Workshop Spruce Group

VAFisher

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I recently found out that Andy Smith is coming to town in October for a bring your own tree workshop with the Richmond club. I'm a big fan of his work and the species he specializes in, so I knew I wanted to be a part of this. I signed up immediately but then realized that I didn't really have any trees that would be appropriate to bring. I had been admiring some of the spruce groups from his website that he already has earmarked for a different workshop, so I contacted him to see if he had any extra. He sent me a couple pictures and this is the one I decided on.

Spruce group.JPG

I'm excited to work on this with Andy in October and I'll be sure to post some pics afterwards. This will be my first workshop so any tips anyone can provide about how to be best prepared would be appreciated as well.
 

sorce

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Couple cuss bombs....

Dope pick!

Sorce
 

VAFisher

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Here is what Andy and I came up with at yesterday's workshop for this Black Hills Spruce group. Andy is a great guy and was a lot of fun to work with. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. In the future, I'm going to work to shorten the branches and fix the apex in the tallest tree. I think it will probably go on a slab in a couple years when it gets repotted. I'll leave it in this pot for at least that long though. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

IMGP0426.JPG
 

defra

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Nice!
Wireing looks good!

It looks great the only thing i notice is the small tree on the far right the branches go horizontal and the rest of the branches are going more downwards
 

VAFisher

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Nice!
Wireing looks good!

It looks great the only thing i notice is the small tree on the far right the branches go horizontal and the rest of the branches are going more downwards

I see what you mean. I'll check it out again in person to see if I need to adjust.
 

Velodog2

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Looks about right to me for a first styling. Refinement will come. I saw this group on his site and liked it. I have a number of his trees, purchased online and also from him during shows. I met Andy back in the late nineties when he supplied trees for Kimura at the Atlanta symposium. Great fricking trees ...

I would probably encourage more difference in height among the trees, especially the tallest. I don't know how tall it is now but increasing it substantially, along with the second tallest, would add mucho drama. I'm sure the depth presented by the different planting locations which can be seen if I look carefully at the photo makes this look much better in person. This will be a nice group.
 

VAFisher

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@wireme asked about this tree the other day, so I thought I would go ahead and update. It got repotted this spring into this Paul Olson round which I think suits it pretty well. It would also look good on a slab I think.

I lost a couple key branches in the front last year and thought I was going to lose that tree altogether, which would have forced a major redesign. It grew really weakly this spring, especially in comparison to the other 4 trees and once again I thought it was a goner. But I'm seeing some pretty strong budding on it now which will hopefully mean some strong growth next year. Hopefully I get some thing to pop down lower on the trunk to replace what I lost.

2019-06-21 12.51.59.jpg
 

Hartinez

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@wireme asked about this tree the other day, so I thought I would go ahead and update. It got repotted this spring into this Paul Olson round which I think suits it pretty well. It would also look good on a slab I think.

I lost a couple key branches in the front last year and thought I was going to lose that tree altogether, which would have forced a major redesign. It grew really weakly this spring, especially in comparison to the other 4 trees and once again I thought it was a goner. But I'm seeing some pretty strong budding on it now which will hopefully mean some strong growth next year. Hopefully I get some thing to pop down lower on the trunk to replace what I lost.

View attachment 248278
Looks healthy and starting to fill in!
 

augustine

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VA Fisher - how are you maintaining the foliage? Are you pinching the new growth or pruning later in season?

I started with one of Andy's BH Spruce about 4 years ago and pinched at the "fuzzy egg" stage as he described. Last year I followed the advice of Walter Pall, and others, where pruning is done after buds extend and harden off. I got a very strong backbudding response and tree is vigorous.

Thank you,
 

VAFisher

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I'm pruning back to visible buds after spring growth has extended. I got very strong budding on 4 of the 5 trees this year with new buds popping from the trunks in a lot of areas. I haven't pruned anything on the week tree as the growth hardly extended on that one.
 

Stormwater

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I’m curious. Some of the foliage looks “flat” like a hemlock. Do pluck it to look that way, is it just the image, or that’s how this variety of spruce grows?

Thanks
 

Colorado

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Love this composition!!! This makes me want to collect some young CBS saplings and make something similar...next year perhaps.

I actually think it looks better without the lower branch. It’s already such a natural looking composition with the slender trunks that my eye wouldn’t really expect to see that low branching anyway on the more mature tree.

Have you considered shortening the tree 2nd from
The right? I keep getting caught up on how it’s exactly the same height as the tree 2nd from the left.

Regardless, this is awesome :)
 

VAFisher

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Hmm, not sure what you're seeing, but I don't pluck needles on this. It has needles all around like a normal spruce.
 

VAFisher

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Love this composition!!! This makes me want to collect some young CBS saplings and make something similar...next year perhaps.

I actually think it looks better without the lower branch. It’s already such a natural looking composition with the slender trunks that my eye wouldn’t really expect to see that low branching anyway on the more mature tree.

Have you considered shortening the tree 2nd from
The right? I keep getting caught up on how it’s exactly the same height as the tree 2nd from the left.

Regardless, this is awesome :)

Thanks Man. It's actually slightly taller but the point is well taken. As the trees get healthier and fuller and present me with more options, I'll take a close look at that.
 

wireme

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@wireme asked about this tree the other day, so I thought I would go ahead and update. It got repotted this spring into this Paul Olson round which I think suits it pretty well. It would also look good on a slab I think.

I lost a couple key branches in the front last year and thought I was going to lose that tree altogether, which would have forced a major redesign. It grew really weakly this spring, especially in comparison to the other 4 trees and once again I thought it was a goner. But I'm seeing some pretty strong budding on it now which will hopefully mean some strong growth next year. Hopefully I get some thing to pop down lower on the trunk to replace what I lost.

View attachment 248278


Cool, thanks for showing again. This one kind of stood out to me among forum trees as having a special pleasing quality to it. I’m sure as it matures you can make it substantially “better” or maybe I should say more refined but right from the start looks like a planting that just feels good to be around. Another smiler. New term there from another thread, I like it.
 

VAFisher

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This one has gone through some changes. The front tree got weaker and weaker last year and finally died. Left with 4 trees and forced with a decision, I decided to do away with the small tree on the right to make a 3 tree group. I put it on a slab this year and it's growing well. Not as nice as it was, but I hope I can still make something nice.

20200724_122137.jpg
 

Velodog2

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Oh I dunno, just based on the pictures I may like it better. The ‘slab’ definitely raises the bar.
 

LanceMac10

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This one has gone through some changes. The front tree got weaker and weaker last year and finally died. Left with 4 trees and forced with a decision, I decided to do away with the small tree on the right to make a 3 tree group. I put it on a slab this year and it's growing well. Not as nice as it was, but I hope I can still make something nice.

View attachment 318133


can you put it in a "thumbnail" ?

Has a nice, familiar image for me. Some of my favorite places back in Colorado come to mind...especially since most have been hit by fire over the last thirty years.


Hold on, figured it out. No need for thumbnail!
 
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