Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) progression

Hartinez

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Nice! Glad the pot showed. Really sets the tree off. The lean is very nice, that with the crossing deadwood make for a lovely tension in the image. Is that first branch on the left styled as another trunk?
 

PiñonJ

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Nice! Glad the pot showed. Really sets the tree off. The lean is very nice, that with the crossing deadwood make for a lovely tension in the image. Is that first branch on the left styled as another trunk?
Yes, it’s a secondary apex. The whole tree is a little disheveled after the winter. I’ll prune and re-wire in the fall.
 

Colorado Josh

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I did not know! But thank you for the detailed response! If you ever get the opportunity to collect up north near hopewell lake, there are a ridiculous amount of stunted, matured and weathered Douglas fir and engleman spruce.

Hopewell is a wonderful place! My grandfather was a campground host up there for a number of years. I would go visit him every year for a week after all the tourists had gone home.
 

Hartinez

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Hopewell is a wonderful place! My grandfather was a campground host up there for a number of years. I would go visit him every year for a week after all the tourists had gone home.
I LOVE it up there. Hoping to get up there at some point during this lockdown.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Question,
I should just look up the answer (in Dirr's) but do Abies (Firs) air layer or root from cuttings with any degree of success? Or are they like Pines, generally reluctant to impossible to root, except for the small handful of cultivar specific exceptions?
 

PiñonJ

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Question,
I should just look up the answer (in Dirr's) but do Abies (Firs) air layer or root from cuttings with any degree of success? Or are they like Pines, generally reluctant to impossible to root, except for the small handful of cultivar specific exceptions?
The only conifers I’ve heard of being reliably air-layered are juniper and deciduous (i.e. larch). I think other genera have much lower success rates, take longer and require foliage below the layer on the same branch to keep the roots alive. Sorry, I don’t have information specific to Abies and I haven’t tried air layering conifers yet, though there is a one-seed juniper in my landscape with beautifully compact foliage that I want to try.
 
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The only conifers I’ve heard of being reliably air-layered are juniper and deciduous (i.e. larch). I think other genera have much lower success rates, take longer and require foliage below the layer on the same branch to keep the roots alive. Sorry, I don’t have information specific to Abies and I haven’t tried air layering conifers yet, though there is a one-seed juniper in my landscape with beautifully compact foliage that I want to try.
Alpine firs WILL airlayer reasonably well, but it usually takes 2 to 3 seasons min. in my experience. In the wild, in the subalpine, they sometimes spread via air layering rather than seed. But it is a slow process. In my experience, the easiest (and quickest) evergreens to airlayer are western red cedars, yellow cedars, and yews.
 

Hartinez

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I re-styled the tree and created a display with my shohin Aspen for submission to the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society annual exhibition, which is virtual this year.
View attachment 327201
Renny, this tree looks phenomenal. I really love the Way it has evolved over the years. You can really see the diligence and practice you’ve put in to styling and horticulture. Kudos. I also really like the combination of Aspen and sub alpine for. I don’t however, like the stand very much.It may be because you don’t have a stand that fits that tree well. It’s really about the only thing holding the display back. Great job buddy.
 

Clicio

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It was time to get this guy potted up. I picked out a Horst Heinzlreiter pot last year.
View attachment 292826
You need props when working alone.
View attachment 292827View attachment 292828
Plenty of fine roots, even in the mountain soil, which isn’t very mucky.
View attachment 292829
Time to get rid of some exposed roots on the trunk (don’t know why B-nut insists on rotating this one).
View attachment 292836
Checking the fit:View attachment 292831
The canopy needs to be re-worked in the fall, but look how much denser the foliage is in a year. I’m really happy with the pot / tree combo.View attachment 292832
This must be one of the most beautiful bonsai I have seen on BNut so far.
Congratulations!!
 

0soyoung

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I agree. It’s so subtle. It doesn’t need a massive trunk and a shit ton of deadwood. It’s all balanced really well.
I like it a lot as well,
but I would say that a jin about equal in length/mass to the living trunk is actually a shit ton of deadwood.
It is done in a different way than the shit ton of shari as we usually see. Hence in a league by itself.

Very nicely done @PiñonJ 😍 :cool:
 

PiñonJ

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Renny, this tree looks phenomenal. I really love the Way it has evolved over the years. You can really see the diligence and practice you’ve put in to styling and horticulture. Kudos. I also really like the combination of Aspen and sub alpine for. I don’t however, like the stand very much.It may be because you don’t have a stand that fits that tree well. It’s really about the only thing holding the display back. Great job buddy.
This must be one of the most beautiful bonsai I have seen on BNut so far.
Congratulations!!
Thank you both for the kind words. I'm glad this tree speaks to others, because I really like it.
I like it a lot as well,
but I would say that a jin about equal in length/mass to the living trunk is actually a shit ton of deadwood.
It is done in a different way than the shit ton of shari as we usually see. Hence in a league by itself.

Very nicely done @PiñonJ 😍 :cool:
Thank you, @0soyoung. I don't disagree about the quantity of deadwood! It tells a story of the tree's past, which I have chosen not to edit. With each styling, my intention is to advance the story of the living portion.
 

Potawatomi13

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Two comments: Doug Fir tends to have more developed rough bark than Firs. Second minor trunk balances tree well IMO and also like the creative stand for the pot. All stone just as in trees(sometimes)natural habitat;).
 
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