AusBonsai

Hi,

i do not knwo the exact type of cypress tree they are, but i am sure you all know them. in the 70's they coudl eb found in almost every suburban front yard hehe. i have attached a pic of the leaves. we have 4 of themn in our yard and mum has decided to get rid of them. three are almost two metres tall with trunks at least 20 cms wide. the 4th is about 3 metres high. can these be turned into bonsai or should we just cut them down and duig the stumps out of the lawn?

digging them might be hard as these could have massive roots and it sounds like you dont have much time, i would be looking at trenching them if you do, but its all in the after care, if you have four and get a 50% success, the trunks could be stripped and used for phoenix, tanuki grafts.

the coarse foliage would call for a larger tree, upward of the metre mark. backbudding on these are difficult aswell i beleive. i cant give ya a botanical name, sorry

Cupressus macrocarpa - Monterey Cypress, native to coastal areas of California. I don't think that they make good bonsai.

Cheers
Mojo Moyogi

You can slaughter the roots & top to dig out as long as you keep some foliage on the plant, pot up in an open mix & wait.
Give it a go you have nothing to lose but a bit of time & energy. they wont ever be typical bonsai stuff but does every tree have to look typical. Lots of wood for jin & shari by the sound of the size of them.

Matt

Astro,
This tree was discussed on the weekend just gone, when we were doing a Masterclass experiment. With Lindsay and Glenis Bebb,and the senior members of the BS of WA. It was agreed, that the best method of growing this would be as an Chamaecyparis obtusa, as the both have fan like foliage.
It was not going to be easy as they do not shoot back readily, but they do not very well but yes. The one in question was about a metre tall and about 500mm wide.
There was plenty of jin and shari.

Now it all depends on whether you want to expend the energy to dig them.

Mean time I will see if I took a photo of the one in question to post for you.

Cheers Pup

edit typo you try spelling it of the top of a bald head

the main reason i considered it as bonsai is the first one my borhter actually hacked back to a stump about 30 cm high and it has sprouted in a hundred places and is growing dramatically already lol

Well, thats solved the backbudding thing, lol. If you can see a tree in it, have a try!

Greth wrote:Well, thats solved the backbudding thing, lol. If you can see a tree in it, have a try!

Thats when they're in the ground!

they dont back bud in a pot? what about a styrofoam box? i figure the trees are destined for death so what do i have to lose in trying eh?

astroboy76 wrote:they dont back bud in a pot? what about a styrofoam box? i figure the trees are destined for death so what do i have to lose in trying eh?

Nothing to lose astro. Personally i think go for a juni helmet type look, rather than a ramified looking tree. Good practice to wire and carve and if you pull it off could be a great piece!