Post-Christmas Deals

[DeutschElmDisease]

I'm in the Chicago, USA, area and I'm having trouble locating good post-Christmas bonsai material for a good price. I saw someone post from a Walmart, but curious if anyone has any tips of stores that were carrying good pre-bonsai material that might be trying to get rid of it now?

 

[leatherback]

I'm in the Chicago, USA, area and I'm having trouble locating good post-Christmas bonsai material for a good price. I saw someone post from a Walmart, but curious if anyone has any tips of stores that were carrying good pre-bonsai material that might be trying to get rid of it now?

Why do you assume stores carrying good pre-bonsai material would be trying to get rid of it? Pre-bonsai are not seasonal goods afaik. (At least, they are not in the places I go to for my raw material)

 

[vp999]

Superflybonsai.com has 15% off everything right now.

 

[Srt8madness]

Why do you assume stores carrying good pre-bonsai material would be trying to get rid of it? Pre-bonsai are not seasonal goods afaik. (At least, they are not in the places I go to for my raw material)

He's likely talking about nursery stock vs actual trained pre-bonsai, which absolutely is seasonal here in the states.

 

[Srt8madness]

As for the OP, post - Christmas is a bit late. At least down here, garden centers start reducing stock in early fall. By now there isn't much left. Most clear out space for Christmas trees. You could try HD/Lowes if you want to get a stone pine or dwarf Alberta Spruce

 

[Underdog]

I checked out Lowes and H Depot Red Pots today on my way home. Nothing at Lowes and 50% off at H Depot on 20 dollar small alberta spruce and Thuga. One nice Col Blue spruce I pondered but it was 60 bucks so 30 on sale. Passed on them all. Kinda proud of myself. LOL

 

[Paradox]

As for the OP, post - Christmas is a bit late. At least down here, garden centers start reducing stock in early fall. By now there isn't much left. Most clear out space for Christmas trees. You could try HD/Lowes if you want to get a stone pine or dwarf Alberta Spruce

Same thing happens in the northern states.
Nurseries put summer stock on sale starting in late September and October to clear space for Christmas trees and plants around Thanksgiving.

 

[Underdog]

Pretty sure he is talking about the "Red Pot" Christmas stuff all the box store push at Cmas. Like this score for 85 cents a few years ago.

 

[ShadyStump]

Pickings around here were super slim this year. Nothing but dwarf Alberta spruce and Norfolk island pine for living Christmas trees, and half the time "living" could be applied very loosely.

 

[Flowerhouse]

My local stores didn't have any live Christmas trees this year.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Pretty sure he is talking about the "Red Pot" Christmas stuff all the box store push at Cmas. Like this score for 85 cents a few years ago.
View attachment 466616

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Do you have an “after” photo? Was it worth it?

 

[Underdog]

Do you have an “after” photo? Was it worth it?

Worth 85 cents LOL

 

[DeutschElmDisease]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I was able to buy a couple of dwarf Alberta spruce for about $9 each on sale. I haven't had a chance to do any work with them, but if anyone has any advice or tips on working on them, I'm all ears!

I mostly am afraid of chopping too much and turning it into a Charlie Brown tree. I'm not sure if chopping too much is the problem or if the shape of the branches would be more the issue!

 

[leatherback]

but if anyone has any advice or tips on working on them, I'm all ears!

Christmas tree to bonsai playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLci6b9GxmP3XyRd0xAx4A_P8ZwybnLK_j

 

[DeutschElmDisease]

Thank you, leatherback. I have several of these in my own playlist, but these are also amazing! (And if you're Jelle, thank you for your two examples last month - it was part of my inspiration for the project!)

 

[LuZiKui]

I see a ton of dwarf Alberta Spruce that go through initial styling but very few that are still around after a couple of years. Not sure if that's because they are a gateway tree and people move on to other species or they don't survive.

I will caution you that I see a lot of people try to prune them back dramatically (leaving like 5-6 branches) and wire at the same time. If you're trying to keep it for a long term tree I'd be judicious about how many branches you remove (definitely no more than Underdog above). Also, if you are going to heavily work the top of the tree you should probably hold off on repotting until after the tree recovers. Good luck!

 

[Matt B]

Pretty sure he is talking about the "Red Pot" Christmas stuff all the box store push at Cmas. Like this score for 85 cents a few years ago.
View attachment 466616

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Damn, playa! You gotta be careful throwing those Alexanders around. You make it rain like that, and your cashier might follow you home.

 

[leatherback]

And if you're Jelle

Guilty!

your two examples last month - it was part of my inspiration for the project!

My apologies for putting your lazy * to work and make you spend money

 

[rockm]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I was able to buy a couple of dwarf Alberta spruce for about $9 each on sale. I haven't had a chance to do any work with them, but if anyone has any advice or tips on working on them, I'm all ears!

I mostly am afraid of chopping too much and turning it into a Charlie Brown tree. I'm not sure if chopping too much is the problem or if the shape of the branches would be more the issue!

I've worked Alberta Spruce. Had them for years. Not easy, or mostly even worth the trouble. I ultimately got rid of them. Chopping them leads nowhere, as they're too slow to make a new apex. If you have to shorten them, jinning the tops works.

As for branch placement, wire is of little use to hold the branches in a more horizontal orientation. Branches on AB will mostly always try to spring back up to vertical. Best way to hold them in a more natural looking position is to deeply scar the underside (or topside) of the branch where it meets the trunk, THEN wire the branch down. Let it set for three or four years, before removing the wire. The resulting scar tissue will hold the branch horizontally permanently (mostly).

AB are tough trees and can take a lot of abuse, but in the end they're really not worth the effort.