My Tortured Dwarf Alberta Spruce (#1) - Dead or Alive

[Bonsai Forest]

The initial photo: (Fall 2023)


After initial pruning: (and gouging away at a massive whorl on the trunk)


After I went mad and trunk chopped at the site of the whorl (it was an adrenaline rush):


Sometime during Winter:


Most recent:



I’m not experienced in identifying and determining viable buds, but I see some on almost all the branches, so I’ll see what happens in the coming weeks:




I threw in a small amount of granular 10-10-10 fertilizer yesterday. I don’t know what to expect but made my peace with the tree over Winter in case it is not recoverable.

 

[Dabbler]

it's already dead - the needles last much longer even after the tree has given up the gas. Where did you keep it in winter and did you water it?

 

[Bonsai Forest]

it's already dead - the needles last much longer even after the tree has given up the gas. Where did you keep it in winter and did you water it?

Outside and watered yes. Maybe I’ll practice crushing, tearing, stripping off bark and deadwood creation

 

[Kodama]

Hmm.. yeah doesn't look happy at all. Too much too soon. If it has any chance to recover i would remove that wire. From what I understand Spruce requires patience. Also not advisable to fertilize a sick or recovering tree. Get another one and try again but slow it down Amigo.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

I have 6 others, this was pushing to the limit to see how far the tree could go. I browsed some old posts from people who pushed theirs even further back in 2014 or around that time and theirs died also. It was experimental (I had 3 others along with this one so I wouldn’t be left without one lol)

 

[Dabbler]

Yeah it a game a patience with these guys, took 7 years with mine
- year 1 just repot and remove branches you down need ( if your lucky you can repot and wire all in one go)
- year 2, if it responded strong - wire in Jan/Feb, trim to a bud
- year 3, leave alone/ de-wire any swelling
- year 4, repeat year two steps
- year 5 depends on strength and do what the tree tells you it can handle

 

[Bonsai Forest]

This is consistent with what I’ve been learning and applying to my other spruces 100% my twin trunk/smaller twin trunks are what I’m focusing on now

This is my favorite one thus far (one insult per year)

 

[Dabbler]

for a twin trunk you may want to let one truck grow free as they are both the same size and height - but give it 10 years and it'll be amazing

 

[Ellisar]

You could try planting it in pure sphagnum moss this spring. I've saved spruce that way.

 

[patchmcq]

 

[Bonsai Forest]

View attachment 530117

nice! I plan to keep my small twin trunk around a similar size. I’m very drawn to a mature and small sized spruce

 

[patchmcq]

yes this one had 4 main branch's coming out of the base of the trunk that seems to have thickened from girdling roots so Im just waiting for start of spring to repot now

 

[Eckhoffw]

I’ve killed Something like 18 Alberta, spruce trees and around six other types of spruces.

I still try….but work way slower.
I would see if you can get your hands on a larch. I’ve had much better luck, as theyTake torture a lot better in my opinion.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

I’ve killed Something like 18 Alberta, spruce trees and around six other types of spruces.

I still try….but work way slower.
I would see if you can get your hands on a larch. I’ve had much better luck, as theyTake torture a lot better in my opinion.

I am interested in larch ever since I watched those popular videos on YouTube (instant bonsai). I have not studied them yet and the idea of plucking and creating small tight bundles/pads is foreign to me. Almost intimidating.

 

[Eckhoffw]

I am interested in larch ever since I watched those popular videos on YouTube (instant bonsai). I have not studied them yet and the idea of plucking and creating small tight bundles/pads is foreign to me. Almost intimidating.

I’ve just found that larch, being a deciduous conifer, react and behave a lot more like deciduous trees.
I found root reduction chopping and pruning to be far more forgiving and straightforward.

Very fun trees.