Beat down and weathered

[Manmountain526]

I picked up a couple of the last few spruces this evening. Since it is freezing outside I went for a beat down and weathered look for these. Not sure if they will make it through the winter but for 10 bucks total I figured it was worth a try.

 

[sorce]

Second one shows some promise.

First one goin die.

Actually, second one going die too....

Just playing...but they like more foliage left on...
Wintering grounds?

I am not against Dwarf Alberta (assumption)....
Love em.

But...

I got "suckered" into buying a nice base the other day...
But I ASSumed the bush would have something to cut back to on the inside. It didn't. And I bought mine before they went on sale. Argh.

So now, I will never again stray away from having the whole tree laid out before I buy it.

Gotta identify every branch (more, more branches) that I will use, find every transition, and most importantly, identify anything that will need a lot of growing out..
Small low branches, poorly proportioned transitions, trunks, reverse taper....

Throw it all into the old Bonsai Calculator and if the result is more than 5-7 years out....
Skip it..

Important note...This quick 5-7 year timetable limit is only for Dwarf Alberta.

Since we are still in this stage of finding a way to keep them sustainable as bonsai...I want to get to an image worth sustaining fast.

Don't want to grow one out for 20 years just to find out a finished image is truly unsustainable.

For the record....each year brings me closer to finding the sustainable system to grow these with.

I can see the reasons for the negative connotations about Alberta, but my trees have already proved there is a way around them.

I dont know where this "dwarf" came from. If they are ALL from one mutation, one set of genes...
But I doubt it.

Even if they are all from one mutation, they are not all exactly the same on the inside, and I swear there are at least two different needles (besides the revert back to normal needles), I dont know if this is age or a different mutation, but either way different is going to act different, health different.

If it is age....the younger ones have thicker needles, with early pruned second flush shoots that have even thicker(yet shorter) needles.

Thats three different solar panels to somehow miraculously know the energy capacity of.

No no....it wont be a miracle, the facts only need to be taken into account before we dismiss a tree as no good for bonsai.

Different on the inside?

In hedgerows, every year, the same tree throws shoots of reverted to regular Alberta. And the others do not.
I understand the others may at some point, or may have, but for x years, it remains the same.

Are the reverters stronger? Weaker?
reverting remains an unread sign.

I'm not one to go looking for specific answers to these scientific mutation questions....
But I WILL use the lack of information to know my Dwarf Alberta IS Not your Dwarf Alberta.
And even if it is....it may like my yard better!

Copy and paste to the jammer thread!

Sorce

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Funny, for a second it looked like your railing was a Jin wired with a pipe cleaner.

 

[crust]

This is a lot to remove in the deadness of winter with nursery stock--a pretty weakening operation. I tend to do the reverse to save heartbreak: while big and bushy, repot hard, get it into a shallow grow tray, if it lives, invigorate it, then style. Nursery stuff get hit hard from repotting

 

[GGB]

Hope it pulls through, the second one shows some cool old bristlecone like-ness. I also thought the railing was wired haha, good practice I guess

 

[just.wing.it]

This is a lot to remove in the deadness of winter with nursery stock--a pretty weakening operation. I tend to do the reverse to save heartbreak: while big and bushy, repot hard, get it into a shallow grow tray, if it lives, invigorate it, then style. Nursery stuff get hit hard from repotting

I agree with this, for sure.
That first repot of the nursery stock is the biggest hurdle.
So, now that you are where you are with them...don't repot next year.
Let them recover....or die.

 

[defra]

Wow. Your on a kill streak
Hope your not tough...

But
Last years all the alberta redpot contestents that looked like this didnt make it wich may help understand that this species doesnt like this amount of reduction in one go

I havnt tried one myself.. instead i bought a picea omorika similair like small foliage

This cheap tree's around here get pulled out the field before xmas and potted up right before shipping to be sold as christmas decorations the blue spruce i bought last year was the same case after purchase i chopped the top off
Then i repotted it in februari because the pot it was in fell apart then it was left alone then pruned it back quite a bit 50% in the end of august in looks to be doing fine !
The omorika will get the same treatment!

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Another Victim!!!



All done! It was supposed to be taller with more foliage up top. I didn't notice a giant clump of branches all coming from one area before I bought it, so I had to Jin the top. Not bad for $5, let's see if it makes it?!?!




*Reposted from another thread to hit the goal!

 

[sorce]

Wow. Your on a kill streak

Lol!

while big and bushy, repot hard, get it into a shallow grow tray, if

Here's my New Years resolution.

I may have to break certain fingers intentionally....
So I can repot, but not wire....
Maybe the indexes?
A middle and a thumb?

Slaying it in 2018 regardless!

Sorce

 

[Manmountain526]

These trees were 10 bucks total and nearly dead sitting outside amongst the forgotten Christmas stiff to be thrown out by the big box store very soon. I figured if I could do something with them it was worth a try. I seriously do not expect them to live as they were on their last leg anyhow. It was mainly for practice and to see what happens. If they die its part of the process I guess. I’m not fond of killing anything but sometimes it happens I guess as I learn. My deciduous trees are doing quite well so far. I am not very good with conifers yet so the only way to get better is to get your hands dirty.

 

[GailC]

I chopped the hell out of my albert spruce too but I took it even further and removed the bottom half of the root ball. Its now growing new buds, not sure if thats a good sign or not.

 

[Manmountain526]

I chopped the hell out of my albert spruce too but I took it even further and removed the bottom half of the root ball. Its now growing new buds, not sure if thats a good sign or not.

I am happy to hear that I am not the only one. I haven't touched the roots at all on any of my spruces yet. I did "slip pot" one earlier in December just because the pot was cracked along the side. That one is still alive. My others are still alive and green as well. I have an attached room that is not heated that all of my trees are in right now. I did this because one of my junipers died from the cold I guess. I had not touched it yet at all since I purchased it in November. I do not really have a place to put them on the ground right now that the dogs won't piss on them lol. I wasn't sure what else to do with the temps in the teens and heavy snow this past week. All of my trees are young.

 

[Dav4]

I am happy to hear that I am not the only one. I haven't touched the roots at all on any of my spruces yet. I did "slip pot" one earlier in December just because the pot was cracked along the side. That one is still alive. My others are still alive and green as well. I have an attached room that is not heated that all of my trees are in right now. I did this because one of my junipers died from the cold I guess. I had not touched it yet at all since I purchased it in November. I do not really have a place to put them on the ground right now that the dogs won't piss on them lol. I wasn't sure what else to do with the temps in the teens and heavy snow this past week. All of my trees are young.

Where in VA are you? How cold is your "cold room"? Alberta spruce are hardy to -40 F, I think, so there's no way a VA winter will do them in...or the juniper, for that matter. Keeping a spruce (or any other cold hardy tree) inside is a sure way to guarantee failure.

 

[GailC]

I have mine in the unheated laundry room, its in the 60's most of the time but since I got mine after it was already frozen outside, I was sure it would die if I chucked it outside.
Doing my best to keep it alive until it can go outside.