MrWunderful
Omono
These are the two I got from him. Both are really healthy and need to be pruned back, but both have great movement through the burls and deadwood.
Coastal Redwood
- Thread starter misfit11
- Start date
These are the two I got from him. Both are really healthy and need to be pruned back, but both have great movement through the burls and deadwood.
MrWunderful
Omono
Where do you live? I live just up from Pacifica, in the hardcore fogbelt. They do great where Im at.Thanks Al! Yeah, unfortunately they are pretty picky about their climate requirements. This is why they really only grow in a very small region along the CA coast to Southern Oregon. I’m grateful to live in an area where they thrive. Hopefully, now that I’m armed with the care requirements for these guys I’ll be able to do right by them and have a stellar tree in a few years!
misfit11
Omono
Nice! I live in Petaluma. If you’re ever up here you should come by my place. We can have a beer and talk bonsai! I promise to keep my two crazy boys on a short leash
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
I live in Fresno...the Central valley
Bull dog = coarse growth due to extra heat and climate they are not used to. A redwood is a feminine tree. It is expected to be fine leaved and delicate, lacy. On the Northern California coast these trees grow extremely slow. They live in fog for most of their life and the cool coast breezes and coastal humidity which is just want they want. Like any plant, when subjected to heat and sun they tend to get coarse and hard to control. The growth gets long and stringy and loses the delicate look of a redwood. When they get "Bull Doggy" they start to look like a yew. Look at the foliage of Brian Bay9 trees above. That's pretty coarse foliage. There are two varieties Aptos Blue and Soquel. The Aptos Blue is below San Francisco on the coast while the Soquel is above San Francisco on the coast. I believe the Aptos is finer while the Soquel tends to be more coarse. I am sure that in the right locale, foliage management can be achieved.
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
I wondered about this myself. Now I know to pay more attention to that when buying shohin stock.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
If you look at the photo's I showed you can see that all the trees are fairly large. Medium size bonsai around 25 inches or more tall. Most of the trees I see in this thread are small, like in 1 quart containers. Most of these are burls that Bob cuts off of large trees and roots, which they do easily. that is how he gets the small trees with big wood. Seems like it would be a natural for shohin, but being a shohin guy for twenty years and over fifty shohin trees, I would love to have a great shohin redwood but the foliage will never match up to an 8 inch tall tree. I have tried way too many times.
Schmikah
Shohin
nope, but I would be stoked if you find some and pass it along.
misfit11
Omono
I got this one potted up yesterday. We gave it it's first styling last fall. It looks a bit bronzed and ratty right now due to Winter weather. It should start greening up soon. I plan on feeding it heavily over the next few months as is enters the growing season. I also plan on doing some carving on the deadwood in the front. It's a bit bulky and uninteresting at this point. Let me know if you have any suggestions 
Vin
Imperial Masterpiece
I'm with Al on climate requirements. I had 2 of them about five years ago and they slowly declined and finally died after about three years. $700 down the drain... I'll stick with Dawn Redwoods. They grow like a weed in my climate and don't look all that different.
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
I like it!
Looks like a good structure to build off of.
Nice piece of material.
Looks like a good structure to build off of.
Nice piece of material.
misfit11
Omono
I did some carving on the deadwood. It was basically featureless before and the wood was very soft from rot. I will let it season naturally rather than adding lime sulfur. This is just the first rough carving. I'll add more detail after it ages for a bit.
Jhervi
Seedling
@misfit11,
How are your redwoods doing out in Petaluma so far during this heated summer? I am located in Santa Rosa, and am thinking about starting a Coastal Redwood bosai. My hometown actually is the mendocino Coast, so thinking about taking a young tree from my family's property to grow for bonsai here in Sonoma county
misfit11
Omono
I did some work on my Redwood today. These trees grow like weeds in my neck of the woods and you'd figure since they grow so quickly that their development as bonsai should be equally fast. WRONG! I am finally starting to understand their horticultural requirements for developing them as bonsai after trying for like 10+ years. The first one I had just had a slow decline until I just planted it in the ground to save it from eminent death. I was worried that this one was going to suffer the same fate at times. I seriously considered selling it at one point because it just wasn't working for me. I'm really glad that I didn't because I'm starting to see the rewards of my persistence. I think this could be a nice tree worthy of the REBS Annual Show someday.
Let me know what y'all think. It definitely needs a more suitable pot.
Let me know what y'all think. It definitely needs a more suitable pot.
eeeealmo
Mame
What are some key things you've learned for those of us who have also had problems
misfit11
Omono
Well, the main thing that I realized I was doing wrong was cutting a branch with no other axillary buds on it. I feel like this is a bit of a "Well, duh!" kind of thing, but nonetheless I had been doing it. I never would have done this with any other species so I don't know why I thought I could get away with it on Redwoods. @BrianBay9 just was talking about it in this thread the other day.
The other thing I learned from Ned Lycett in REBS is to feed it very well with Miracid. I feed it half strength every single week during the growing season. When you do this you'll see buds popping everywhere.
Hope this helps!
Hartinez
Masterpiece
This is very interesting. I had a redwood grown from a local grower so i figured it’d do excellent in my climate. After trimming heavy at one point, branches began dying all over. Im almost certain my trimming practices were not wise! I trimmed it like deciduous, not like a conifer, specifically spruce, with buds below the cut site.
Grest tree!
misfit11
Omono
Yes. Sounds like you were doing what I was doing. What happens is you get buds back at base of the branch on the trunk. If you keep doing this it really weakens the tree and you eventually get dieback on the trunk.
