Help me ID and style this 'potential' japanese cedar

[nerdboy]

Hello and good evening,

I have recently dug this tree and placed it in this plastic pot. I'd say its been a month at least now since being dug and potted. I am focusing on building some quality roots as their really wasn't much going on below the surface (when i dug it). Since digging I haven't cut anything back, and I haven't suffered any die back (touch wood). Its in a very airy mix of mainly pumice with some super fine bark and 1-3mm scoria. Have applied season and fed with some seamungus. Though not having a lot of roots, it has beautiful flaking bark and a solid taper. I think its got potential.

The issue? I have no idea what species this is or how to style it. I've tried using a plant idenitying app and it came back as a japanese cedar but i'm not convinced. Someone on Vic bonsai on facebook said it could be a cryptomeria.

Styling: I'm not in any rush to style and cut back, and I might even leave styling to next year given the stress of being relocated, but I would love some suggestions on what to do. Should I be building some pads? Should I grow it out and let it go wild and work on it in a few years. Speak freely please.

TL:DR - What species species is this tree and how would you style it?

[GavinG]

It could be a variety of Chamecyparis obtusa. It should be robust in the pot, but getting branches and foliage to get horizontal pads/layers and so on might take a lot of work. i wouldn't do any seriously styling on it for a year - let it recover from the move first. As a direction, because all the foliage is high, and the trunk is fairly featureless, you might consider leaning it over to the right so the trunk looks a bit more dynamic, and when the time comes, bring branches back down to fill spaces.

And good luck!

Gavin

[shibui]

Thought I replied a couple of days ago???

I suspect the ID app is correct. There are a number of Cryptomeria cultivars that look way different to the original species. Take a look at Conifer gardens catalogue to see a few. - https://www.conifer.com.au/our-products ... f-conifers