my offering

[Dave E]

i posted my sons tree so here is mine.
it's a birds nest spruce.
i butchered it up yesterday ,wired the trunk ,and potted it.
i just got done wiring the branches and a little fine tuning.
i know the wiring job looks a little rough

i think it could use a little more fine tuning and i'm open to any advice

Thanks for looking

 

[Cypress187]

The left branch is a little straight (in comparison of the other movement in the tree), maybe it's the angle of the photo.

 

[JudyB]

Try taking a wedge and put it under the side of the pot, see if a different planting angle can help you out with the open spot on the left. Try from all sides, maybe post some photos. You need to get some left to right movement in all your branches in addition to the up and down movement. Your smaller branches in the apex area need to come down more I think. I would try tipping to the left, and see what that does to your eye...

 

[Dave E]

thanks for the critiques
what do you mean by left right movement?

 

[A Random User]

When wiring and bending a branch, you need to twist the branch so that the foliage ends right side up.
I would suggest that you get more cheap material and keep practicing wiring, and bending.

 

[jk_lewis]

what do you mean by left right movement?

When seen from above, branches must also move side to side /\/\/\/\/\

I think all branches on this tree -- including those dangling secondary branches on the lower main branches -- need to be shortened, a lot.

 

[Paradox]

I think all branches on this tree -- including those dangling secondary branches on the lower main branches -- need to be shortened, a lot.

Dont think you would do this now? Would it be best to wait for backbudding then cut back?

 

[M. Frary]

Dont think you would do this now? Would it be best to wait for backbudding then cut back?

The way to get a spruce to back bud is to cut it back after the new growth has extended all of the way but not hardened off completely. Here that is after July 4th but before August 15th.

 

[Dave E]

i shortened and thinned the branches quite a bit to the point where if i did much more than there will be little to no needles/foliage left.
i do agree that they need to be shortened though,and i was gonna wait for some back budding to shorten.i just figured this process would take time.
if i cut these back to the length i want,will they bud back to where i cut them?

i'm still not sure that i understand this left right movement thing-does this mean if branch 1 favors the front of the tree than branch 2 favors back,#3 front,#4 back etc..

 

[Adair M]

You didn't post a "before" picture.

Let me guess... It was really full? A big ball of foliage?

Unfortunately, that's the way they like to be, the bird's nest spruces. You opened it up to show the structure, right? They don't like that.

I'm not going to say you killed it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it dies.

Maybe put it in partial shade so it can recover from the shock.

Good luck!

 

[JudyB]

Left right movement and up and down movement on the same branch. Think about the branch as a twisty turney rollercoaster. It goes up and down and left and right. Makes the tree 3 dimensional.

 

[Dave E]

adair,i forgot to take a before pic and yes it was really full.but i lucked out and there were actually 2 trees in the pot so if this dies i have the other one.

so i guess what you're saying as rule of thumb don't try to force a tree to do what it doesn't want to do

 

[Dave E]

i think i got it Judy-thanks

 

[Adair M]

Dave E,

Certain varieties of trees don't like to be thinned out. The dwarf varieties, in particular, grow really dense. Hinoki Cypress, for example needs to be kept sense. If "opened up", it will just die. Yeah, I know, we're all taught to open up the tree to let the light in, but that's not a universal rule. Birds nest is one of them.

I have a Mijami JWP. Dwarf variety. It's just a ball of tight needles. I'm keeping it that way. Oh, I will do some branch selection, but when I'm done, it will still be a ball of needles. If I open it up "So that the birds can fly through", it will die.

You have to know how each variety grows.

 

[Dave E]

so since you suggest to keep it in the shade to recover let me ask you this.
we've had some nice spring weather here in the 60's-70's and cool nights.
now they're calling for a heatwave the next few days should i bring it inside and keep it in a window for a few days or will it be better to stay out in the shade

 

[Paradox]

outside in the shade

 

[Adair M]

Partial shade. Outside.

Those trees only expect to be exposed to direct sunlight on the tips of the needles. The bottom parts of the needle are shaded by the dense canopy of all the other needles.

What happens when you suddenly cut away a lot of foliage is the bottoms of the remaining needles are now exposed to the sun. They sunburn. Has the same effect as a sudden over fertilizing. They get burned. Dry up, and the tree dies.

The tree still needs sunlight to produce food. The bottoms of the needles need to acclimate to the higher sun level.

Maybe you'll get lucky.

 

[Dave E]

got ya- thanks for the advice.
i'll keep my fingers crossed

 

[Adair M]

Dave, I'll make a mention of this here...

You did what you thought you were supposed to do to "make a bonsai". Take a piece of raw stock, and in one sitting end up with a styled tree. Right? After all, didn't they just have. "Box store Challenge"?

Unfortunately, that's the way bonsai is taught here in the U.S. We want instant results. So, we go to demos and workshops where the artist makes one of these, some lucky person wins it in a raffle, takes it home, and it's dead in 6 months.

Alas...

Meanwhile, let me say that had the material be a type that could have tolerated the drastic cutback you gave it, you did a nice job.

If you like Birds Nest Spruce, go back and get another, but this time only remove about 20 as much material to get it started. Let it recover from that, and wire in the fall. Maybe you could remove another 10 to 15 percent then to make wiring easier.

Then next year repeat. The idea is we are gradually opening it up, let it recover a bit, then do some more.