Dwarf Alberta spruce styling

[DWHorv722]

Hi there,

Just finished styling my first Alberta Spruce and I love the result! Just the end of summer here so I thought the timing was perfect, just wanted to ask for some help on how best to preserve the Jin (first time trying it) and what to do to give it the best odds of survival (leaving it in nursery soil over winter)

Thanks!

 

[Shibui]

Well done on your first styling.
Guessing you are not aware that DAS is not a favorite bonsai species because it's difficult to maintain a good tree shape over years. Hopefully you'll be working on some different species that can replace your 'first'
Dead wood gradually rots away. Faster when we maintain good water and sun. There are several treatments that can extend the life of dead wood on trees.
Lime sulphur is the traditional dead wood treatment. Lime sulphur is an old fungicide/insecticide so you can find it at plant nurseries. It's also used as a fungicide treatment on pets so check the pet supply stores. It's painted on the dead wood either straight from the container or diluted 50/50 with water which seems to help it soak in. Smells like rotten eggs so best used outdoors. It also turns bright yellow when first applied but do not panic. Slowly turns the wood white over the next 24 hours. Needs to be reapplied every 6 months or yearly.
Some modern wood hardeners like Earl's Wood hardener and some epoxy wood treatments are also used but don't bleach the wood white like lime sulphur.

 

[DWHorv722]

Well done on your first styling.
Guessing you are not aware that DAS is not a favorite bonsai species because it's difficult to maintain a good tree shape over years. Hopefully you'll be working on some different species that can replace your 'first'
Dead wood gradually rots away. Faster when we maintain good water and sun. There are several treatments that can extend the life of dead wood on trees.
Lime sulphur is the traditional dead wood treatment. Lime sulphur is an old fungicide/insecticide so you can find it at plant nurseries. It's also used as a fungicide treatment on pets so check the pet supply stores. It's painted on the dead wood either straight from the container or diluted 50/50 with water which seems to help it soak in. Smells like rotten eggs so best used outdoors. It also turns bright yellow when first applied but do not panic. Slowly turns the wood white over the next 24 hours. Needs to be reapplied every 6 months or yearly.
Some modern wood hardeners like Earl's Wood hardener and some epoxy wood treatments are also used but don't bleach the wood white like lime sulphur.

I’ll be sure to see if I can find some of that and give it a try! I’ve read that these can be a bit of a nightmare so I appreciate the advice, I also have a little juniper I am practicing on, both are just cheap nursery stock but I love how they ended up, especially this spruce! Hopefully I can enjoy these guys for a while!

 

[DWHorv722]

The tree also looked extremely healthy with lots of buds getting ready for the spring, so styling felt like the right thing to do for the spruce, might repot in the spring as it starts to wake up but don’t want to over-stress the tree lol.