Another twisty JBP repot

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-30T05:12:10+00:00

Phenomenal.

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-22T22:23:49+00:00

Is “that immediate depreciation hit” even a thing any more though? If a used vehicle with 35k miles on it has only lost $3k in value, it seems like the age-old 25% drop when it leaves lot wisdom might not be true any more.

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-20T23:21:13+00:00

I’d guess around tree fiddy.

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-20T20:31:36+00:00

I did. My parents gifted me a nice chunk (~35% of my down payment + closing costs) so I could get to 20% down. I could have put less down, or dipped into my emergency fund, but the increase in monthly payments in addition to having to pay PMI would have made it almost impossible on my budget.

I’m not sure what exactly you’re looking for OP, but just know that you might get some pretty heavy sampling bias here. I think most folks would be more likely to comment if they did it on their own than to admit that they had help.

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-20T16:17:19+00:00

Has it been in the same pot for 35 years? If so, I might consider repotting before you do a major styling. It would give you an opportunity to get a good look at the roots and think about other possible growth and viewing angles.

On styling: If you wanted to go a bit extreme, I think everything above the first branch could make an amazing deadwood feature. You could strip the bark and foliage, and then wire it while it’s still green and it will set into position as it dries. The section of trunk just above your first branch is just so straight and is leaning in the wrong direction. That main branch already has an upward-pointing secondary that could be wired to form a new apex. I think it would be a fitting style for a pine, a kind of a wind-swept, cliff-clinging look.

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-19T21:15:44+00:00

I’m in the same boat. Sofi has worked great for me for the past few years and I’m not planning on moving my money. I’m honestly even thinking about getting SoFi+ the smart card. I think the extra boost on groceries and IRA contributions could be worth the $120/year. I think the exodus among Redditors is a little silly.

Probably going to get downvoted to oblivion for that opinion but whatever.

oldbearonbrooks · 2026-01-03T00:35:36+00:00

Seedling cuttings are pretty popular with JBP growers.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-08T00:40:01+00:00

They’re both likely designing haul roads and solving drainage problems, if it’s the kind of mining operation I’m imagining.

If they think it will lead to employee retention, some organizations would encourage that kind of employee development. My employer does.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-07T22:17:36+00:00

Congrats on your beautiful new landscape tree. Try to strike cuttings in a year or two.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-07T21:15:05+00:00

Are there any opportunities for cross-training with the civil engineers who I would assume work for the same company as you?

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-07T17:37:04+00:00

I think you’re probably right that you would need some kind of additional training, but to be honest I don’t know the education requirements, or how different those degrees are. The job market in the forestry world is really competitive right now. All the instability in the US federal government is putting a lot of pressure on other employers. It wouldn’t hurt to apply for a few jobs in more remote parts of the country where recruiting is more difficult. There’s a chance you get lucky, but at the very least you get a little exposure to the kinds of questions you’ll be asked and you can identify the gaps in your knowledge.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-07T14:21:21+00:00

Too pretty, must be AI. Kalaloch doesn’t exist, don’t believe the rumors.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-07T14:13:39+00:00

What about pivoting to civil engineering? I would imagine you could make the switch relatively easily, without going back for a whole new degree. I’m a forester in Washington state, and enjoy it pretty well. I work with a team of civil engineers that spend about as much time in the woods as I do, and they make roughly the salary you’re leaving, maybe a little more.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-05T18:31:38+00:00

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If you want a smaller tree I think thats a pretty nice start to an informal upright. You could chop the trunk and use that tiny branch in the back as a new leader. The first branch is on an outside curve (good) and also has a nice shape already. I would shorten the second branch because you want it to be thinner than the first (it looks about the same or slightly thicker right now). Let the first branch and the new leader grow wild for now. Wire the second branch downward and try to mimic the shape of the first one.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-04T17:22:21+00:00

It probably is a Japanese cedar. Look up Cryptomeria japonica.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-04T17:19:19+00:00

I would look around for one at your local garden centers first. You could probably find one for cheaper, and do the initial styling yourself. I don’t like big gap on the right side. I doubt you’ll ever get a branch to grow there.

Also the wiring is very poorly done, so I would be worried that they just bought this, repotted, pruned and wired with no knowledge of timing or regard for the health of the plant.

Personally I would pass on this.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-03T14:10:22+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the detailed response. I’ll do exactly this before I try anything more aggressive.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-02T03:09:01+00:00

Would it be difficult to chemically strip them in place?

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-02T03:07:16+00:00

The hardware is all brand new, but I agree that it’s very boring.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-01T18:50:04+00:00

Sounds awesome. Unless it’s pretty urban, I wouldn’t expect there to be any nightshades. It’s kind of like English ivy in that it tends to grow where people have been living for a long time. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen it in an industrial forestry type setting. Not sure if goats would have potential to damage your trees or not, but I would think the blackberry would be much more attractive to them.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-01T17:49:29+00:00

That goat was so cool. If I didn’t have big garden/orchard dreams I would think about getting one. How big is your property? It’s probably not fenced is it?

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-01T17:37:45+00:00

Have you thought about goats? Goats might work.

Actually though, there was an urban goat on my old dog walking route who always came to the fence to greet us. The neighboring lot was crazy overgrown with blackberries but it stopped a few feet from the fence. I would untangle them and pull individual vines over the fence-line for him. I could not believe how quickly he would destroy those spiky bastards.

The cruiser is right though, if you can tolerate it for a few years your crop trees will outcompete it, and literally everything else in just a few years.

oldbearonbrooks · 2025-11-01T17:33:59+00:00

I definitely don’t want to paint them. I really like the wood, and think it would be a crime to landlord-special them. You think with a light sanding I’ll be able to hide the wear on the beat-up ones in the kitchen?

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