Cedrus Deodara

[Akhi]

Have grown this from a seed and is now 4 years old. Had initially shaped into an s shape and let grow out
Loki get to make a 20 centimeter tree out of it from the root flare( when it gets it) to the tip.
I was planning to cut all the side branches as I think they have thickened enough for the eventual tree so they can now start ramifying, but letting the leader continue to grow to thicken the main trunk.
Any suggestions welcome. I have never a cedar before so not sure how it will behave, dieback etc. what I did get was an ugly scar when I did not remove the wire on time where I think I will get the eventual base to be.




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[Akhi]

Hi Bonsai Gurus need some help here still holding as I don't know much on how this tree responds. Any advice will be a great help


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[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Akhi,
Not sure if it helps but,
I have got one of these that's been in training mode for a few seasons - In that time it has been cut, bent, wired, clamped, sawn, jinned and it has not seemed to mind any of my torture at all. I trim back new extending shoots to fresh back buds, after a little new growth length is achieved. I do this to it keep compact, as I don't want all the branches to take on their weeping form - too much. (Your desired style may differ.)

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Akhi,
Not sure if it helps but,
I have got one of these that's been in training mode for a few seasons - In that time it has been cut, bent, wired, clamped, sawn, jinned and it has not seemed to mind any of my torture at all. I trim back new extending shoots to fresh back buds, after a little new growth length is achieved. I do this to keep it compact, as I don't want all the branches to take on their weeping form - too much. (Your desired style may differ.)

[shibui]

Pruning will not hurt the tree as long as you leave some live shoots and healthy needles for it to grow from. Pruning where you have marked the pink lines should be fine.
Be careful letting the leader grow while pruning lower branches. Apically dominant trees will put all the energy into the growing leader and lower branches may not shoot well, may even die off if the leader is growing very strong. It may be worth pruning the leader at the same time as the branches to make sure they sprout well. You can always let another leader take off after you have good growth in the lower branches.

I'm not sure how you will go with layering a cedar to get new roots from that scar. They do not seem to grow very well from cuttings but may be OK layering - I have not tried it with cedar.

[CraigM]

Have found layering to be very slow, think already in my third season (lost track) with Atlantic cedar and no roots yet, good callus last time I checked couple of weeks ago. If it doesn’t throw roots this season will give up.

- first attempt, knowing tree was slow to send out roots, tried cutting windows for airlayer. Waste of time, they callused over
- second attempt, ring barked and removed the previous windows, this too managed to bridge the gap.
- third attempt, increased the width of the ring bark, applied a wire tourniquet as well.

[Matthew]

Pruning will not hurt the tree as long as you leave some live shoots and healthy needles for it to grow from. Pruning where you have marked the pink lines should be fine.
Be careful letting the leader grow while pruning lower branches. Apically dominant trees will put all the energy into the growing leader and lower branches may not shoot well, may even die off if the leader is growing very strong. It may be worth pruning the leader at the same time as the branches to make sure they sprout well. You can always let another leader take off after you have good growth in the lower branches.

I'm not sure how you will go with layering a cedar to get new roots from that scar. They do not seem to grow very well from cuttings but may be OK layering - I have not tried it with cedar.

Neil

is spot on . Mine is over 30 years old formal upright and is very apex dominant. It is a large tree (just under 1 metre and is sooo due for a heavy prune and wire )

[Akhi]

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Thanks all, sharp chop, fingers crossed now to see where it goes


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[Daluke]

Looks good mate!

Feed heavily and it will fill out in no time. Use a fertiliser with a high n value.

Nice trunk movement - I look forward to an update.

[Akhi]

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I finally moved this one into a ceramic pot, still a super deep pot as this tree has still got some 10 years to go. Starting to develop bark slowly now.