Lucky Find: Canadian Hemlock

kompik

[If you're not in the mood for a rambling tale, skip down to this: "=}" ]
So, I headed over to Oakland Nursery (the closest thing Columbus, OH has to a "bonsai nursery"...and by that I mean they sell dwarf conifers in 4" pots and a variety of overpriced shrubs) to buy some of the Canadian Shagnum Peat Moss they just got in and figured I'd blow an hour looking through their stock for something with bonsai potential *and* in my price range. They had some nice big Jade Trees for $500. They had some Hinoki False Cypress about as thick as my pinky (nice foliage and curvy trunks though) for $50. Tons of dwarf / miniature / slow-grow this and that. Japanese Maples as thick as my thumb, but with no discernable bonsai potential (well, I guess I could have air-layered something off of them eventually) for $300-500 each.

Disclaimer: Of coarse, last year, when I was first thinking of giving bonsai another try, all of this kind of material held unlimited potential to my novice imagination. So, now in my personal collection I have a half-dozen dwarf trees in 4" pots, a 1-gal dwarf spruce, a 1-gal cotoneaster, and only one Shimpaku that holds any real potential. My wife's put me on the "let's see if you can do anything with what you already have before you buy anything new" budget, so I'm really trying to be careful with my purchases.

Then, I wandered way out back and came across a cluster of 3-foot-tall Canadian Hemlocks in 2-gal pots for $20. That can't be right...not dwarf, not $80...wow. So I set to rooting around thru the group of trees (around 30-40 pots). While most of the trees had a trunk diameter of just under 1", I was soon a little disappointed to find that most of them either suffered from reverse taper or were multi-trunk or two trees in the same pot. I was just about to settle for one I found with some curvy movement low in the trunk when I found this gem.

Okay, my excitement over this little tree might make those of you blessed enough to live in areas with better bonsai nurseries snicker, but finding a tree with this kind of basal flare is a rare thing. Considering the things I gleefully snatched up last year for the same amount of money, this is vastly superior and a great value in my eyes at $20.


=} Here are the pics I took right after I brought it home. Each trunk image corresponds to the base detail following it (same viewing angle..roughly for the last two). Any suggestions on which view (or a slightly different angle) holds the most potential would be welcome. I've thought of maybe adjusting the angle of the trunk (in relation to the ground) to maybe conceal the side with poor root developement (see #46847 & #46849), but maybe just making that the back would be enough.

Attached Images

	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK 1.jpg (70.3 KB, 77 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Trunk 01.jpg (73.0 KB, 61 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Base 01.jpg (67.1 KB, 75 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Trunk 02.jpg (69.6 KB, 51 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Base 02.jpg (68.3 KB, 57 views)

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kompik

Heh, didn't realize I couldn't attach more than 6 images at a time. Here are the rest.

Attached Images

	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Trunk 03.jpg (67.9 KB, 16 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Base 03.jpg (68.1 KB, 51 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Trunk 04.jpg (69.9 KB, 20 views)
	sm Tsuga canadensis CANADIAN HEMLOCK Base 04.jpg (68.7 KB, 37 views)

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Joe Mc

Looks like you found a nice tree! I have read that Hemlocks can make good bonsai, but haven't seen a good one yet. (I haven't really looked much though)

They grow wild around here and I had planned to go collecting this year but just haven't had the time (Newly Wed)

mike108

Well what plans do you have for this tree.

malik

what I would like to know is what kind of soil mix are you going to repot it into?

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kompik

Seeing as this is my first real attempt at a bonsai and I just got the tree, I'm not really sure. Style-wise, I think I'd either go Informal Upright or maybe even Slanting or Windswept. I doubt I could wrestle this thing into any kind of cascade. I'll have to spend some more time with the tree to get a better idea.

Likewise, I'm open to suggestions here. I've assembled and sifted the materials for soil (crushed granite grit, Fuller's Earth, pine bark, Sphagnum Peat Moss, lava rock, etc.), but I haven't made mixes for my trees yet. Any special consideration for Hemlocks?

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kompik

Here are some better images of the trunk from the Front shown in View 1. It poses some difficulty since it has two large scars facing the viewer and the trunk bows that way as well.

As for the soil, Gustafson and Coussins are the only two authors I have available that talk about Hemlocks specifically, and they suggest between 30/70 to 40/60 Organic to Inorganic, so I'm going to use the following:

2 Parts (33%) Pine Bark (Mulch)
3 Parts (50%) Crushed Granite (Chicken Grit)
1 Part (16.7%) Fuller's Earth (Oil Dry product)
+ Osmocote slow-release organic fertilizer

Attached Images

	sm Hemlock Front 1.jpg (61.1 KB, 27 views)
	sm Hemlock Front 3.jpg (71.4 KB, 32 views)
	sm Hemlock Front 2.jpg (58.7 KB, 24 views)

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gregb

Congratulations on your find I'd like to offer some advice that has worked quite well for me regarding newly acquired nursery stock. Before you rush into re-potting this tree, go back to the nursery and find out if they know when they acquired it. If at all possible, hold off on messing with the roots for one growing season if you can do it. Why? Because it's your first hemlock; hemlocks aren't native to your area; you are new to bonsai in general. Get in tune with where to site the tree in your growing area, its watering needs and fertilizing requirements.

Too often I see newly acquired trees repotted right away (oftentimes in the wrong soil, out of inexperience) then the tree slowly declines in vigor as more and more insults are heaped on it until it eventually dies.

Do as much research on hemlock bonsai this first growing season while you learn how to make your tree grow rampantly. It looks to me like it could go at least one more grow season in the large pot it's in. Most growers pot stock for retail in generous pots with plenty of slow release fertilizer to keep them going for quite a while. I have taken advantage of this fact and really don't do a thing with the tree until I can manage to keep it healthy in the pot it came in. Just another perspective on what to do with newly acquired stock

kompik

Thanks Greg. I think I'll be headed back to the nursery tomorrow to pick up the other Hemlock that caught my eye (since this tree can thrive in partial shade and "full sun" is non-existant in my woodsy yard), so I'll ask about when they got the trees then. Just out of curiosity, why is this information relevant? What should I keep my ears open for?


I guess I've read to many stories about how horribly nurseries can treat their stock trees that I'm overly eager to "liberate" them from their plastic prisons. =) I was looking thru Martin Treasure's "Bonsai Life Histories" book for inspiration for how to handle a tree like this when I came to a pair of nursery stock dwarf cedars that looked to be in the same general condition as my new hemlock. He also advocated leaving them in the nursery pot for a year, keeping them carefully watered and lightly fed to restore them to vigorous health, and then moving them to a training pot the next year. It seems like sound advice coming from two good souces, so I would be silly not to listen to it. I certainly don't want to risk my only good tree on hastiness.

FWIW, when I repot this guy next year, I think I'll try the matchstick/toothpick method of encouraging the formation of new surface roots that Deborah Koreshoff suggests in "Bonsai: It's Art, Science, History and Philosophy."

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