Did I murder my DAS?

jszg

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Did some 'initial styling' mid-Oct. on an Alberta Spruce I picked up at Home Depot, had growth down to the trunk and fairly horizontal branches to go with the really thick trunk, so I figured it was worth a try (and 40 bucks...) The idea was to eventually get a krummholz windswept sort of plant from the spruce's slingshot double trunk. Noticed when watering though a distinctly unhealthy pallor, a lot of the needles seemed to be lacking a little of their original turgidity. I didn't touch the rootball past the top layer of dirt, but I did get rid of maybe 66% of the foliage.

Is it good as dead? Just in shock, or in rigor mortis? What went wrong horiculturally?
I have no experience with alberta spruces, but I have a few full size Colorado blue spruces in the yard and they do just fine no matter what I do to them. IMG_20221104_161602.jpgIMG_20221104_161636.jpg
 

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Wires_Guy_wires

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Probably shock, because it has to redirect its sap flow.
But it could be something worse. You'll know in a couple months.
 

penumbra

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Please post your location in your profile so you can get appropriate and meaningful advice. In my location Oct is a bit late in the year to remove that much foliage, particularly with wiring to add insult to injury.
 

Shibui

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Definitely add a location to your profile as so many things bonsai depend on your location for timing, etc.
Problems are unlikely to be directly related to styling IMHO. More likely something else you did not notice or associate with the issue or have forgotten - missed watering a few weeks ago, excessive heat, etc.
 

jszg

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I'm near NYC, zone 7b. It's been a warmer fall than average here.

I took a look at the rootball (picked it up out of the pot) and there were quite a few happy-looking white roots, which is a good sign I think.

It's very likely the plant was more stressed than I realized when I bought it, could have been neglected by HD staff. Guess I'll wait and see, implore the intercession of St Jude, etc while it goes through the winter.
 

jszg

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Honestly looks quite a bit more green now. Part of it was old needles dropping, and the yellowed branchlets dropping, leaving most of the foliage. I also cleaned up any weeping wounds with better cuts, the rosin was then able to satisfactorily dry up. Still has a bit of a pallor but nothing deathly- let's see how it fares in the winter. I'll have to work a lot on the deadwood but that's no rush, I think.

A lot of people note the difficulty in convincing Alberta spruce to stick with the shape it's wired in, even more so than other spruces. I think I might have some insight on this: seems like the "reaction wood" reflex is very strong in this variety. The little branchlets I set as the apex *already* are measurably creeping upwards, chafing against the wires!

Another unmentioned quirk of Alberta spruce is how fragrant it is. Reminds me of my dad, the Adirondacks, Christmas. I think I'll get a bunch more post Xmas, all I need is one to survive :)
 

jszg

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It's really thick at the base. Problem is that the roots go straight down from it, as far as I can tell, like a tube of roots. I'm thinking in the early spring I'll make some knife cuts, rub in rooting hormone, and wrap the bottom of the base's flare with sphagnum moss, to encourage radial rooting. At some point I'll have to do a major root pruning but that will not be happening soon.
 

jszg

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Pic of the spruce. Note some of the branches have yellowed, but the rest seem fine. Also, the wood in the current apex was a bit thinner before I took the head off and wired it up. Alberta spruces seem to produce a majority of the wood in the fall, or something. (Caveat: Color balance is a bit off on my screen)

There's still a lot of work that needs to be done, but this is a start. Detailed wiring is required, but I'm waiting to see if any back budding happens first. In the meantime I'm waiting for the dept stores to put the spruces on sale. IMG_20221128_083057~2.jpg
 
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