Im asking because in the articles he mentioned he had cancer and I can find zero references to him over the last 5-10 years. Tons and tons of things, but then it just stops. He was a prolific writer and then just nothing, no explanation.
Ah after digging thru for what seemed like forever and found reference to him selling his entire tree collection off in 2011 and retiring from bonsai to focus on his scrolls. still strange a random forum post is the only reference I found so far. And this page where it gets even odder…. Scottish dance shoes? Craig Coussins - Bonsai Ireland
I have to be honest. Based on the popularity Dawn and Costal Redwoods have in the US, and the huge lack of any information on Giants…My assumption is that the species is not viable for bonsai. At least there is no sustainable or repeatable techniques that deterministically produce mostly the same results.
Also, in Europe, where I am, it’s hard to get good material, and Yamadori obviously is out of the question.
I’ve read so much contradicting info on Giants that it is very unnerving. I think people just don’t use them as Bonsai :))
That being said, I still love my forest. I only made it because I found cheap’ish material at a local garden center.
This is what they look like, planted on a slab, and wrapped with a box for winter protection (the box is full of bark right now).
Note on the yellow branch: The foliage just died…and new buds are on the branch and at the base of it. This happens so randomly that I just don’t care anymore. Also I don’t think in terms of “this branch”, “that branch” and “main/defining” branch. Having no guarantee that the tree will not kill off something. I just go with the flow and basically…well wing it :))
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That is cool! And I totally get the random branch dying back. I’ve had a few of those as well and just like you wrote, they seem to just bud up again on the trunk. I have the same situation as you (mid Europe) and I can only access this material as garden material. But I’m quite sure that is the only way anyone can access them, never heard of a Giant Sequoia yamadori as they are only in the national parks and protected.
Your grove is inspiring and the fat trunk on the main one is very cool 
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I think most wild looking Redwood Yamadoris in the US are not actual “trees”, rather they are roots that have pushed out foliage. Ryan might have even mentioned this at one point while working on one of his redwoods.
Hey everyone, anyone see or feel a hint of this species coming up on the live stream? I know we managed to push Ryan to promised a stream eventually, I think he even said this year but I haven’t heard anything on it yet. Any ideas? How are your giants doing?
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Have you come across new feature Species Guide yet @ThomasUrban ? If not should be helpful for a start 
That guide is for the coast redwood not the giant redwood and the care (from what I can tell) is quite different.
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Hi, this topic is dedicated to the Giant sequoia not redwoods 
There’s plenty of material about redwoods but we’re all waiting on a Giant Sequoia Primer and I’m really looking forward to it!
Redwoods, Giant Sequoia and Dawn Redwood are very different.
@nmhansen yup, different species entirely and I don’t think there are any similarities.
If anyone has time to make the Live q and a’s, could someone ask if they are any closer to getting this stream this year? It’d be great to know! Thanks.
Ups! Very true.
Sorry I don’t know where I read redwoods in your post but that’s what I replied to 
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A lot of times redwood and sequoia get used interchangeably. In fact, the coast redwood is sequoia sempervirens and the giant sequoia is sequoiadendron giganteum, which makes them get crossed up a lot when using common names.
The wood, when cutdown, is similar, but the foliage and care for the living plants is much different.
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Well, related to Giant Sequoia (aka sequoiadendron giganteum), I still have difficulty figuring them out, Nothing seems to work.
I asked Ryan in a Live QA about the species, care guide, soil, etc…and the answer was… :))) … “Just NO. I’m sorry but no.” ← that’s the gist of Ryan’s view on Giant Sequoias as bonsai. He did mention that he is looking for some pigmy/dwarf species. Never knew that existed. At least in Europe I’ve never seen anything like that.
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In the US, there are lots of different cultivars in the nursery industry that are supposed to top out at like 20-30 feet I think. I have one, but it still has the long leggy foliage that makes this tree such a beast to handle.
There is even a cool weeping variety too, but alas probably isn’t well suited for bonsai.
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It would be so helpful if folks in general would stop calling Coastal Redwood “a Redwood”.
that’s like calling something a “pine”, or a “maple” when in fact, as we know, it is always more nuanced than that.
I too want info on Giant Sequoia, I have one on my bench and am pretty lost with it.
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Thomas asked me to chime in.
This is a tree grown for 40years from seed. Its over a meter tall. Ramification is, for as far as I know. Cutback to 2,or more within shape. It is a really strong grower! Folliage aswell as roots, it can fill a pot in a year.
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Thanks for this and a very cool result, what substrate are you using? I think i see some lava and pumice in there?
4-1-1. Heavy on the akadama because of how thirsty it is:)
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Ive got mine in 100% aka, seems to be doing fine in the heat this year.
For those that have done repotting and root reduction, what was your experience and timing?
I have one that has been in a fairly chunky bonsai pot (deepish rectangular, like I would maybe put a azalea in, think the ratio of a loaf of sandwich bread) and its clearly been in it way too long!
Its pushing it out to the top, heaving due to massive fine root growth. When dry, I can lift the entire plant cleanly out of the pot and it’s nothing but dense dense fine roots. (So much for securing a tree down during repotting, wasn’t me)
Tree is still growing, but of course not holding water well.
I would love to repot it as soon as is smart, probably should have last spring, but I needed to read up on them more this.
Clearly need to reduce roots, and focus on removing a decent amount from the bottom of the dense ball.
any clue how much i can remove? do i loosen up some of the rest? leave it all untouched?
happy to put in a water loving substrate. Thoughts about timing. i have heatbeds in a large cold frame lean too for any tree that needs it. my spring repotting season is so hectic, so anything i can get a way with outside the height of that, the better
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