Norway Spruce/Picea Abies

fozz

I bought this little tree in March this year at a nursery up in the Dandenong Ranges. I'd been to one of the two bonsai nurseries down the road with cash in pocket just needing to be spent and after finding them closed for the day the need for a new tree was still there.

Going through the usual straight up and down trees that most nurseries sell I came across this particular one, gave it a quick look and kept on looking at other trees.

For some reason I kept coming back to it and as I was in need for a fix and it was the only thing going with little if any potential I thought why not, never tried one of these before.

So I took it home, sat down with a drink, pad and pencil and started to see what was what.

After a couple of hours I was happy with the bottom three quarters but what to do with the top eluded me so I repotted it, packed up the mess and went inside.

Month after month I've looked at it and the top still didnt look right. I changed angles of branches, wired some up and some down and still didnt like it.

After searching the net and looking at some of the trees that hans and walter have done gave me an idea so with an afternoon free I got the tools out anf had at it.

Picture one is as I bought it, number two is after initial styling and number three is as of half an hour ago.

I'll be interested in what you all think.

Regards,

Ross.

Attached Images

	Picea Abies 1.jpg (72.3 KB, 94 views)
	Picea Abies 3.jpg (72.7 KB, 126 views)
	Picea Abies november 2007.jpg (72.2 KB, 147 views)

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Asus101

Cant see the top bit on the last pic, so...

from pic two, remove the top, jin it down to another branch. It should fix the bulge on top and look rather good.

Well there we go, i darkend the pic and saw it better..

Looks very nice. Good lookin tree.
Oh im not a fan of the top rocks, it looks out of place. Think about using moss?

fozz

Heres a better picture of the final product.

By the way, theres still alot of detail wiring and cleaning out of excess foliage to be done.

As for the moss, I've not had alot of luck keeping moss on the soil, the birds have been finding it very tasty.

Ross.

Attached Images

Picea Abies november 2007 mk1.jpg (71.9 KB, 108 views)

Asus101

thinking about hunting a few more and do a forest planting

Crowned_One

Looks great Ross. Like what you've done with it. But what I want to know is where did you get that pot? I'm drooling over it!

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fozz

I got it from one of the local bonsai nurseries last year. Its a Chinese dragon pot, other than that I cant tell you alot about it.

Just sorry I couldnt afford the other two in the set.

Asus101

I wanna know exactly were you get your stock...... and how much would you charge to ship some down to me

Dav4

That's a nice tree...good nebari and shari work. It will be interesting to see how the tree deals with your mild climate. This is a tree that likes the winter cold and dislikes summer heat. Keep us posted.


Dave

lehket

Nice work! I have a full-sized Norway spruce in my front yard (not sure how old it is, but it's clearly been there for a long time). Just as an FYI, as they mature the heavier branches develop a pronounced sag and then curve back upwards, with most of the foliage "dripping" off of the branch in a downward direction. It gives the tree a distinctive silhouette. Not that I'm suggesting changing your tree, but if you work with the species in the future you might want to try developing one or two along these lines. It's not strictly speaking a proper bonsai style (to my mind anyway), but it is how these trees naturally grow.

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