Initial styling Blue Spruce

[mwar15]

I lurk more on the forum than I post. I have been working on bonsai for a couple years. I picked this blue spruce up last spring on sale for $12. I decided to finally do something with. I went over to my Bonsai Teacher'
s house today and we worked on giving a little more movement to this trunk. I will graft on another branch to the lower right side. I still have to do the small branch wiring along with perfect the movement of the upper trunk. It is a start.

It is really root bound I will re pot it next spring

I really understand when everyone talks about start with the best material you can.
this is when I bought it.

[/IMG]

hollowing out to bend

the bend

That is all for today, ill try and get an update once I get it wired.

 

[mwar15]

Here are some more pictures, of it before a little wiring and after.

 

[Vance Wood]

I applaude the efforts and courage it took to go there. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[sorce]

Double that!

Work done, check!

Sorce

 

[mwar15]

It has been about a year since I styled this spruce. All of the needles turned brown and died back and then in the spring the top pushed out all this new growth. The new growth doesn't look real healthy to me.... I don't know if this is its last dying breath or if it will survive. I think blue spruce take a long time to hold a branch once you bend it so I don't think I will take the wire off just yet. It doesn't look like it is cutting into it. If others have different opinions I am all ears

Here are the close up of the needles and the new buds.

I would love some opinions. This tree is root bound, should I repot it in the same pot with just minimal root disturbance and put some good bonsai soil in it or just leave the tree for another year?

 

[CWTurner]

mwar15,
Sorry to see this downward progression. I like blue spruce, and have killed 1 of 2 after some rough collection, but even the dead, bare-rooted one hung in there.

Without any professed expertise I think that the large wound low on the trunk may have caused this. Also, you split the trunk, but didn't say why. In one pic it looks like you moved a branch into the split, but that branch is on the inside of a curve, not something that seems worthwhile.

I would get it in the ground for recovery. Dappled sun. Let it be.

Good luck.
CW

 

[M. Frary]

I'm thinking too much work too late in the year. I don't know what winters are like in Oregon but here all that was done to would be a death sentence here.

 

[mwar15]

Thank you for the input, I split the trunk more for experience and also to add some movement. Right now putting the tree in the ground isn't an option
I think for the time being I'll leave it as it is and see how it does after the spring

 

[mwar15]

Update: Due to a career change and moving most of my trees won't get worked on for about 18 months. So that being said, I decided to do a partial repot of this guy. It was really root bound and I didn't want to completely bare root it so I cut pie piece shaped slivers out of the dense mass and a couple inches off the bottom. I put it back in the same pot with some good bonsai soil and cut some of the wires off and hopefully it comes back. It really hasn't deteriorate much, so I hope it will come back.

This is before the repot, I didn't take after or during pictures sorry

 

[Vance Wood]

When did you do this surgery?

 

[AlainK]

Well, if that can help:

1/ I would remove all the wires, and let the tree recover.
Anyway, the curves as they are now are much too soft for my taste...

I put it back in the same pot with some good bonsai soil

2/ What do you call "good bonsai soil"?...

3/ I don't know what your climate is, but I would definitely not repot a Picea pungens in late January here - except if I wanted to get rid of it.

 

[Tycoss]

The buds are a very good sign. At this point, the less you do with this tree the better. Removing wires should improve sap flow and health. Good luck.

 

[mwar15]

I did the repot a week ago.

Yes the bends are soft. I have learned more since I first worked on this tree. I did remove some of the wire and tie straps. The buds haven't grown much since last summer. I will keep as much of an eye on it as I can.

The soil I use here is napa oil dry, pumice, lava, and pine bark. All sifted , and I use about 40-25% organic.

The winters here are mild it is in the 50's already and the coldest part of the winter is past us.

 

[mwar15]

I came home and saw this new growth. I was pretty excited. I am going to just let it go for this year and see if I can get the health and strength up. I could be wrong but I think the partial repot gave some room to grow and it reacted accordingly.

I have to move in a month, once I get moved in I am going to take the wire off and see how it reacts. I am want to leave all the dead branches on just in case they aren't completely dead and hopefully I get some back budding.

 

[GrimLore]

Due to a career change and moving most of my trees won't get worked on for about 18 months.

That will actually give this plant a well deserved rest and recovery period. Right now it appears to be normal with all of the growth on the uppermost part of the tree. They normally don't back bud good although when it has fully recovered and acclimates to the new place upper chops really sealed good often produce some new lower budding. Looking at this and what has been done along with the move I would not do anymore work for two years...

Good luck on the new adventure!

Grimmy

 

[mwar15]

DEAD

 

[Adair M]

DEAD

Did this come as any surprise?

What do you suppose killed it? The trunk chop? The trunk splitting? The branch pruning? The branch removal along with significant lower trunk bark removal? The heavy bending? The repotting of a weak tree?

If you go back to the original picture of the “before” tree, and then the image of the tree after all the work had been done, the trunk movement is still about the same as would have been achieved had a single trunk chop been done. See my next post.

 

[Adair M]

All that was needed was a simple trunk chop, and then let it recover, and then you could do a little more work. A little at a time.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Did this come as any surprise?

What do you suppose killed it? The trunk chop? The trunk splitting? The branch pruning? The branch removal along with significant lower trunk bark removal? The heavy bending? The repotting of a weak tree?

If you go back to the original picture of the “before” tree, and then the image of the tree after all the work had been done, the trunk movement is still about the same as would have been achieved had a single trunk chop been done. See my next post.

AGREED! Try asking advice before butchery instead of after. Still cannot imagine any purpose in trunk split or why teacher agreed with. Or other whacking.

 

[M. Frary]

. Still cannot imagine any purpose in trunk split o

You've heard of pre bonsai right?
This was made into a pre kindling.