What are desirable traits to look for specific to blue atlas cedar pre-bonsai?

[electraus]

Hi everyone,

I recently found a bonsai nursery near me that had a few blue Atlas cedars with the most intensely blue needles I’ve ever seen and I have not been able to get them off my mind. I didn’t pick one up because I realized I don’t really have a concept of what I should be looking for when buying one of these trees specifically. I was also scared off a little by the owner of the nursery who really stressed just how finicky they are with their root system when repotting.

Can those of you who have one of these trees advise what the most desirable traits specific to this species are? Also if you happen to have pictures of your own trees, I would love to see them, as I can’t find too many online. Any resources/tips on how to best care for them would be much appreciated as well. Thanks in advance!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I had a couple and its true that they don't like rootwork. So do that in stages, half bare root or quarter bare root.

Look for non grafted ones or ones that have a graft you can hide. Other than that I can't really say anything about them, mine lasted 5 years from seed. Then birds kept knocking them over and they died.

 

[rockm]

LOW BRANCHING. low branching, a lot of low branching. Without it, you can't do much. These two Blue Atlas cedars are in the National collection in D.C. John Naka did the upright one and started it from nursery stock. Second photo is of a tree donated by Frederic and Ernesta Ballard develop wiht Naka. Both started as nursery trees, but here you can see the Ballard's tree beginnings--note the amount of branches to choose from.

 

[electraus]

LOW BRANCHING. low branching, a lot of low branching. Without it, you can't do much. These two Blue Atlas cedars are in the National collection in D.C. John Naka did the upright one and started it from nursery stock. Second photo is of a tree donated by Frederic and Ernesta Ballard develop wiht Naka. Both started as nursery trees, but here you can see the Ballard's tree beginnings--note the amount of branches to choose from.

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Thanks for the reference pictures! It looks like a particularly wide base flare is also a common desirable feature I’m seeing. Is that accurate?

 

[rockm]

Thanks for the reference pictures! It looks like a particularly wide base flare is also a common desirable feature I’m seeing. Is that accurate?

Yep. True for ANY species.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Another important feature is a good graft scar. Almost all these are grafted on Cedrus deodara root stock and it can vary from very ugly to almost imperceptible. I looked at local nurseries for several years before finally finding one. And as rockm said pay close attention to the branch development and placement. Trees grown for landscape purposes often have very sparse and widely placed branches—good luck.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Huge trunk, low branching, foliage close to trunk, no boring straight trunk, Movement.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Huge trunk, low branching, foliage close to trunk, no boring straight trunk, Movement.

Since most are nursery grown for landscape use I doubt you’ll find any that don’t have an arrow straight trunk. They usually are shipped with a length of bamboo strapped to them. Fortunately they are extremely supple and can be bent into very sinuous shapes if done properly, but you need to be careful as they also can snap if not properly supported. There are several good videos on YouTube showing the process. Just search for blue atlas cedar.

 

[BobbyLane]

I wouldnt shy away just because they have straight trunks, lots of branches are key and you can use established branches to create movement and taper. This would be relatively close to what you might find in a nursery (trunk wise)!!

One that I picked up a few years ago, after seeing that exact video, there is some subtle movement in these tbf

This Spruce I picked up has a straight trunk, for conifers this isn't too bad really
Just look for decent flare in the base, branches to work with. Doesn't have to be the perfect trunk if you're just learning the hobby.

 

[BobbyLane]

See what this guy has done with this nursery material, cedars can be styled in pretty much the same way. But yes theyre finnicky with root work, mine above didnt recover after I changed the soil. Just dropped all its needles and deteriorated