B.uneasy
Chumono
Im not sure what species this tree is. Can anyone identify it? My biggest reason for posting this is, should I get it??? Lol is it worth the $20?
Mystery Living Christmas Tree
- Thread starter B.uneasy
- Start date
B.uneasy
Chumono
B.uneasy
Chumono
Also, how could I make this look interesting even though the bottoms straight?
Aeast
Shohin
Concolor fir
B.uneasy
Chumono
Do they make good bonsai?
B.uneasy
Chumono
Im hoping to go back to the store today just incase someone else decides to grab this tree. Does anyone think this material has potential? And if so how could I make it interesting?
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Rather than answer this question myself... I am going to ask you: "what should you look for when evaluating a nursery tree for potential as bonsai?" Because the next question will be "how does this tree stack up?"
B.uneasy
Chumono
I cannot tell whats going on with the nebari. I have no idea what is buried underneath those weeds and dirt.
James W.
Chumono
That looks pretty skinny for $20. And the double trunk is just trouble unless you like that kind of thing. I'm not seeing anything I would want to bring home.
RKatzin
Omono
Have you ever seen a white fir bonsai? I can't recollect any.
They are a very beautiful tree in the forest! All the neddles extend horizontal from the twigs and the twigs extend horizontal from the branches. This growth habit creates a very neat, clean appearance. Very semetrical structure of broad fans stacked like shingles. Very pretty in spring with the neon new growth on the tips and a startling white tower when covered in snow. I have a 70 footer right outside my window and the woods are full of them around here. The wood is brittle and snaps easily under stress, and rots quickly when dead.
None of these aspects lend the tree to bonsai culture. In order for me to adopt a tree for bonsai development the tree has to present something that catches my eye, or some aspect that I can develop. Years of keeping an eye out and I have yet to find a white fir that presents an image that makes me go, "yeah, I can work with that."
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
- Messages
- 11,437
- Reaction score
- 23,655
- USDA Zone
- 5b
I don't see $20 worth of trunk there. I would give it a pass.
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
Not worth it IMO for bonsai. Take that $20 and put it in an envelope and save it, keep adding more $20s when you can until you can buy a nice prebonsai tree that will be a better candidate for bonsai than this one.
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Is there a spot in yard to plant as specimen tree
?
?
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
At $20, this concolor fir is overpriced. Try offering less after Christmas. Maybe you'll get a deal (you, of course, are the judge).
Concolors remain flexible for quite a long time, so those straight stems could be bent into some interesting curves, you just need some copper wire that is about 1/3rd the thickness. This is something you could do, in your garage, as soon as you have the wire.
The needle size of firs cannot be reduced much in size per my experience, so a good bonsai would likely need to be fairly large. The game is the same as with pines; you need to let a sacrifice run to thicken what will be your trunk, then remove the sacrifice when the lower trunk section is as thick as you want + rinse&repeat. Of course, you don't have to do that. Meanwhile, you could also remove those weeds and pull off enough of the soil to see the base of this tree - does it have any nebari and, if so, at what point of view does it seem most interesting? You wiring/styling of the tree ought to agree with this or you need to find the most pleasing compromise.
Come next spring, as the buds swell, you could repot it. You should be able to remove all of the nursery soil and transfer it to a bonsai substrate. You'll then need to secure it into the same plastic pot, another plastic pot, a pond basket, a colander, a grow bag, or a bonsai pot (your choice). Then watch it grow. As the new growth 'hardens' and you see buds at the tips, you should look for buds beginning to form at the bases of some needles. You can cut fir back to a bud, but any stem that doesn't have a bud at its end will become a dead stem, once the needles drop, which they will do after a couple of years or so.
My point is that there is a lot you could learn from this tree.
Concolors remain flexible for quite a long time, so those straight stems could be bent into some interesting curves, you just need some copper wire that is about 1/3rd the thickness. This is something you could do, in your garage, as soon as you have the wire.
The needle size of firs cannot be reduced much in size per my experience, so a good bonsai would likely need to be fairly large. The game is the same as with pines; you need to let a sacrifice run to thicken what will be your trunk, then remove the sacrifice when the lower trunk section is as thick as you want + rinse&repeat. Of course, you don't have to do that. Meanwhile, you could also remove those weeds and pull off enough of the soil to see the base of this tree - does it have any nebari and, if so, at what point of view does it seem most interesting? You wiring/styling of the tree ought to agree with this or you need to find the most pleasing compromise.
Come next spring, as the buds swell, you could repot it. You should be able to remove all of the nursery soil and transfer it to a bonsai substrate. You'll then need to secure it into the same plastic pot, another plastic pot, a pond basket, a colander, a grow bag, or a bonsai pot (your choice). Then watch it grow. As the new growth 'hardens' and you see buds at the tips, you should look for buds beginning to form at the bases of some needles. You can cut fir back to a bud, but any stem that doesn't have a bud at its end will become a dead stem, once the needles drop, which they will do after a couple of years or so.
My point is that there is a lot you could learn from this tree.
