Pencil thin spruce. What would you do?

[Random User]

Ya, thats what I've been pondering to do with a fruit tree I have... I'm going to try it come spring, because I'm going to chop the top off of it anyway... I did a late season air layer that I have removed and planted in a grow box... there are a large number of buds beginning to show up high on the trunk (it's about 5 foot high right now, just a rake handle). I was going to chop it off at about the 6" mark and make a formal upright out of it, but I think I'll wrap the tree with a wire at about the 3' level and see how the tree responds. I'm wondering as well, if the tourniquet will cause the trunk to thicken because fruit trees can often times bleed quite heavily in the spring... not that it is damaging or harmful to the tree, but the constrained flow "might" encourage profuse back-budding and trunk thickening at the same time, "IF my theory is correct.

As an aside, I bought the durned thing because there was 2 red-leafed volunteer maple seedlings growing at the base of the tree. It was $30.00 for the plum, and I got two trees from it... if the 2 maples (amur maples I think) survive the winter, I'll have 4 for the price of 1. One of these little things has the most unique shape to the trunk that I've ever seen naturally occur... so I guess you could say that I paid $30.00 for a seedling that might, for all intents and purposes, be dead already... but thats bonsai addiction for ya!

 

[Random User]

Tycoss, you might even find some black spruce in that bog... the Indigenous Peoples used to make all sorts of things out of their roots... apparently, they will grow a L O N G ways just under the top pf the peat.

 

[Tycoss]

The black spruce are mostly quite a ways north of here. These are all white spruce, but the roots are very shallow. I think they'll be easily collectable for this reason. I'd like to find some still stunted by the wet and acidity but growing in the sun. They get darker bark and shorter denser foliage than the ones in the shade. This can happen with both spruce species. Wireme gave me a location near me where this has happened, but i haven't had a chance to check it out.

 

[Tycoss]

A couple from the area that are perhaps a bit big for bonsai.

 

[sorce]

Damn...those are cool trees.

I would be hesitant to bend the trunks at all...especially with the bark.

Though I am one who likes to design a tree around any existing trunk.
Kinda like I favor Ma Nature's work in that department.

Some of those....just leaning, or with the little wiggles, would look killer in a pot with just a tiny literate crown.

However, once you get them out in the sun, in good soil, That "ape shit" could give you way more options.

My spruce grew so fast......
I never would have expected it.
Thickened like mad!
Completely threw my plans out the window.
Don't underestimate the power of full sun!

Sorce

 

[augustine]

They are cool, just one thing... these will not pop buds lower on the trunk so you have to use them as is.

But definitely use them and get something with that great bark

 

[M. Frary]

. these will not pop buds lower on the trunk so you have to use them as is.

Get them out into the sun and when healthy they will push buds out of the trunk with proper shoot cutting.
They back bud well or they wouldn't use them as Christmas trees. Think those spruce Christmas trees grow so full naturally?

 

[ghues]

@Tycoss, seems like you have lots of options as long as this area stays in the family. Looking at you photos...a couple of things stand out.... we may have a different opinion or definition on "bog"....over here we see bogs with really deep/thick sphagnum moss but in your case it seems to be a wet area, horsetails etc. So it appears that you should have no issue collection them and get decent survival. You are also correct that you should lean towards ones that have been exposed to more sun, as some you have shown have weak sparse foliage due to them being under the canopy of the overstory trees therefore, the foliage are comprised of shade needles and once exposed to full sun many of the older ones will quickly yellow and fall off.
Why not collect ones that have been exposed to more sun in the spring (as the buds start to swell)...even the big ones that you could easily shorten to put them into a better balance...maybe jinning the top to reflect an ancient old growth specimen......you could also pick some (that are more shaded) to prepare for collection in 2018/19, whereby you could clear some of the surrounding undesirable vegetation to expose them to more sun and add some fertilizer around the base?
Good luck and keep us posted.
Cheers G.

 

[Tycoss]

@Tycoss, seems like you have lots of options as long as this area stays in the family. Looking at you photos...a couple of things stand out.... we may have a different opinion or definition on "bog"....over here we see bogs with really deep/thick sphagnum moss but in your case it seems to be a wet area, horsetails etc. So it appears that you should have no issue collection them and get decent survival. You are also correct that you should lean towards ones that have been exposed to more sun, as some you have shown have weak sparse foliage due to them being under the canopy of the overstory trees therefore, the foliage are comprised of shade needles and once exposed to full sun many of the older ones will quickly yellow and fall off.
Why not collect ones that have been exposed to more sun in the spring (as the buds start to swell)...even the big ones that you could easily shorten to put them into a better balance...maybe jinning the top to reflect an ancient old growth specimen......you could also pick some (that are more shaded) to prepare for collection in 2018/19, whereby you could clear some of the surrounding undesirable vegetation to expose them to more sun and add some fertilizer around the base?
Good luck and keep us posted.
Cheers G.

Thanks a lot. Actually about half of these are just on wet soil. The other ones have about 6" to 14" of living or dead sphagnum moss under the grasses and weeds. Some are also growing on partly sunken rotting logs. The result has been som cool exposed roots in places.

 

[Tycoss]

So for an update, I dug up a couple of really skinny trees from this area this April. I put some in the ground, and potted some others. The sphagnum was still frozen under some, but they all put out a bit of new growth, and most new extensions have next years buds on them. Mostly still in the moss and gunk they came in, sitting in some bonsai soil. I also cut back some larger ones for collecting later. Here are the little guys:

 

[Tycoss]

 

[Tycoss]

A few more and some of the bark. Not real mature yet, but better than nursery spruce