Thuja From Construction Site

BrianBay9

I'm new, so I'll give you an idea of what I'm working on, starting with this Thuja. I collected it from a construction site, prior to the concrete. It's been in this tub for about a year and a half. I need to give serious consideration to design, so suggestions would be welcomed.

Thanks
Brian

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BrianBay9

Here's a close-up of the trunk(s).

Brian

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TreeBay

Congratulations! This is one of the best examples of Thuja I have seen posted in a long time, and looks to be well worth the investment it takes to overcome the foliage's typical wild habit.

This has a great chance of becoming a fine bonsai.

Regards,

Matt
(ordinarily a card-carrying thuja hater)

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BrianBay9

Thanks Matt. Sometimes you just take what you can find.

This is my first major carving/deadwood job. Got any suggestions about which parts of that Medusa's head to lose? In particular I question the two large trunks on the left (one pointing up and a little toward the camera, and the other slanting right). Should they go, or do I need something to balance all the motion to the right?

Brian

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Rene_Voortwist

Brian,

That's one very good looking trunk ! Apart from that I have found the foliage of thuja's ( and also lawson's cypresses which are more or less similar) very difficult. It's not easy to build layers because it tends to only make new leaves in a horizontal way. I hope you have more luck than I because this is more than worth the try.

good luck, René

TreeBay

If the branches are entirely dead, you can sometimes do quite a bit of bending with some heat applied to the deadwood. There is a link in bonsaiTALK Links under Techniques -> Deadwood, I think and Walter Pall, I believe, had posted something on this here several months ago. In any case, you can always carve them. It's hard to put them back later, so take it slow.

Regards,

Matt

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Deacon Jim

Brian,

How much fun is this tree? Nice.

I simply took out the one piece of deadwood on the left that stood straight up. Then removed the foilage on the lower right. The tree does the rest of the work by itself.

A simple suggestion,
Deacon

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TreeBay

I think you executed the virtual well, Deacon - I was afraid it was the real tree for a moment! I would give a lot of thought against converting that lower branch to deadwood. The foliage definitely needs to be driven back toward the trunk, but I seem to feel it should be alive.

Regards,

Matt

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DavidN

I too agree Matt. The lower branch is a must keep. I don't think you should jin/deadwood any more of those live branches. Is there any chance to get a large photo of your tree so we can have a closer look at virtual styling it.

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