two old blue cedars makeover

[bonsaisensation]

hi all
this two blue cedars were suffering from the heat of summer four years ago and lost a few branches. i was thinking about selling them to better homes now that they have recovered, but i was offered ridiculous prices for the both of them. so enough of that, John H and i got stuck into them and few hours later, this is what they've turned out. i will repot them into good quality pots in time. let me know what you think, maybe some suggestion on the choice of pots.

thanks
Tien

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[LLK]

Super job! Aren't you glad you kept them? I bet you'd get a good price now.
Pots? I can't think of anything except classical unglazed, rectangular pots.
Looking forward to seeing these atlas cedars repotted.

Lisa

[Now&Zen]

Nice trees!!

[Matthew]

Nice old trees, these blue cedars are few and far between. Are they grafted? i got offered 2 a few years ago but couldnt afford them, been looking ever since . Really like what you and john have done with them. pot wise unglazed rectanglar, no lip for the 1st , not sure how deep as cedars can be touchy with shallow pots , second one a oval, or literati style pot maybe?

[ozzy]

Love blue cedars and they are some fine examples.

[bonsaisensation]

hi Matthew

yes they are grafted. as far as i know, blue cedar needs to be grafted to get the blue colour on the needles.

i wonder what everyone else think about cedars in general as far as bonsai material is concerned. i find that the only advantage with them is the short needle length. the disadvantages are(in my opinion):
1- very strong top growth, making it impossible to grow low sacrifice branches, the low branches tend to just sit there for years without strong growth.
2- the new growth on branches higher up the tree, thicken too fast. have to be vigilant in controlling the top growth otherwise the lower branches weaken quickly.
3- very flexible, which also meant that the wire has to stay on for a long time before they set. you pretty much see the branch go back up after the wire is taken off.

i asked Hirotoshi the last time he was here in June about cedar as bonsai in Japan. he simply said:" they are big tree". the japanese don't even consider using them as bonsai materials.

i am not picking on cedars, i just thought there should be a better understanding of the species to make it work for bonsai training. we don't want to end up with cedars all with thick top branches. or do we ?

it's just my opinion. i still love them. will probably not grow as many as what i have been doing though(having 700 in 8 inch pots are a lot to handle)

what do you all think?
Tien

[The Specimen]

Yes they are humongas trees.. my friends parents place has a big one.. hmmm air layer did u say

I think they are great material.. 800 in pots

[Craig]

.

i wonder what everyone else think about cedars in general as far as bonsai material is concerned. i find that the only advantage with them is the short needle length. the disadvantages are(in my opinion):
1- very strong top growth, making it impossible to grow low sacrifice branches, the low branches tend to just sit there for years without strong growth.
2- the new growth on branches higher up the tree, thicken too fast. have to be vigilant in controlling the top growth otherwise the lower branches weaken quickly.
3- very flexible, which also meant that the wire has to stay on for a long time before they set. you pretty much see the branch go back up after the wire is taken off.

i
i am not picking on cedars, i just thought there should be a better understanding of the species to make it work for bonsai training. we don't want to end up with cedars all with thick top branches. or do we ?

what do you all think?
Tien

I love Cedars, this one here I am trying something new, instead of wiring , unwiring, risking wire-bite,rewiring etc, I am trialing brown twine which i use to hold branches in place without damaging the bark or tree itself. I haven't seen the weakening of lower branches that you describe, it a matter of regulating the vigour just as with pines and other trees.good luck

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[Josh]

Wow, nice trees Tien, they are mighty nice looking trees now, might have to drop in and have a look at them. I might drop in tomorrow or Friday, I'll see how I go.

Josh

[alpineart]

Hi Bonsaisensations , Mate i love Atlas Cedars . I too would like to get my hands on a Blue . They seem to be overlooked with respect to bonsai , i have a few and plenty of potted tree's but they do look the goods when worked well , as in your case . Most certainly appreciate the topic . Must have been asleep when you posted it . I'll be keen to see them potted .

Cheers Alpineart

[anttal63]

John, Tien Nice work fellas !!! Yes Tien they can be tedious, certainly have to stay on top of them. Craig your tree is lookn good also however i dont think you will set the branches with out scarring them. When the wire bites in and the tree then attempts to heal those scars, goes a long way to setting things in place.

[bonsaisensation]

hi craig
when i said lower branches, i meant LOWER branches

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as you can see in the photo, higher up the tree, the branches grow no problems. they have since being cut back to once again redirect vigour to the bottom branches. you can still grow nice tree out of cedars, but there won't be good taper in the trunk. so all the good cedars that i have seen are either thin tree or trees with thick trunk being cut down but once again, no taper.

i wonder if anyone has seen cedars with good taper, share some photos would be even better.

regards

Tien

[bonsaisensation]

hi everyone
an update on the progress of the blue cedars. both trees have recovered well and were repotted on 18/10/2013. they have been left untouched to settle into the new pot until today. made an effort to clean up all the dropped old needles and refined the wiring of the branches. there are more branchlets left on the trees than what i would have like, but i'll keep everything for now to maximize the growth and vigour of the trees.

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happy new year everyone.

Tien

[Josh]

I really like these trees. They are looking good, nice pot choice too. They will be impressive trees once refined a little.

Josh.

[Jeff]

Those look very familiar. I sold 30 of those a few years ago. Monbulk field grown.

Jeff