__PherPhace's__ Little Christmas Tree Entry

[PherPhace]

I have several entries! I have a weakness for discounted trees. We'll see how many I can keep alive for 3 years and then pick the best one... Or the only one .

I found an ugly sweater cypress at Safeway. I'm just going to wire the branches so they all get light. No trimming this season.

A Colorado Spruce (baby blue) for $3 at Walmart. It was the last of its kind, all alone in a return-to-shelf cart. It has a very low 2nd trunk. Needs some reviving from being indoors too long.

2 clusters of Norfolk Island Pines $5 each at Walmart. Gonna try a forest!

A Dwarf Alberta Spruce with 3 or 4 trunks. Should be great for taper. I bought it at Bimart for $8 about a month ago before I knew about the contest.

The last one is a cryptomeria I found at a nursery. They were selling them as Christmas trees but this one was heavily discounted because of its shape. @B.uneasy I don't know if this one will count? It doesn't quite look like a Christmas tree. The top, that I'm going to air layer, looks like a Christmas tree though. Can I make this 2 entries?

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.

 

[PherPhace]

Ugly sweater cypress wired.

Norfolk clumps separated into forest. No trimming. Just letting them heal after separating the roots.

Alberta Spruce had 5 trunks. A low fork with 2 on one side and 3 at the other. Cut off the side with 3 and carved a shari up the front to mask the cut. After 2 weeks in the greenhouse, I chopped the top and wired the left trunk as the lead. Going to make the right side deadwood, but that can wait. I'm on the Oregon coast so I'm not worried about harsh winters. After some time to heal in the cold side of the greenhouse, I'll move it outside.

 

[TyroTinker]

...I'm on the Oregon coast so I'm not worried about harsh winters....

Oregon Coast? Come on, lol if your location is set right there is no shame in saying Washington Coast. I’m just north of Seattle myself.
Seriously though if your location is set wrong you could get advice that doesn’t quite fit for you.

Now that I’ve said that, fun little trees you have there. Welcome to the contest.

 

[PherPhace]

@TyroTinker, I moved out of Seattle 3 years ago to live where I can afford to buy a house. I'm in Coos Bay now. Zone 9a. I updated my info. Thanks.

 

[Atom#28]

Nice work so far. I, too, am apparently a sucker for discount trees. Inspired by you, I bought a couple Norfolk Island pine clumps today for a forest planting of my own.

 

[TyroTinker]

@TyroTinker, I moved out of Seattle 3 years ago to live where I can afford to buy a house. I'm in Coos Bay now. Zone 9a. I updated my info. Thanks.

Nice. Hope you like the move I did the exact same thing but I didn’t move as far lol. About 3-4 years ago I moved out of north gate (Seattle) then almost a year later I bought a house in Marysville for $300-400 less a month then I was paying for that apartment. We also moved to Oregon too. It was the first place that offered my wife a job when she got out of college ( nobody wants to hire a brand new therapist with no experience, I wonder why? Lol)
I heard there is great bonsai culture in Oregon. Have you found any inspiration around you yet?

I like this little guy which one was he? I’m not well informed yet about conifers so I can’t identify them very well (yet)

 

[PherPhace]

@TyroTinker I miss my friends, but I don't miss Seattle. In the 13 years I lived there, the culture kept getting weirder and the taxes were getting rediculous. Loving the Oregon coast. Beautiful place to live.
Lately I'm really inspired by Ryan Neil of Bonsai Mirai in Portland. I like his take on "American bonsai". More art, less cultural tradition. He's got a ton of helpful videos on the YouTubes.
That tree is the dwarf Alberta spruce. That's the same tree at the bottom. I chopped the top off and made the left side the apex.

 

[TyroTinker]

Nice I like it.
I’m just starting to use the info Ryan shares. Really good stuff but those videos are so long it’s had to find a chance to watch them in one go.

 

[PherPhace]

I've been thinking about what to do with the Norfolk Pines. It seems like it will take decades to get anything that even slightly resembles a mini pine tree. To me, the branches look more like palm fronds... I'm thinking beach resort forest! Maybe even a lil hammock between two palms. Mele Kalikimaka!

 

[Atom#28]

I've been thinking about what to do with the Norfolk Pines. It seems like it will take decades to get anything that even slightly resembles a mini pine tree. To me, the branches look more like palm fronds... I'm thinking beach resort forest! Maybe even a lil hammock between two palms. Mele Kalikimaka!

I went with semi beachstyle on my forest

 

[PherPhace]

Update: my beach bonsai forest is dead. I think I cooked it with a new grow light (sad face). My Alberta spruce is staring to bud out and looking good.

 

[Atom#28]

my beach bonsai forest is dead

Same here. Also cooked mine with a grow light.

 

[PherPhace]

Update! I just applied lime sulfur so the deadwood still has a lil yellow tint. The lower top right branch will eventually also be deadwood. I want to thicken it up a bit first. I'm just letting it go wild for now. The lower left is still pretty messy but I'm letting that grow out too.

 

[PherPhace]

1 year!

 

[PherPhace]

Spring update. Just pinched the buds. The lower top right branch died. None of the lower right buds opened. I'm hoping they are just delayed. Maybe a light thing. The needles are still green, so I'm hopeful. I originally designed it with the shari straight on but I also like the 1/4 turn.

 

[PherPhace]

My final entry:

 

[Underdog]

Looks nice and I think is deserves full sized pics.

 

[Colorado]

Very nice!

 

[Eckhoffw]

My final entry:
View attachment 464925View attachment 464926View attachment 464927View attachment 464928

Very nice work!

 

[PherPhace]

How about a video: