Cedrus Deodora I believe

[MJL]

I really enjoyed the 2018 BSV Sales Day this morning; friendly people - well organised. It was good to catch up will fellow members of the Yarra Valley Bonsai Society at the sale, along with many other good folk too.

I purchased this Cedrus ($60) love it. It adds a reasonable bonsai to my collection.

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Very happy! I look forward to tending it for many years. I believe I can tighten it all up and continue to improve the shape.

From discussions at the show, I understand that this vigorous grower does not bud-back as well as other cedars and the verdant weeping habit can be harder to maintain than other preferred Cedars. Still, I really like this and will give it a trim in soon as was advised by a couple of people at this morning's show.

I look forward to repotting in due course (not now). It is pushing up out of the pot and I think a shallower pot may look better too.

Anyway, all in good time.

Cheers,

Mark

PS - I nearly purchased a Japanese White Pine ... what's the saying, you snooze - you lose! Well done to whoever got that for $200 or so - good buying I reckon.

[MJL]

A cup of coffee and and early morning haircut.....

Albeit the weeping habit of the cedrus that I purchased yesterday has a nice look about it .... I was advised to trim most of the growth back to the two new buds on each stem - encouraging ramification and controlling shape.

Given that it was suggested that I should trim immediately, it seemed a good way to spend a Sunday morning. It was quite a big haircut - but the bones of this tree are good I reckon. I can see how some wiring will benefit the shape and I may take a few inches off the top too.

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In this second photo below - you can also see a thick, straight branch about 3/4 the way up too. I’ll need to address this in time too.

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Enjoy your weekend all.




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[pebble]

What a great purchase, look forward to seeing this one progress


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[wiggs]

Anyone confirm best time of the year in Sydney to repot these?


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[wiggs]

Can anyone advise the best time of the year to repot these in Sydney?


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[Matthew]

Not sure in Sydney but I will repot mine very early spring and im in NE vic so its alot colder in winter . Its long overdue and is quite old started life in a pot in the late 70's . Its formal upright and about 90cm tall. They are very forgiving pruning wise ,just don't prune back to bare wood.

[Watto]

My guess is September in Sydney

[shibui]

I usually repot mine in September or October down here - just because that's what I've always done. There has been talk that cedar sometimes drop the needles when root pruned in spring but I have not seen that happen.
Lots of experienced growers repot conifers in autumn and I have seen deodar cedar included in the list of suitable species for autumn root pruning.
Some of the really experienced growers around Melbourne repot cedrus in mid summer and tell us that the trees just keep growing as if nothing has happened.

[TimJ7]

Lovely plant, I like the style you have given it! I have been working on one I bought about a year ago and have been growing it

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on to give the trunk some thickness. It's still got a way to go, but bonsai is after all, about time....
Nice work!
TimJ

[MJL]

Hey Everyone,
I am just circling back to this thread. There’s a few comments about repotting on this thread that I started. I am now eager to repot this tree - with spring soon upon us, could I have a go at it this weekend? It’s a rainy Melbourne weekend and I feel like doing something. Here’s the tree as it sits today. What do you reckon? Have a crack or wait a few weeks or even some suggest mid summer? And how hard the root prune on cedrus? Cheers, Mark

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[MJL]

All good-I have advised by an experienced grower and now I am going to hold off until mid-Dec/Jan. All good - the voice of experience helps. Cheers.


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[Boics]

Funny the variance of repot recommendations everything from September to January?

I like the look of this tree, keep us posted!

[MJL]

In my last post to this thread, I was going to wait until December to repot my Cedrus. I had varying advice from early Spring to mid-Summer and indeed, Autumn too. This feedback and my experience hacking roots of some younger Cedrus Deo's suggested to me that this variant of Cedrus is a reasonably resilient plant. So... I decided to work on it today. It just felt right. It has lots of healthy new growth and I think there's vigour in the limbs to sustain a pretty strong repot. Here's a the story if the last 5 or so hrs.

Here's the tree as it was this morning in the old pot.

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I wanted to wire it while it was still root bound in the old pot. I am not sure if this is the right way to do things but this approach gives me a firm based to re-wire. Here's it wired with a bit of a trim too.

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And from the top too.

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I went pretty hard at the roots too...

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When it was re-wired I noticed that I really liked the triangle reflected at the bottom 2/3 of the tree. So... I decided to take the top 4-5 inches off and wire a new leader. While it looks a little sparse at the top now ... I think it is in better shape for future growth. I also changed the pot. It's about the same size as the older glazed pot but I preferred the unglazed look. Nothing special but in a few years I think it might deserve a better pot too.

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I hope I haven't made any disastrous decisions by repotting today - or indeed, creating a new leader. I think it looks ok though.

[MJL]

A quick photo update to help new folk see what happens after a repot of this species.

After my reasonably harsh repot a month ago - see above. I noticed brown tips on most of the new growth - I was a bit worried.

Seems to have bounced back brilliantly though. Lots of healthy new growth now. I guess brown tips were ‘shock’ - not sure but I hope this helps.

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Bonsai teaches me patience.