Arborvitae: An Evergreen Cedar Tree [Bonsai]
Enjoy photos of this tree from my outdoor collection of small trees.
Arborvitae can make an attractive bonsai tree with a bit of creativity. Check out my progress.
Normally grown as a wall hedge to block neighbors from looking into the yard, Arborvitae can be pruned and clipped year-round into many varieties of shapes.
The way I prune mine is to make it look more like its taller cousin, the Western Red Cedar. Whenever I find fronds of needles growing between the branch joins, I pluck them out, and it forces needles to bud and fan from other parts of the tree. Stripping a branch clean on the inside causes it to swell and get thicker, grow longer, and it also thickens the trunk.
Arborvitae have something in their DNA that knows where to grow needles on the tree to absorb sunlight with the maximum amount of surface area as possible. Without continual care, the tree will return to its natural hedge form and develop suckers all over the branches and trunk to fill in any voids.
The inner shape of the tree is most visible from this front view angle.
The tree is a bit without a defined form because I bent the crown over so far. While it continues to provide health for the tree, an new thinner branch is being allowed to climb up to new heights.
A new branch of the tree now reigns supreme, to bear the burden of the crown of needles. So goes the Game of Thorns.
Historical Information
ID: 0001
Nickname: Ozma
Type: #Arborvitae
Age: 6 or 7 years
Grown: #yamadori (I think I cut it from the root where it was growing as a sucker weed)
Last repotting: November 9, 2018
Last wired: July 31, 2019
Other articles from @creativetruth featuring this tree:
- Emerald Queen, Saphire Sorceress, and a romantic gesture from Aphrodite.
- Turning Twigs into Trees
- Four Seasons of Tree Growth
- First Winter Flower
- Thinning a Shrub to resemble a Tree
- Fantastic Tour of my Spring Bonsai Collection
- I'm gonna git you, Sucka! Clipping branch suckers to prevent reverse tapering
- Hiding in Plain Sight, Be Careful What You Wish For
- Bonsai Maintenance: Getting Down Into the Roots
- July: Evergreen Tree Adjustment
Be sure to follow my work this week. I'm in the process of sharing the whole host of bonsai trees in my collection. There is over thirty trees I am growing. That means you can enjoy more than a month of fresh content from @creativetruth's back porch.
Share the goodness with me.
Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.
Find me on discord and chat with other tree growers, bonsai enthusiasts, and gardeners. We have quite a few accredited experts filling out our ranks, and a helpful Spanish-speaking community.
#arborvitae #evergreen #green #conifer
