Ci’s 5yr Native Tree Challenge - Mt. Hemlock from A. Nijhuis

cishepard

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I took an opportunity today to accomplish 3 things - enter the Native Tree Challenge, buy myself an early Christmas present, and finally get to meet Anton Nijhuis, who, lucky for me, only lives a 90min drive away.

It was a sunny and frosty morning in Nanaimo, but quickly fogged over as we headed towards Campbell River, here on Vancouver Island. Temperature was mild and no rain in the forcast. Anton’s dogs greeted me enthusiastically at the gate, as he himself strolled up in the classic PacNW gumboots - the fields of his farm were crusty-muddy from recent rains. As we chatted about dogs (I am a retired groomer and we both own MinPins) I was astonished by the many jumbo bonsai lining his driveway. I really had no idea what to expect other than that I emailed him to explain I was looking for a native yamadori, with no work done on it yet and in my price range of $100-250. He responded that he had a few that fit that criteria.

Well, he had many, to say the least. About 150 collected this year and last, heeled into mounds of sea-soil on the ground to recover, and at least that many or more potted up. Anton said that he sold more trees this year than any other, but I couldn’t believe how many beautiful trees were still left! I narrowed my search to the trees that had been established into pots for at least a year and a half, and after poking through the rows of Shore Pine, Yellow Cedar, Alpine Fir and Mt. Hemlock, I settled on the latter, of which he had many fine examples.

The one I chose (in the last photo), I think of as a ‘safe’ maybe even ‘easy‘ tree. I am a beginner to the art of bonsai (3yrs in), and I felt I could see the tree in this one right away. I want to gain experience with styling before I tackle more challenging material. That said, I am very excited about this project and this tree. I had a fabulous day, and meeting Anton was a hoot. He was extremely generous with advice about collecting - where to go, how to dig and transport and aftercare. He just smiled when I said he was losing business by giving out all that information. I think he truly just does it for the joy of getting out in the wilderness with his friends and dogs, the excitement of the ‘hunt’ and collecting these wonderful specimens to share with the world. Making a profit is secondary.

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cishepard

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I attended a potting class today with Frank Corrigan of RiversEdge and brought my Mt. Hemlock. We talked about changing the planting angle (decided not to) and future styling, including some possible trunk bends.
Then we had a look at the rootball. There was a decent amount of fresh, healthy roots near the top, but one side was rather weak, so we left that side alone. We were able to tease out the bottom of the ball which was mostly native soil and dead roots, and cut off a large knob which was the base of the tree, but had no live roots growing from it.

E03F2137-542D-4C94-902C-4CC0FECCC6FB.jpeg84711580-9D42-4420-AD5D-A438D1033361.jpegThis allowed the tree to fit into a fairly shallow grow box for the next few years. Hopefully, it will respond well enough to start placing some wire later in the year.

I also repotted a little boxwood. It was a fun and very educational 3 hours! I feel very lucky to live close enough to benefit from Franks expertise. Last photo is Frank working on another participants Mt Hemlock.

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Esolin

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Very nice tree! It's going to look amazing in a few years.
 

cishepard

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Update on my Mt. Hemlock.
Over the winter, I decided to try a severe bend on the trunk using ratchet straps.
It was surprising easy to bend, the hard part being where and how to place the straps for the best effect.

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I left the straps on until Spring, but every time I sat to look at the tree and figure out how to style it further, I found myself wishing that I hadn’t done the bend. I just couldn’t see the bonsai in it anymore - it looked contrived or just off in some way.
It was a bit better when I took off the straps, and I thought, ‘whats done is done’, and resigned myself to make the best of it when, what do ya know! Two days later the tree unbent itself! When the collective “they” say that Mt. Hemlock takes a long time to set, “they’ aren’t kidding : )

I think there is still some different movement in the upper trunk compared to the original photos, but I was very happy. Here is the tree now, almost completely wired.

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As you can see, I’m planning on a new angle with the next repot. Don’t look too close at my wiring. I have been improving, but had a bit of a regression on this job. There is a lot of ‘fooling the eye’ going on to get the foliage to look tight, as so many branches were long with more than half bare of needles, and not much possibility of backbudding.
I hardly took any foliage off, only a light trim back of this year’s growth.

It is due for a second HBR in the spring and maybe into a roomy training pot while I try to find a perfect Canadian made final pot for the contest. Might have to make one myself…
 

Potawatomi13

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Cannot help but wonder if after extreme bend then UN bend cambium was not terminally damaged🤔. Hopes for survival☺️.
but every time I sat to look at the tree and figure out how to style it further, I found myself wishing that I hadn’t done the bend. I just couldn’t see the bonsai in it anymore
Personal vision as well. Glad you saw it too.
 

Colorado

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I just about fell out of my chair when I saw the “ratchet strap bend” …

But it looks great now! Nice job on the styling.

You have to promise, no more ratchet straps!! 😂
 

cishepard

Shohin
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Cannot help but wonder if after extreme bend then UN bend cambium was not terminally damaged🤔. Hopes for survival☺️.
I didn’t even consider that … I hope it survives as well! But it seems fine and had a flush of healthy growth in Spring. Maybe it thinks there was 20 feet of snow weighing it down over the winter and is now just carrying on and probably wishing people would stop fiddling with it’s branches. Life of a bonsai, eh?
 
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