them and continued heavy feeding and watering. As the wire cut in, I watched until it was almost buried, then removed it carefully, and rewired for more movement. They are not stirring yet this spring but it won't be long. So right now they still look like my final photos in the article. However, some of the trunks are over 3/4 inch, and the wire scars will definitely not show in the future, simply adding to the roughness of the bark. And they are only three years old from seed, remember. This is my first batch of these trees. Some are better than others, some have better growth habits and are more vigorous. I wired some better than others and learned a lot from the practice. About 85 of the original 100 have survived, and perhaps 12 to 15 may be nice trees in the future, but who knows? After I pot them in the mesh pots (I am also going to put a couple in the ground) more of them may take off. My point was that one needn't restrain the growth of the tree at such an early stage just to get low branching. Push new growth with heavy feeding and worry about branching later. Grafting is actually quite easy with just a little help. I plan on adding an article on grafting this spring, hopefully with good enough photographs and videos that anyone can learn from it. Chris Here is a link that might be useful: Here's my article

I've got hundreds of Jack Pine seeds collected from buckets of cones and I've germinated dozens, I prefer coarse sand as a topper. My experience is that you can easily germinate in compost but once they sprout you want to get rid of the black soil soon otherwise they will die--if not right away then by their next stage of growth which could be a year later. In nature you will very, very rarely see anything growing in pure sand. The plant life-cycle really only begins once the smallest amount of organic matter is introduced into the sand mix (think of the edge of a beach). But I highly recommend sand and a little soil, something like 70/30... it has the best longer-term potential for germinating and growing pines and spruces. Once they sprout you must reduce water. The most challenging for me has always been the second year, if you can develop the seedlings that far then you should be in the clear. It's a real test of patience. That's why I have so many seeds now; many just don't make it even with the best care taken. Oh and the only other tip I can provide you with is that jack pine seeds seem to require bright light to germinate, somehow warmth and moisture alone won't do it, hence the coarse sand topping.

went to lowes and showed the gardener there the photos. she told us they were getting too much water and thats why they were getting fungus at the bottom. moved the plants to another bed with lesser water through the day and they seem to be fine. now, coming back to my vegetable bed, how do i get it to drain better. while making it i put in a layer of industrial fabric, 1-2 inches of organic peat humus and then 2-3 inches of a mix of top soil and organic peat humus. the gardener said that the peat humus at the bottom must be retaining too much water

Hello Resin, How are things in the UK? It did take a hit on April 12th when the temperature hit -9C. All new growth candles froze. It has regenerated some new growth especially the main leader. It doesn't seem to want to put on girth just grow straight up. I can't understand why it wants to maintain this fastigiate form. I think I have an odd ball conifer with an attitude. It looks normal in every other aspect. Considering where I have it planted I hope it maintains this growth habit. All other pines in my collection lost this years growth but didn't seem to incur any other damage. They say a 50 year event. I won't see the next one. Dave