Blue atlas cedar - best practice care and styling?

[BonsaiBenny]

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience with growing blue atlas cedar in Sydney??

I am in Cronulla, Sydney and last week acquired this blue atlas cedar from south coast nsw.



Apparently its quite and old tree so I would like to work with it slowly and sensibly and keep it alive. I have not seen or heard of many C.Atlantic "gluaca" around and sadly I think that might be for good reasons.

I've heard atlas cedar hate repotting, but see mixed advice on repotting times. Some say mid summer, others say August?

Basically what I understand about styling is that...
- wire is very slow to take and thicker branches tend to break VERY easily and without warning but the thinner growth is more pliable.

Apart from that can anybody provide information on best practice with regards to;

-pruning or pinching techniques and timing... (Can I prune back this seasons healthy growth now?

- best fertilizer(s)

- anything else that may help.

Cheers,
Ben.




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[JaseH]

Hi Ben, nice tree. Although very inexperienced myself, I have seen plenty of Atlas Cedars around as bonsai and they are one of my favourite trees. They do appear to be a little more difficult than some other species, but not that much so that its a problem. I am still trying to learn everything I can about these guys at the moment myself so will watch with interest.


One thing to be cautious of is that they will not back bud on old wood, so take care of the buds and branches you have and make styling decisions wisely. Although having said that I did see one ground planted in a guys back yard on the weekend which had new buds all over the trunk. Apparently it suffered a bit in the heat earlier in the year, so he watered it well and thats what happened - probably not something you could intentionally replicate in a pot though without risk of killing the tree?

[Brian]

I have grown this variety in the past, and although its a beautiful variety of tree, wiring can cause the branches to easily snap off if you are bending them and not being careful.

[shibui]

Hi Ben. Nice cedar.
You can prune your cedar and most other species at any time of the year. It may not put out new shoots this late in the season but new buds will form and be ready to shoot in spring.
Cedars are usually pinched when the new shoots are very young - just take the end of the shoot between finger and thumb and pull to break it off. Buds will form along the bit of fresh shoot that is left. This makes sure the shoots do not get too leggy and there are plenty of side shoots to build a branch.
Cedars cannot read so any fertiliser for trees will be good. I advocate alternating several different ferts so the trees can choose what nutrients they need.

I mostly repot my deodar in spring but I know several very good growers who repot in summer or autumn with success so looks like just about any time is ok.

I think the reason you do not see many cedar bonsai about is that they are frustratingly slow rather than difficult to keep alive. The ones I know of are all quite hardy.

[bodhidharma]

Cedars cannot read so any fertiliser for trees will be good.

That is funny. I us a complete organic fertiliser on mine. They, as Shibui said, are slow but very worthwhile. You can undercut branches with success so styling is no problem.

[JaseH]

Cedars cannot read so any fertiliser for trees will be good.

That is funny. I us a complete organic fertiliser on mine. They, as Shibui said, are slow but very worthwhile. You can undercut branches with success so styling is no problem.

Does undercutting work on very old thick branches? Like as thick as your thumb?

[GavinG]

shibui wrote:
Cedars cannot read.

Damn. I've also explained to them exactly what I want, but the damn things don't listen either.

Next you'll be telling me they can't text or drive… No damn use at all.

Gavin

[bodhidharma]

Cedars cannot read so any fertiliser for trees will be good.

That is funny. I us a complete organic fertiliser on mine. They, as Shibui said, are slow but very worthwhile. You can undercut branches with success so styling is no problem.

Does undercutting work on very old thick branches? Like as thick as your thumb?

it does but go slow, only one branch at a time. I have done a whole tree in one hit but not Cedars.