Spruce or douglas fir

Deep Sea Diver

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Ok folks, the quickest way to tell if a tree is a Spruce vs Douglas or True Fir is to try to ‘shake hands” with it. Spruces will feel sharp or spiky. Doug and True Firs are softer.

( Actually there is an an old story that back in the N. American explorer days the explorers grabbed the branches, pulled down on them and found they were soft when pulled one direction, but couldn’t be ‘petted’ in the other, like a cats fur. They noted this down as ‘fir’ misspelling of fur…

That said, it looks like a Sitka spruce. Since you are in BC, likely the only other spruces up in your neck of the woods are Englemann and White.

If it’s a Sitka you can take a needle and roll it between two fingers. Sitka will not roll easily as they are flattish and White and Englemann will roll ‘bump-bump-bump’ due to these trees needles being four sided.

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Flipkronikz

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Ok thanks for everybody's input. The main goal is to reduce height and add bends or slant. When to chop, prune and/or style? Repot in spring first?
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Well, I tend to do things slowly to a species I’ve never worked before. One might choose to either repot this spring or do structural work this spring.

Personally I’d repot in a larger pot then you intend to end up in, given the tree is healthy next spring. Not a show pot and not very shallow. Definitely take no more then 1/2 - 1/3 of the soil. (This will entirely depend on the condition of the roots.).

Then keep the tree alive through the summer and maybe do some minor reductions in late fall, with structural work the second spring.

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0soyoung

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It has lots of healthy new, hardened, highly productive foliage to power root growth. This is a better time to get it out of the nursery soil than in spring, IMHO.

If is has a burlap covered root ball hiding inside that pot, I wouldn't even think of waiting until later to get the job done.

And put it right back into full sun exposure. The tree should flush vigorously next year so one could proceed with serious styling a year from now. But, at any rate, one will have the knowledge of the present root condition and the vitality of next spring's flush to control their impulses.


BTW, do we need to review how to properly secure a tree to a container of bonsai substrate?
 
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