possibly cypress ID help please

[hoosiercheetah]

So I have these two bushy things. They've been in the ground in my yard, totally un-pruned for probably more than 5 years. They were about three feet diameter, about two feet tall, round green lumps. I thought they were juniper so I decided to bonsai them, and earlier this year I wacked a bunch of ground-level branches off of them. This is what they look like now:





Over in the Juniper area, they said these are probably some kind of cypress or false-cypress. I looked up a few of those, and I think maybe that's it, but this is what the leaves look like:







So my two questions are, What is this stuff? and Will it Bonsai?

My plan is to leave them in the ground but prune and train them like bonsai. I appreciate any thoughts, opinions, or insights anyone would like to share. Thank you!!

DISCLAIMER: I've never owned a bonsai and all I know about them is what I've read on the internet, and Karate Kid III. I learn fast but I basically don't know anything.

 

[vaibatron]

Hate to be bearer of bad news but the pruning you did may have erased your chances of creating a convincing bonsai image. Unless you have an incredibly ambitious attitude or a gigantic pot, these may be best left in the ground.

It happens to the best of us at some time or another. Welcome to crazy!

p.S. As for the species, I'll leave it for someone else to chime in.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Hate to be bearer of bad news but the pruning you did may have erased your chances of creating a convincing bonsai image. Unless you have an incredibly ambitious attitude or a gigantic pot, these may be best left in the ground.

It happens to the best of us at some time or another. Welcome to crazy!

p.S. As for the species, I'll leave it for someone else to chime in.

I wish I had some "before" pics. I really only took off branches that were either dead, or ran straight along the ground for 18 inches, ending in a tiny tuft of green. I left everything that looked healthy; the whole inside and bottom of the bushes were dead. That being said, I accept that there may be no potential here, for all I know about it. That's why I'm here asking the experts. ;-)

Oh, and I absolutely plan to leave these in the ground.

 

[Txhorticulture]

Some kinda of false cypress, not juniper. Chamaecyparis. The way of pruning you are referring to is called niwaki

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Some kinda of false cypress, not juniper. Chamaecyparis. The way of pruning you are referring to is called niwaki

Thank you for that! I'll look it up and lean new things!

 

[Txhorticulture]

I think the full name of your plant is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'filliformis' or a similar cultivar. Commonly called thread leaf cypress.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I think I'm going to name them Groot.