That starting scenery was spectacular! I also loved how you transformed the tree, with root pruning and wiring! I will take more notice of that species' potential when I am next in a garden centre! Thank you, my friend! 😁👌
Thank you John! I have a belief that if this cultivar of the species was known and available to the Japanese back 200 or 300 years ago, it would be one of the most popular and celebrated species for bonsai. Plus we would have a so much detailed guide for styling and caring. Anyway, have a great weekend!
Great time kit just good! And they are everywhere. Just check the base, dig out a bit of the top soil, before purchase, to make sure you get a good nebari. Thank you!
Excellent video! I've styled a number of these, following other artists, but have never felt they looked right. You solved it in one, with having the branch line on the top visible, not from underneath!
Do they grow dwarf Alberta spruce as landscape trees where you live? I would guess low elevation California would not be ideal for a high elevation spruce. Unless you live in higher elevation. So, it might not be overwatering, just hot prolonged summer.
Thank you! Yes it is, for some genus and species. But there are many out there, quite strong that really don't mind, with proper after care. This is Picea glauca "Conica", a mutation of Picea glauca that keeps it's foliage in immature state (unless it reverts). Trees with immature foliage are more resistant to difficult conditions. "Conica" are relatively strong and can't take abuse. This tree is looking great, it is all summer in full (Greek) sun, even in heatwaves and does not care at all. It even grew more than I would like and it needs pruning in 2 months. Cheers Marco!
Nice! Just bought 5 small picea-s glauca in local garden center. Wanna make a small group in an oval plastic training pot (35 or 40 cm, don't remember). Ooooor... Go bold and buy few more and also bigger ones to create a 11-15 trees group - I have a group training pot of 58 cm wide, which is waiting for a bunch of Lebanon cedars for next spring (if my air-layers will succeed... or not).
I can imagine 11 - 15 Picea glauca "Conica" would be a whole lot of work. Just pruning and wiring take the best part of a week! If those 5 trees have a variety of heights, I would go for a 5 tree forest. Cedrus libani airlayers sound very interesting. Love to know how this goes! Thank you, Yevhen!
@@ArkefthosBonsai Thanks for the advice. 😅 I tried to make 7 spruce trees forest (with 2 bigger additional trees), but stopped at 5 because those additional trees (actually, one double trunk tree) appeared too big comparing to the rest. Just a too big step in sizes (6 eur vs 12 eur, and height of trees bound to their height in garden centers). However, got 2 more pinus peaces with potentially cool forms: one is suitable for semi-cascade with almost equal still flexible double-trunk with wide base; and the other one has a nice taper at the bottom, suitable for semi-cascade too or informal upright. As for the cedar air-layerings - hardly, but still possible (as a few TH-cam videos suggest that). However, if it succeeds, this should take a while. Those videos mentioned that it was 1-1,5 years 🤔 or at least 2 growing seasons. I'm just at the early stage of my bonsai journey, so still gonna do a lot of mistakes and experiments.😁
@@ArkefthosBonsai I can definitely see a strong white root in one of the cedar's moss ball (air-layer) through the film. I bought them and made cuts in May or June this year. Others cedar air-layerings - not sure. Will check in a couple of months. But so far, trunks above air-layer cuts are alive. We'll see. 🤞
Nice result, they really are abundant and easy to get cheap. Did you use 100% Perlite? You say a joy to wire but being a picea they can prick quite a bit ;)
Thank you! 50% perlite 50% zeolite 2-5mm. Prickly, probably a bit in a very detailed wiring but for this generic I did it was fine. Did not get stung at all...
Was that pumice or perlite that you used to pot the tree in? I have never seen pumice that white. I have a two trunk picea like yours, but about 2 1/2 times bigger. I love that style,
@@ArkefthosBonsai How durable is this substrate? What is the watering schedule? Is it possible to use such a substrate in all conifers? Thanks in advance.
Excellent question. Exactly, that's the maon advantage of this. It does not break down. Zeolite could stay like this for decades and has excellent water retention and better cation exchange capacity than acadama. Since I cover the soil with moss, watering is normal. Full sun, and extreme heat I might do 3 times a day but this summer I never went more than 2 times in heatwaves. Most days once during noon. I use similar mix in all conifers. For maples I use a little bit more organics.
I know this isn’t a forum, but I thought I’d ask your advice- I pulled a Norway spruce today on a jobsite we’ll be leaving soon. I potted in a 14” round deep pot and tried to disturb the roots as little as possible. Should I do the hard pruning/structural pruning now, or wait until the plant (hopefully) recovers? I’m sure it lost some roots, but it was in a thicket so I don’t know how much root mass was this tree’s. Thanks!
It's ok Aaron, ask away! If you got more than 50% of the fine roots, you'll probably be fine. Make sure you don't let the tree below freezing temperatures this winter. So, pruning. It will be beneficial to remove some foliage but I wouldn't recommend big cuts and wounds. Small pruning cuts to remove a bit of foliage and take some pressure away from the compromised root system. As for hard and structural pruning, this will have to wait for at least a year. You need to see the tree growing healthy and vigorous before any bonsai work. Patience....
@ I was thinking removal of weak growth and downward growth on the healthy benches would help balance the foliage mass and root mass, but I leave the large branches alone until spring ‘26. I pulled 4 trees. If they all survive, I’d like to plant two on my property as large landscape trees and pot two for bonsái. Thanks for the reply and advice!
Yeah, that is just about the best scenario any one growing bonsai can ever hope for. Especially if for various reasons one doesn't have access to actual yamadori. Good luck with these! Spruces have dedicated growth pattern that needs experience! Cheers!
Great video, thanks! Question if I may: when you eventually prune the branches back, do you look for buds that will be next year's growth first, and then cut the branch back just a little "downstream" of those buds? Piceas do not bud out of old wood and I'm trying to get the foliage to thicken. If left alone, the picea branches will just get ever longer (and always try to go vertical). Or do you just cut back, always making sure you leave some of this year's growth?
Nice question! So, this is Picea glauca "Conica" which is a dwarf cultivar that has always juvenile foliage. That makes it back bud much easier and almost impossible to pinch. If you are asking about normal species of Picea, the answer is this. Picea when healthy and treated right, back bud, not as much as pines or junipers, but they do. To slow down growth, you need to pinch new growth, but it has to be done in the right time. That is, as the buds elongate but before the needles start to spread away from the twig. As the shoot is cylindrical, tight and small, you pinch it in half. Mid June, as the candles have extended, you will be able to see new buds forming along the length, small bulges, then you can cut the fresh shoot more, close to a new forming bud (I do that with Cedrus as well). Then full sun and fertilizer and back budding will occur. Big pruning jobs, in mid June as well, helps with back budding. I've got Picea pungens that back budded from 6 year old wood like it was a maple or something. Like, a lot. Thank you!
Thanks for the reply. I have a picea glauca conica. So to reiterate, I should be able to just snip the branches, and there should be back budding created, either on the old wood or the most recent (e.g. last year's) growth? Then pick the buds that support the direction that I want growth to go, and cut the others that don't?
If it is a "Conica" then you have an easier time. Carefully pinch new growth in half mid spring. New buds will come in the cut region. If you let them elongate fully, you can prune back to a new buds that will be green and visible in mid June. Full sun whenever there is no extreme heatwave. Lots of water and fertilizer during the growing season. Full sun and fertilizer will give you eventually back budding. Good luck!
Hello Sylvia, I probably refered to the soil composition in Tha captions - subtitles. I use a lot of inorganic components that give me a perfect drainage and they don't break down like akadama. So this mix is probably around 45% zeolite, 45% perlite and around 10% organic topsoil from the forest. Zeolite has very high CEC (higher than akadama usually) which means it holds high amounts of fertilizer and releases it slowly to the roots. It is also heavy and doesn't wash out during repot. Cheers!
Please forgive my ignorance, but can I ask what " Kabudachi style" is please? Something I've not heard of before. My local nursery here in the UK has just taken delivery of some twin trunk Conicas and your video has given me loads of inspiration. Thank you for sharing.
No need for "forgiveness", that's what the comment section is all about! Kabudachi is the original Japanese name for clump style trees, meaning trees with more than two trunks connected at the base. So go after one or two (or more) trees and have at it! Lots of fun! Thank you Mike!
Apologies for asking so many questions but can you tell me more about how you grow the moss please? You mention clay and fine sand, is this on a tray or do you lay the moss out on something else. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ask away, anything! So, moss. I grow it on shallow trays under complete shade and water them daily asi water my trees. Trays have drainage holes. You can grow moss on anything even just on the tray. I use top soil from the forest and very fine sand which is where they grow in the forest under the trees.
it's a great tree to start with there vurtualy unkillable the last one of these i made was during a heatwave in 2e week of august i did 360 coil bend on the trunk with this tree and the top i made formal upright. it's still alive and kicking. note i did use rafia.
@@ArkefthosBonsai Thx for saying, I took of 1/3 of the roots at most, put in a regular flower pot slightly smaller than the nursery one.I should have written with the note.Hope no trees were harmed by leaving it out.🙂
Please enable captions!
Can we please get a garden tour video?
@@rikdah he he I have one that shows a part of the garden. Check last November! Cheers!
Excellent work! Excellent presentation of the material. For the sounds of the surrounding world, instead of music, special thanks! :)
Thank you mate! Cheers!
That starting scenery was spectacular! I also loved how you transformed the tree, with root pruning and wiring! I will take more notice of that species' potential when I am next in a garden centre! Thank you, my friend! 😁👌
Thank you John! I have a belief that if this cultivar of the species was known and available to the Japanese back 200 or 300 years ago, it would be one of the most popular and celebrated species for bonsai. Plus we would have a so much detailed guide for styling and caring. Anyway, have a great weekend!
Great work!! Love the pot and the final shape!! Thanks for the info in the captions, it looks like a good time to pick one up myself!!
Great time kit just good! And they are everywhere. Just check the base, dig out a bit of the top soil, before purchase, to make sure you get a good nebari. Thank you!
Love your trees and garden. Thanks for sharing:-)
Thank you Havard! I appreciate it!
Excellent video! I've styled a number of these, following other artists, but have never felt they looked right. You solved it in one, with having the branch line on the top visible, not from underneath!
Thank you! It was just observation of how Picea abies and a few other species.of Picea behave in maturity. I'm glad you got it! Have a great week!
First vidéo for me. Really like the style. And the content. Tanks!
Thank you Christophe! I really appreciate it!
The final result looks really nice. I bought one last Christmas. It was thriving until last summer. I might have overwatered it.
Do they grow dwarf Alberta spruce as landscape trees where you live? I would guess low elevation California would not be ideal for a high elevation spruce. Unless you live in higher elevation. So, it might not be overwatering, just hot prolonged summer.
Awesome 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you mate!
@@ArkefthosBonsai 🌳🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Un primer diseño a futuro.
Tu clima es ideal para las coniferas.
Salud.
Yes it is quite balanced for most species of conifers. Thank you Fabian!
Interesante sustrato, tomo nota 🥸
Try it! It works great if you are able to keep adequate humidity in the pot. Cheers!
Nice video, incredibly nice atmosphere. Isn't styling and repotting at the same time dangerous?
Thank you! Yes it is, for some genus and species. But there are many out there, quite strong that really don't mind, with proper after care. This is Picea glauca "Conica", a mutation of Picea glauca that keeps it's foliage in immature state (unless it reverts). Trees with immature foliage are more resistant to difficult conditions. "Conica" are relatively strong and can't take abuse. This tree is looking great, it is all summer in full (Greek) sun, even in heatwaves and does not care at all. It even grew more than I would like and it needs pruning in 2 months. Cheers Marco!
fabuleuse !...cettte représentation...l'image le cadrage et la formation de l'arbre. merci. cordialement.
I appreciate it Jerome! Have a great night!
Nice! Just bought 5 small picea-s glauca in local garden center. Wanna make a small group in an oval plastic training pot (35 or 40 cm, don't remember). Ooooor... Go bold and buy few more and also bigger ones to create a 11-15 trees group - I have a group training pot of 58 cm wide, which is waiting for a bunch of Lebanon cedars for next spring (if my air-layers will succeed... or not).
I can imagine 11 - 15 Picea glauca "Conica" would be a whole lot of work. Just pruning and wiring take the best part of a week! If those 5 trees have a variety of heights, I would go for a 5 tree forest. Cedrus libani airlayers sound very interesting. Love to know how this goes! Thank you, Yevhen!
@@ArkefthosBonsai Thanks for the advice. 😅 I tried to make 7 spruce trees forest (with 2 bigger additional trees), but stopped at 5 because those additional trees (actually, one double trunk tree) appeared too big comparing to the rest. Just a too big step in sizes (6 eur vs 12 eur, and height of trees bound to their height in garden centers). However, got 2 more pinus peaces with potentially cool forms: one is suitable for semi-cascade with almost equal still flexible double-trunk with wide base; and the other one has a nice taper at the bottom, suitable for semi-cascade too or informal upright.
As for the cedar air-layerings - hardly, but still possible (as a few TH-cam videos suggest that). However, if it succeeds, this should take a while. Those videos mentioned that it was 1-1,5 years 🤔 or at least 2 growing seasons.
I'm just at the early stage of my bonsai journey, so still gonna do a lot of mistakes and experiments.😁
Yes, 2 seasons sounds about minimum, plus some really strong rooting hormone. Good luck, hope to see your creation at some point!
@@ArkefthosBonsai I can definitely see a strong white root in one of the cedar's moss ball (air-layer) through the film. I bought them and made cuts in May or June this year.
Others cedar air-layerings - not sure. Will check in a couple of months. But so far, trunks above air-layer cuts are alive. We'll see. 🤞
Very cool! Do you have Instagram or somewhere where you post your progress??
good stuff.
Thank you Jimmie! Cheers!
Nice result, they really are abundant and easy to get cheap. Did you use 100% Perlite?
You say a joy to wire but being a picea they can prick quite a bit ;)
Thank you! 50% perlite 50% zeolite 2-5mm. Prickly, probably a bit in a very detailed wiring but for this generic I did it was fine. Did not get stung at all...
Was that pumice or perlite that you used to pot the tree in? I have never seen pumice that white. I have a two trunk picea like yours, but about 2 1/2 times bigger. I love that style,
2 1/2 bigger. Must be a beast. Tall, slender kabudachi is really cool. Soil is 50% perlite (bright white) and 50% zeolite (Grey - white) .
@@ArkefthosBonsai How durable is this substrate? What is the watering schedule? Is it possible to use such a substrate in all conifers? Thanks in advance.
Excellent question. Exactly, that's the maon advantage of this. It does not break down. Zeolite could stay like this for decades and has excellent water retention and better cation exchange capacity than acadama. Since I cover the soil with moss, watering is normal. Full sun, and extreme heat I might do 3 times a day but this summer I never went more than 2 times in heatwaves. Most days once during noon. I use similar mix in all conifers. For maples I use a little bit more organics.
I know this isn’t a forum, but I thought I’d ask your advice-
I pulled a Norway spruce today on a jobsite we’ll be leaving soon. I potted in a 14” round deep pot and tried to disturb the roots as little as possible. Should I do the hard pruning/structural pruning now, or wait until the plant (hopefully) recovers? I’m sure it lost some roots, but it was in a thicket so I don’t know how much root mass was this tree’s.
Thanks!
It's ok Aaron, ask away! If you got more than 50% of the fine roots, you'll probably be fine. Make sure you don't let the tree below freezing temperatures this winter. So, pruning. It will be beneficial to remove some foliage but I wouldn't recommend big cuts and wounds. Small pruning cuts to remove a bit of foliage and take some pressure away from the compromised root system. As for hard and structural pruning, this will have to wait for at least a year. You need to see the tree growing healthy and vigorous before any bonsai work. Patience....
@
I was thinking removal of weak growth and downward growth on the healthy benches would help balance the foliage mass and root mass, but I leave the large branches alone until spring ‘26. I pulled 4 trees. If they all survive, I’d like to plant two on my property as large landscape trees and pot two for bonsái.
Thanks for the reply and advice!
@aaronp3411 weak and downward will be fine!
@
Im glad I dig out those trees when I did. They had a crew come in and cut that whole thicket to the ground today.
Yeah, that is just about the best scenario any one growing bonsai can ever hope for. Especially if for various reasons one doesn't have access to actual yamadori. Good luck with these! Spruces have dedicated growth pattern that needs experience! Cheers!
Great video, thanks! Question if I may: when you eventually prune the branches back, do you look for buds that will be next year's growth first, and then cut the branch back just a little "downstream" of those buds? Piceas do not bud out of old wood and I'm trying to get the foliage to thicken. If left alone, the picea branches will just get ever longer (and always try to go vertical). Or do you just cut back, always making sure you leave some of this year's growth?
Nice question! So, this is Picea glauca "Conica" which is a dwarf cultivar that has always juvenile foliage. That makes it back bud much easier and almost impossible to pinch. If you are asking about normal species of Picea, the answer is this. Picea when healthy and treated right, back bud, not as much as pines or junipers, but they do. To slow down growth, you need to pinch new growth, but it has to be done in the right time. That is, as the buds elongate but before the needles start to spread away from the twig. As the shoot is cylindrical, tight and small, you pinch it in half. Mid June, as the candles have extended, you will be able to see new buds forming along the length, small bulges, then you can cut the fresh shoot more, close to a new forming bud (I do that with Cedrus as well). Then full sun and fertilizer and back budding will occur. Big pruning jobs, in mid June as well, helps with back budding. I've got Picea pungens that back budded from 6 year old wood like it was a maple or something. Like, a lot. Thank you!
Thanks for the reply. I have a picea glauca conica. So to reiterate, I should be able to just snip the branches, and there should be back budding created, either on the old wood or the most recent (e.g. last year's) growth? Then pick the buds that support the direction that I want growth to go, and cut the others that don't?
My experience is that the old wood of my picea glauca conica never back buds...
If it is a "Conica" then you have an easier time. Carefully pinch new growth in half mid spring. New buds will come in the cut region. If you let them elongate fully, you can prune back to a new buds that will be green and visible in mid June. Full sun whenever there is no extreme heatwave. Lots of water and fertilizer during the growing season. Full sun and fertilizer will give you eventually back budding. Good luck!
What is the growing medium and why did you use it?
Hello Sylvia, I probably refered to the soil composition in Tha captions - subtitles. I use a lot of inorganic components that give me a perfect drainage and they don't break down like akadama. So this mix is probably around 45% zeolite, 45% perlite and around 10% organic topsoil from the forest. Zeolite has very high CEC (higher than akadama usually) which means it holds high amounts of fertilizer and releases it slowly to the roots. It is also heavy and doesn't wash out during repot. Cheers!
@@ArkefthosBonsai Thank you for the information 🙏
Like your videos fella I’ve just subscribed 👍
Thank you mate! Subscribed as well! Cheers!
@@ArkefthosBonsai
Appreciated fella. You won’t learn Much though 🤣🤣
There is always something to learn. Plus that is not the only point. Entertainment, involvement, conversation... These are always a plus!
@@ArkefthosBonsai
I like your thinking dude, snap
👍👍
Please forgive my ignorance, but can I ask what " Kabudachi style" is please?
Something I've not heard of before. My local nursery here in the UK has just taken delivery of some twin trunk Conicas and your video has given me loads of inspiration. Thank you for sharing.
No need for "forgiveness", that's what the comment section is all about! Kabudachi is the original Japanese name for clump style trees, meaning trees with more than two trunks connected at the base. So go after one or two (or more) trees and have at it! Lots of fun! Thank you Mike!
Apologies for asking so many questions but can you tell me more about how you grow the moss please?
You mention clay and fine sand, is this on a tray or do you lay the moss out on something else. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ask away, anything! So, moss. I grow it on shallow trays under complete shade and water them daily asi water my trees. Trays have drainage holes. You can grow moss on anything even just on the tray. I use top soil from the forest and very fine sand which is where they grow in the forest under the trees.
Where in Hellas do you live?
Hey Kenneth, in the middle of the Peloponnese peninsula, Arcadia, mountain Mainalon. Cheers!
Lovely work 👍🏻 do I dare do this myself? Naaaah! I’d ruin it 😂
What if you do ruin it? It's cheap, let's go again! Thank you!
@@ArkefthosBonsai very true.
it's a great tree to start with there vurtualy unkillable the last one of these i made was during a heatwave in 2e week of august i did 360 coil bend on the trunk with this tree and the top i made formal upright. it's still alive and kicking. note i did use rafia.
It's true. Even though too much root work during summer it's definatly deadly, with any after care.
@@ArkefthosBonsai Thx for saying, I took of 1/3 of the roots at most, put in a regular flower pot slightly smaller than the nursery one.I should have written with the note.Hope no trees were harmed by leaving it out.🙂
Que colecion de bonsais
Still growing. Long way to go. Gracias Guillermo!
man I have the exact duplicate of this tree I wish I could attach its picture here in the comments
That's great Omar! Do you have instagram?
the video is great👍🏼
the music is depressing👎🏻
Thank you Tomas! Wait until you get to the video where I've used the Funeral March! Cheers!