Libra Bonsai Design by a Lefty!
Hey Tinks,
This is an Alberta spruce?
I read this article
http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Picea.html like 3 years ago, and have avoided these since due to it. However. My second annual x-mas tree hunt lacked any boxwood so I gave these a try. The whole time working on it, I was thinking about the article.
A semi-organized rant on my approach..
I selected this one,
http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?17503-Charlie-Brizown! , out of a hundred, literally. Black fingers and odd looks from depot staff! One lady told me she thought." Ok,this guy likes roots!" Not many Make a good individual specimen, but since you already acquired yours and for a forest,....next.
You want to remove as little as possible. Use a much as you can. But you have to "clean them up" some to see in. I approach this from the top and bottom and meet in the middle.
You want your thickest branches on bottom, progressively thinning on up. So from the bottom whorl, you can remove all but the thickest couple branches, and all the new stringy growth from trunk.
At the top, find a good new leader. One that grows almost directly up, with good taper Transition, and the weaker the better IMO as you want to keep the apical dominance In check. Cut off everything above the new leader.
Now you know your extremes, thickest and thinnest. If there is something way thicker than your bottom branch in the middle, chances are you can cut it without hesitation. If there are some just a little thicker, but in the right place, with growth close to the trunk, you may need them, they can be balanced over the years. Anything smaller than the branches in apex and just below, cut those off too. More stringy crap. A lot of this tries to grow tweenst the whorls, energy sappers, cut em.
Anything in the middle whorls growing too straight up to bend down for use can be cut...but take a look first. One of these newly visible" new leaders" could give you better taper for an apex, a more compact tree.
Now you can see in there some. This is when your Left, right, BACK, branch layout comes into play. Finding a front becomes essential. A combo of wide base, features, better explained here.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba5owK4tJVA
At this point you should still have at least 2-5 branches at each whorl.
So selecting final branches then goes from the bottom up. Some consider your first branch the most important. It should go left or right, but NOT forward. You can take advantage of the whorls Now. This is a balance of diminishing distance apart on up, diminishing thickness on up, movement, growth close to trunk, maneuverability, strength(new bud count). Negating reverse taper.
Low Example, you have left your 2 thickest branches on the bottom. One left,one right, giving you a tbar which you DONT WANT. So one has to go but which? That have all the same characteristics except one has twice as many new buds, Keep that one. You want the most energy down low.
Middle example, again 2 branches with the same characteristics, can't decide, but one is next to a wound you need to heal. Keep it, sap flow will help.
Top. Up there, with strong apical growth, you're looking to keep weaker growth. You can treat what you kept for a new leader in the same manner as the rest of the tree, but you will likely find the branches, Being secondary on your material, to be more delicate, numerous, and eventually quite vigorous as the new apex. Its really an exercise of negating reverse taper, and bud removal. Length and thickness will be managed in the growing season.
For a forest though. ..
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATpiceagroupstyling.htm .
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATGroups.html
You will first select your layout, your focal tree...then utilize your whorls again. Your outside trees can have a good 1/3 from 7 o'clock to 12 o'clock completely removed. The remaining 2/3 should be balanced the same. Which 1/3 to remove?
I googled spruce bonsai images and there are a lot if excellent forests. I haven't really attempted one yet, but from what I gather, it is not the easiest to pull off, but if done right, can create quite the feelings!
I look forward to giving it a go this spring.
I also look forward to seeing the rest of your bunch.
Here is some pics of the bigger tree I got. No wire on this one. And the lowest branch is rooted so I will repot it alone. The other low one will go too. Wouldn't have selected this tree, the wife picked this out for our actual Xmas tree. Gave it a go. If it lives I will see what it does!
Of pics. Some of the distances apart are only 1/4". Tbar. Decision to make. Gotta carve the apex tradition. No taper at all!
God Morning ,
Sorce
Ps if it is a spruce, I don't find any with the tips up as a pine or juniper. If not, disregard everything! Lol
as I am still quite new to bonsai really to be fair and most of what I have done on existing trees are wiring, pruning, but never pines before, I have a ligustrum, chinese elm and a deshojo (my favorite!) any tips? 
