Eastern Hemlock - Bonsai suitable?

[Japan Dan]

Hemlocks atop boulders

They can be found, but don't look under old growth forests for them. Those hemlock get leggy looking for light. Go higher in the mountains (Southern Appalachians in my case), when you start seeing more rocks than dirt you'll find some good ones as long as its legal. Also, sides of rocky stream beds can contain some dwarfed ones. I've got a few (no pics right now sorry). you have to train them using the clip and grow method as the branches will break at the slightest bend. The best one I've gotten actually came from Warren Hill and I believe he got from a collector in NC. It's like Walter Pall says in his collecting videos, you have to find a pattern, then you'll find trees.

I'm originally from Western Pennsylvania. When I was living there, I found a lot of really nice hemlocks growing on top of large boulders. These hemlocks were quite suitable because they had a shallow root system (they were growing in their own leaf litter) and often had been knocked over by fallen trees. I found a lot of nice rafts this way. The ones that were leggy, i cut back and collected the following season. But please be careful, it's easy to fall off boulders that are covered in a carpet of moss!

 

[Bill S]

Not sure about the western variety but the east has a bug called an adelgig (sp?) that has/is/will be doing bad things to the hemlocks, I expect them to become very much less in numbers, they look terrible around the northeast.

 

[amkhalid]

The problem with Eastern is finding material, as Nick Lenz and others in this thread have mentioned. I've seen some good material, but never anything that can hold a candle to the western yamadori. Westerns grow in more tortured environments, and they bark up much quicker. The goal with eastern is to find something with movement and old bark so a graceful bonsai can be developed. A squat tapered thing is like finding a unicorn. Although I know people who have found them.

I collected a "good but not great one" (by eastern hemlock standards) 6 years ago that was growing in leaf mould near an ATV trail. It had some movement put into it probably by being hit by vehicles or falling trees.

I kept all of the organic compost on the rootball and it grew splendidly for 3 years, putting out 3 flushes of growth each season. Then, I had the bright idea to replace its fine organic soil with a coarse bonsai mix. Big mistake. It HATED it. The tree completely weakened and the apex died back (the most important part of the tree).

Just yesterday I raked out the bonsai mix (the rootball was very weak) and replaced it with black topsoil. Hopefully this will help the tree to regain its former strength.

Moral of the story: listen to Nick Lenz and keep them in a fine organic soil. I think it has something to do with the pH. The probably prefer the acidic compost over neutral bonsai grit.

Here is a pic of the tree from last year. Still very much in development (2 years behind since it has been so weak). I've been meaning to remove the secondary back trunk for years, but the tree is too weak for me to risk it now.The first branch on the right was a one-point graft that was successful.

Here is a pic of it growing in the field soil, just before I repotted it into bonsai soil. It was incredibly strong.

And here it is late last year. Very, very weak.

 

[Dan W.]

amkhalid, do you think kanuma would work in place of other bonsai soil?

 

[amkhalid]

amkhalid, do you think kanuma would work in place of other bonsai soil?

I have a feeling soft grade kanuma or akadama would work well. They are both slightly acidic and hold moisture well, which T. canadenis loves.

But I don't use either (my bonsai soil is mostly lava rock, with some haydite/turface here and there). Hopefully my attempted fix helps.

 

[Gene Deci]

Originally Posted by amkhalid "I kept all of the organic compost on the rootball and it grew splendidly for 3 years, putting out 3 flushes of growth each season. Then, I had the bright idea to replace its fine organic soil with a coarse bonsai mix. Big mistake. It HATED it. The tree completely weakened and the apex died back (the most important part of the tree."

Thanks for that amkhalid. I have a recently collected one that I was about to repot in my regular soil mix. It is not as nice a tree as the one you show but I would hate to loose it nevertheless.

 

[Hoosteady]

Hope your plant makes a full recovery, Amkhalid.

Here's a picture of a sapling I uprooted from a construction site in northern PA. Was going to be bulldozed, so figured I'd give it a go.


Not 100% positive, but fairly certain it's an Eastern Hemlock.

Not much too it now, obviously... See what happens though.

 

[HotAction]

I've noticed they only grow near the streams on my family's property. Perhaps you need to keep them VERY WELL watered in a Bonsai mix.

 

[cquinn]

I have a nice old one......the trunk is three inches across and the tree is approximately 20 inches tall. They definitely like it wet. I have mine in equal parts Fafard #52, Akadama, and Sand. It grows well. Everything grows well in Akadama though. Species really doesn't seem to matter in that stuff as much. Just add Sand as needed for conifers and you're good to go.

 

[cyberfab007]

Hemlock questions.......

Hey fella's ! I recently think I collected a Eastern Hemlock in Northern Ontario Canada in the town of Bala. It was my girlfriends birthday so we went up north to my friends cottage. We collected some trees and this was one of them. We really bonded up there so the tree has a acute sentimental value so I plan on having it awhile.

Check it out! These trees can take a beating, the root ball was almost non-existent I was shocked to see new growth this spring and also that it survived. All in all it seems to be ok.

I also have another tree that was collected with it, check it out , any thoughts or advice ?

I don't plan on pruning it untill I repot and see a good root ball, but what about wiring ? It is still felxable half way down the tree and all the branches.

Any advice would be appreciated. I am 5 years new at this and have about 9 trees.

Jeremy

 

[Lancaster]

Here is an eastern hemlock I've owned for about 6 years. I took this pic 2 weeks ago. About 2 months after I gave it it's first styling......

Any comments or critiques are welcomed....

 

[edprocoat]

Lancaster, that a great looking tree, that growth on the back looks like a handsome young guy, do you plan on wiring him out? I bet the tree is heavy judging by the size of it, looks like you have done a great job with this one.

ed

 

[tmmason10]

That's a great example of what people were asking about on this thread Lancaster. Very nice tree, nice job on it.

 

[amkhalid]

Lancaster, that is a nice one. Build up that foliage density and this will be a very special tree. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Umeboshi]

Looking good Lancaster. A nice aged looking trunk which is hard to find in eastern hemlocks. I like how you are working the branches, very much the direction they take in nature. Keep letting them extend out a bit horizontally from where they are now and try to form some foliage layers.

Are you keeping this in full sun, part shade or what? I would anyone else growing hemlocks comments on this as well.

 

[Lancaster]

Thanks for the kudos, guys! It is much appreciated!

Amkhalid- THX! That was my plan. Build up the foliage and chase it back in and make the foliage pads more compact.

It gets full sun until about 3-4 pm, and then it gets a bit of shade in the afternoon.

The tree started to look somewhat like a gangley Christmas tree. I wanted to go for a look of a tree growing on the side of the mountain that has had it's top and most of it's branches ripped off of one side, and continued growing with the branches and foliage on the downward side of the mountain.
It was about 2 foot taller than it is now, so I broke off the top and created some shari. I will probably do some additional work to the top later, but I did not want the typical long pointed shari at the top. I wanted it to look more like a natural break. So, here are some pics of the shari, jin, and the top.

-Troy

 

[Hoosteady]

Really like what you're doing, Lancaster. Thanks for sharing.

Was wondering if you could enlighten me a bit about your fertilization and soil mix for the hemlock... Pretty good growth in just 6 years!!

 

[linlaoboo]

I just moved into a new place with 2 hemlocks on the property and was thinking to try air layering next spring. From what I've read on this thread this tree maybe challenging but I really like the look of them. I'm already working on a yew material but that's more of a shrub compared to the hemlock. Anyone know if it's still the state tree for PA?

 

[Hoosteady]

I just moved into a new place with 2 hemlocks on the property and was thinking to try air layering next spring. From what I've read on this thread this tree maybe challenging but I really like the look of them. I'm already working on a yew material but that's more of a shrub compared to the hemlock. Anyone know if it's still the state tree for PA?

Appears to be. What size are the hemlocks?

 

[linlaoboo]

They're about 15 to 20 ft tall from what I can tell. Maybe I'll post pictures tomorrow. I'm thinking to layer a couple of the lower branches with minimum 1 inch thickness.

Appears to be. What size are the hemlocks?