New to Bonsai, Chamaecyparis Help

[Treeaboo]

Hey guys. I'm looking for some guidance on this Chamaecyparis. It was sold as Chamaecypris Obtusa 'Blue Feathers' but I've been told it's a Chamaecyparis Pisifera 'Boulevard'. I'm not certain what it is, but judging by the price of $20 it probably is a Pisifera.

I've done minimal pruning, I've shortened some branches and wired them down to prevent dieback from shaded out foliage, but it didn't work that well and nonetheless some foliage died this autumn. I also cut the leader and wired up a new one to shorten the tree. The dieback is a problem because the plant doesn't backbud on old wood and the foliage is already far from the trunk. Does this ruin the potential of this material altogether? I know you can add bends to the branches to bring foliage closer to the trunk but that can only do so much. What do you guys recommend for me to do going forward?

By the way, it was only inside for pictures.

Thanks, and I'm excited to be a part of this community.

 

[coh]

Welcome, hope you'll stick around for a while.

What is your level of bonsai experience? That can help people formulate replies.

Regarding this plant...I'm not sure if it's "boulevard", the foliage doesn't look exactly right but it's hard to tell from the photos. Can you snip off a piece you don't need and take a close-up with something (like a coin) for scale?

These can make great bonsai (there were several beautiful specimens in the last National Exhibition) but the big problem is, as you noted, they don't like to backbud on older wood. So, if they get away from you, or you start out with a nursery specimen that has shed a lot of the inner growth, it can be extremely difficult or impossible to get things back closer to the trunk. One approach would be grafting. Another might be to just cut it back really hard (but don't remove all foliage from any branch) and see if you get backbudding. A third might be to just remove those leggy lower branches and develop something from the higher branches, perhaps a literati type tree.

Is this a plant that you picked up from a regular nursery? Does it have good surface roots? Does it have any other qualities that scream "bonsai" or "potential bonsai"? If not, you can still use it to practice/learn on, then plant it in the garden and look for a specimen that has more growth close to the trunk.

Chris

 

[Treeaboo]

Welcome, hope you'll stick around for a while.

What is your level of bonsai experience? That can help people formulate replies.

Regarding this plant...I'm not sure if it's "boulevard", the foliage doesn't look exactly right but it's hard to tell from the photos. Can you snip off a piece you don't need and take a close-up with something (like a coin) for scale?

These can make great bonsai (there were several beautiful specimens in the last National Exhibition) but the big problem is, as you noted, they don't like to backbud on older wood. So, if they get away from you, or you start out with a nursery specimen that has shed a lot of the inner growth, it can be extremely difficult or impossible to get things back closer to the trunk. One approach would be grafting. Another might be to just cut it back really hard (but don't remove all foliage from any branch) and see if you get backbudding. A third might be to just remove those leggy lower branches and develop something from the higher branches, perhaps a literati type tree.

Is this a plant that you picked up from a regular nursery? Does it have good surface roots? Does it have any other qualities that scream "bonsai" or "potential bonsai"? If not, you can still use it to practice/learn on, then plant it in the garden and look for a specimen that has more growth close to the trunk.

Chris

Thanks Chris,
I have very little bonsai experience, I have about 15 trees in varying levels of development but nothing even close to finished.
Here's a picture of the foliage:

Spoiler

Edit: After some quick googling, it looks like Chamaecyparis Pisifera 'Squarrosa'
In early spring I think I'll prune the lower branches back as hard as I can without lopping off all of the foliage and maybe I'll get a miracle, and upon the failure of that I'll try for some sort of literati style. I think grafting is way above my skill level.
I picked this up from a regular nursery. It has a noticeable bulge at the base but no buttressing roots. Could one possibly lower the soil level to reveal some interesting roots (if they exist)? I read a bonsai blog post in which that was performed on a bald cypress, but I don't know if that could be applied to most species.
Said bulge:

Spoiler

It also has a decent taper (I think, at least.) Even if it doesn't turn out to be anything good, it'll be a learning experience. I found some really nice material in the swamp outside of my home so once I improve my skills I'll have some good stuff to work on.

 

[coh]

Yeah, that's definitely not boulevard. I know there are a lot of cultivars of the false cypresses, can't keep track of all of them.

There might be good roots under the soil surface, but the only way to find out is by getting in there and digging. Lots of times nursery stock is thrown into a pot and then soil is added with no regard for the original soil surface...so you never know what you're going to find. Except for those rare cases when good roots are right at the surface.

Chris

 

[JoeR]

Whats all the coiled up wire on the trunk about?


Don't be shy, put some movement in those branches!

 

[sorce]

Treeaboo....

Nice Scarf!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[twisted trees]

Go up to about that third set of branches. Cut off the top and wire a side branch upwards for a new leader. This will give you trunk movement, taper and better branch structure with inner budding. This should take a marginal tree and give it great hope for the future. Good growing.

 

[coh]

Go up to about that third set of branches. Cut off the top and wire a side branch upwards for a new leader. This will give you trunk movement, taper and better branch structure with inner budding. This should take a marginal tree and give it great hope for the future. Good growing.

This is a good suggestion (why didn't I think of it?) - this guy (twisted trees) knows what he is doing! He's a member of the Rochester club.

 

[Cypress187]

Welcome to the forum.