Thuja occidentalis- what would you do?

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Found this for a steal at the nursery. Shows some obvious styles it lends itself to but theres curiosity- what do you see within it thats not as obvious?

It has a bit of health concerns so 1st year will just grow wild but these are the bones. Trunk is about 3.5 fingers round. Havent dug in to find nebari yet.
 

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Leo in N E Illinois

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If this were my tree, I would probably repot first, before anything else. You need to see where the nebari starts. I would not do any pruning or any styling until after it has recovered from repotting. A shallow, and wide container would be appropriate.

Your trunk is bolt upright, and the lower half, the most important half of the trunk appears too large in diameter to bend easily. So your style choices are pretty limited. Formal upright, informal upright, and various slanting styles. I like the image of a tall straight Thuja leaning out over a creek, only a few degrees, maybe 15 to 30 degrees off vertical. But any image you like could work. When you repot you will see if the roots would allow you to lean the tree.

I would use a mineral based soil, like that used for spruce or other moisture loving conifers. A mildly acidic reaction would be preferred. Typical would be Akadama, pumice and lava in equal parts. Or any media that is at least 2/3rds mineral, meaning pumice or lava (preferred), or crushed quartzite or granite (poultry grit), or other relatively inert media. And one third moisture holding ingredients like akadama, or douglas fir bark, or other components. You choose. Thuja are pretty forgiving. Repot in spring and allow to recover for at least the summer. First pruning can begin in late summer or early autumn.
 

0soyoung

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I've played a bit with small thuja plicata that have shown up in my landscape. I've dug up these volunteers, potted them and played with making bonsai ranging from a few inches tall up to almost 24. At 24 inches tall and roughly an inch in diameter, the trunks are still pretty flexible, but only in the sense of 'with a length of rebar' - I bent the trunk 'around' a block of wood held against the trunk by a length of rebar, the ends of which were secured with padded wire to the base and apex of the tree. You may be able to do likewise, but be forewarned that it will need to remain in place for quite some time. Basically, the trunk will need to double in diameter to have enough wood to sustain the bend before the rebar-rig is removed.

I find that wound at the base of your tree to be most interesting. It could be THE bonsai feature of this tree, but to be that, I think the foliage would need to be much lower, so that it could frame it or draw one's eye to it. You do have some low branches that would make this possible - in other words, you could chop it down and go for a smaller/squattier image. But, my experience with small/short thuja is that they start looking like a palm tree = a stem with a puff of green stuff on the end that isn't the least bit appealing to me.

So, I'm raining on your parade @Mara of dragon clan. Thuja can be extraordinary bonsai, but generally they have massive curving trunks that are more on scale with the foliage and its natural tendecy to hang in graceful sweeping curves. Nevertheless, I continue playing with my little stuff and admiring the real western red cedars (as they are known) in the local forests.

I think you should continue with yours and not give up. My message is only that it is challenging material for bonsai, so don't get disheartened. You can wire some stems and bend them into interesting lines. There is a trick of wiring it back and forth in the plane of sight so that the branch appears to be much shorter and the foliage closer to the trunk. One can also use something like #22 copper wire to actually wire the green foliage threads instead of just letting the foliage hang how ever it happens. It is one of the few species one would do something like this with, but doing it means one can make it hang in those delicious curves seen on the big ladies of the forest. I've yet to be satisfied with what I can achieve, but mastering this would enable successfully making a short (shohin) thuja bonsai. That and foliage trimming.

enjoy
 

penumbra

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I think it is awesome the Leo and Osoyoung, two of this sites most experienced, have given so much excellent advice on a plant that I would never even have picked up. It is humbling. Thanks guys.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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@Mara of dragon clan lives in Ontario, Canada. She can, with a short drive get out and see native specimens of this tree, often found along creeks and rivers, usually above, so that seasonal flooding is not long and usually only in winter or very early spring. Mara, when you look for natural inspiration, look also for their "candelabra" habit of creating multiple trunks. This too may be in the future of your tree. But get out there and look at real live Thuja occidentalis. The lovely Thuja, named for a goddess. (I forget which one, maybe someone will remember).

The below article is on pinching, though I believe in using a scissors, and DO NOT pinch continuously, once or at most twice a summer do a round of pruning, then stop and let it grow.
 

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I've played a bit with small thuja plicata that have shown up in my landscape. I've dug up these volunteers, potted them and played with making bonsai ranging from a few inches tall up to almost 24. At 24 inches tall and roughly an inch in diameter, the trunks are still pretty flexible, but only in the sense of 'with a length of rebar' - I bent the trunk 'around' a block of wood held against the trunk by a length of rebar, the ends of which were secured with padded wire to the base and apex of the tree. You may be able to do likewise, but be forewarned that it will need to remain in place for quite some time. Basically, the trunk will need to double in diameter to have enough wood to sustain the bend before the rebar-rig is removed.

I find that wound at the base of your tree to be most interesting. It could be THE bonsai feature of this tree, but to be that, I think the foliage would need to be much lower, so that it could frame it or draw one's eye to it. You do have some low branches that would make this possible - in other words, you could chop it down and go for a smaller/squattier image. But, my experience with small/short thuja is that they start looking like a palm tree = a stem with a puff of green stuff on the end that isn't the least bit appealing to me.

So, I'm raining on your parade @Mara of dragon clan. Thuja can be extraordinary bonsai, but generally they have massive curving trunks that are more on scale with the foliage and its natural tendecy to hang in graceful sweeping curves. Nevertheless, I continue playing with my little stuff and admiring the real western red cedars (as they are known) in the local forests.

I think you should continue with yours and not give up. My message is only that it is challenging material for bonsai, so don't get disheartened. You can wire some stems and bend them into interesting lines. There is a trick of wiring it back and forth in the plane of sight so that the branch appears to be much shorter and the foliage closer to the trunk. One can also use something like #22 copper wire to actually wire the green foliage threads instead of just letting the foliage hang how ever it happens. It is one of the few species one would do something like this with, but doing it means one can make it hang in those delicious curves seen on the big ladies of the forest. I've yet to be satisfied with what I can achieve, but mastering this would enable successfully making a short (shohin) thuja bonsai. That and foliage trimming.

enjoy

Ive looked at some other "fronts" for ideas of potential style. Chokan seems like the easiest route but there are some cool ways of possible leaving some of the top and condense lower pads to pull the view to the trunk.
 

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Wilson

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Thuja are probably one of the best species for us to use in the great white north! So much fun, beautifully lending themesleves to so many styles, and tough as all heck! They are crazy strong growers, so as Leo mentioned scissor pruning is required to keep the foliage close to the trunk.
 
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Found a little "squirrel" digging in through the top soil. Neat little staircase nebari.

Shot of possible front, wanting to figure a way to get a cascading top which moves from top left to right bottom to guide the eye to the trunk. *see drawing

Curious about thoughts on how to look at nebari usage and picking fronts for this one.
 

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Frozentreehugger

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Great species advice . A couple tidbits . Very tough tree . Will withstand and thrive in extreme cold winter . But if rootball frozen . Protect from wind . Sounds minor but if you wire or drastically bend . Make sure the foliage is oriented upright . Moisture loving tree . Best growth in full sun . But needs established roots . Very easy to dry out and kill . In hot summer sun after collecting or repot . Extremely rot resistant wood especially In wet environments. Used where wood is in the ground or water .there is still examples of split cedar fences built by pioneers that are 150 200 years old . Most nursery cultivars . Have improved foliage colour . Which can be down right olive drab ugly in winter . On wild trees .
 
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