Thuja Bonsai - $20 Hedge Thuja to Bonsai

[@redzepplin7397]

Turned out much better then i thought it would have, imo, id take the 3 tops off, leave the 2, but shorten them, looks great

[@BlueJayBonsai]

Yes, I like this idea.

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Nice thanks for the styling tips😀👍

[@arnoldmmbb]

Really nice styling hopes it survives the winter 👍

[@scoutandlouie4652]

When you cut to the finished tree I tell you my jaw about hit the floor! Nice work!

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

What a great compliment, thanks so much. You rock!

[@mattbrennan647]

Love the cedars. Looks like a Emerald Green Arborvitae. Nice work. Keep growing. Thanks

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks for the encouragement 😀👍

[@emding6285]

just another great video. thanks for uploading !!!

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks I appreciate the comment as it makes all the difference. Please like, comment, subscribe to other bonsai practitioners videos as well. It takes a lot of courage and time and it makes a big difference to us all. Thanks again.

[@emding6285]

@@kootenaybonsaicanada sure thing, been following your channel for awhile and watched all your vids 😎🤘

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Nice, the other day I watched an early video and had a good laugh at my lack of knowledge and skill. It’s fun to see my own progression. Thanks for joining the ride.

[@tckssm421]

J'ai toujours hésité à acheter ce genre de mutlitronc a mi-hauteur mais là tu m'as donné envie. Super travail. Merci. 🙏

[@BarefootBonsai]

Man that top is amazing! I've definitely seen trees like that in the wild. Great work!

[@leszekrybak5067]

Looking good... excellent work. Personally (but this is just my thing as I tend to be conservative on the design) W would get rid of most of the long jins... leave one or two, shorten them. At this point I find them sort of overpowering. On the side note: your Aspen grove looks absolutely amazing; so realistic, naturally small leaves look so good. And the bear gives it a sense of scale... good job on this one.

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Ya, that’s what people that see it in person say. Get rid of the crazy long jins. It’s way to unnatural. And thanks for the compliment on the aspen forest. It’s really looking nice these days. As the wether is cooling today for a week I can finally get my trees back on the benches . They’ve been on the ground most of the summer due to heat. Looking forward to us getting to meet in person. Keep in touch

[@BostonBonsaiIdiot]

No freaking way. That came out so cool. The top is borderline bizarre, but so unique that you have to keep it. Love it. I’m definitely one of those people (I think and bonsai addict is) that takes a second and third look at every think based shrub are the big box store and wonders what could be done with it. What a great answer to that question, we’ll done.

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks, I hope this inspires people to make their own, as it’s a inexpensive way to get a tree on its way in a couple of years. I’m definitely going to buy another couple next spring.😀👍 Rafael from evolution bonsai in Canada does one a few videos back, turns it sideways, i think it’s called “bonsai from cheap hedge”. Something different to do with the same material.

[@BostonBonsaiIdiot]

@@kootenaybonsaicanada will check it out for sure, thanks man.

[@BarefootBonsai]

Thanks for this video! I just pulled a couple of these out of the garbage today and will be using this as a starting point even though someone has already told “that’s not good for bonsai” haha You can bonsai anything!

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Nice, I just purchased another one for next year. I repotted it last week to get better soil. And I’ll style it the following spring. I also restyled the one in this video to try to move it forward. I want to know if it will back bud and create interior growth or if it’s doomed to only put growth in the tips and the interior slowly die. I’ll post a video soon. Great to practice on and well done to try to prove the naysayers wrong. I do think it’s important to realize that some species are way better for bonsai and in the long run 20years + are the trees that will shine. Thanks for commenting and good luck

[@BarefootBonsai]

@@kootenaybonsaicanada The back budding question is one I'm trying to answer too. I've had one cut down and in the ground for a year and have gotten zero back buds so far.

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Umm 🤔 - thanks for letting me know

[@porkoholic]

Great work... I'd try to make all the live branches a little more compact and maybe break the dead branches by hand once they're dry... Thank you for the inspiration...

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks for the tip.

[@zackau9807]

I like the floppy, it looks great to me! Tho I would also have no idea what to do with the tops, lol

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks, as it begins to grow the tips are growing straight up, so that kinda strange but we’ll see how it develops over time 👍😀

[@calvinchau5479]

I like it

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks Calvin

[@SPEAKERDWELLER03]

Very cool, I just picked one of these up that I found neglected at a nursery. Hopefully I can get it back in good health so I can really cut it back when it goes dormant this winter. Do your tree back bud off the trunk at all?

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Yes, I’ll post a video some time soonish as my tree need a new styling. And yes it’s back budding off the trunk😀👍 just a little right now.

[@mattbrennan647]

Just a heads up. That looks like an Emerald Green Arborvitae. If it is the deer will chew it down to a stick (especially over winter). I know from experience that it’s like cotton candy to deer. Wrap it in deer netting for protection. Good luck. Thanks, keep growing

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks for the heads up 😀👍

[@SuperPeleke]

I've always wanted to try a Thuja as a bonsai, they have big trunks, they are hardy, they are common around me. But as you mentioned they die back like crazy in the inside foliage. I'm curious to see what the growth will be like for your bonsai thuja. I wonder if you can get some backbud internal growth so that the tree can fill out inside and compact it.

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

I’m hoping that I can get some internal budding. We’ll just have to wait and see. I figure lots of direct morning sun will help and fertilizer. 😀👍

[@SuperPeleke]

@@kootenaybonsaicanada keep us posted. This would be an amazing material for bonsai if it works for you.

[@henrygengiti7861]

What’s the latest update on the tree ?

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks for asking about it. This summer update was on my bonsai garden tour video part 2. 5:50 ish time start. Here is a link kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGiqdnp8is9jldEsi=0djSzwhWGnQXwxE8

[@mattbrennan647]

You think it’s too late to HARD prune a thuja in zone 6b before winter? Thanks, keep growing

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

I would say yes too late. Particularly if it’s a yamadori, you might get away with it if it’s a nursery stock as they are super vigorous. 6b is cold in winter. I don’t have a lot of experience with thuja so your guess is as good as mine. Thanks for the question, I’m thinking of doing another birds nest spruce for the practice in the next week. It’ll be a hard prune. It’ll be a roll of the dice and with that said there is nothing particular about the nursery spruce I found on the cheap. I never like killing trees but I’ve been a bit tentative on pruning which has set me back on getting the trees looking good. Hope this helps

[@mattbrennan647]

Thanks, it’s nursery stock. Hopefully it’s strong. I gave it quite a haircut. Looking forward to seeing the spruce pruning. Thanks, keep growing

[@andrewdobosz3682]

I tride to make one of these arborvites look like an eagle. It was doin ok until the rabbits ate it. Now its just wind swept literati style. Oh well it was cheap

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Ya great practice. I’m lucky I don’t have any critters like that in my area. I’ve had to fence due to deer but other than that it’s just birds picking off my moss 😀👍

[@andrewdobosz3682]

@@kootenaybonsaicanada no deer yet im ny area. Suburban neighborhood my yard is fenced in. But there's quite a bit of forestry around i see deer all the time. It's the rabbits that eat everything. I just built a stone garden for the "nicer" trees. Your tutorial on the sea green juniper was great. Mine is growing nicely

[@creightonfreeman8059]

I wondered why you were trying to turn a natural formal upright tree into into a windswept...or something....but then it seems you got on the right track in the end. I would only leave one jin as the apex so it doesn't look like a jinned broom style tree, although that would be....original. I see nothing wrong with using Thuja for bonsai. Their foliage habit reminds me of a Chamaecyparis obtusa, one of the long time standards of Japanese bonsai culture. I think if you clean up the apex you've got the start of a really good formal upright tree that could easily be mistaken for a Hinoki Cypress.

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment.

[@blackjack444....]

Can you spiral trim this tree?

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Not sure, probably. But since back budding is difficult it’s not like a boxwood hedge or some such tree. So it depends on what you are looking for 😀👍

[@newtronathon]

I like the gin at the top, but needs to be less overpowering. Perhaps one long gin trunk (but shorter than atm), and incrementally shorter lengths as you go down to the crown? Love your videos!

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Thank Nathan, yes I considered this. I’ve recently taken all the jins off and tried to move the tree forward and produce some interior growth. I’ll have a video in a few weeks 😀👍. You can get these for $13 right now at superstore Canadian whole sale. I just purchased a new one.

[@morriganbonegardener500]

you could burn the tops

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Ya for sure. Thanks for the tip. I put in dappled shade/sun and it did good.

[@tatarnicolae2240]

Exactly the type of treee i am searching for when i go to Bonsai material shopping. I am searching for the most ugliest tree

[@kootenaybonsaicanada]

Hahah, ya I know what you mean 👍😀