I just acquired this hemlock at a nursery in Portland. There was not tag so I don’t know the specific type of hemlock e.g. Western, Mountain, Canadian, etc. It looks like it was collected vs. grown as nursery stock. My inspiration was a hemlock grouping on a slab at the Portland Japanese Garden in May 2021. I purchased it with the intent of bonsai but if it doesn’t lend itself to a bonsai I’m OK just having it in my yard. As you can see the tree doesn’t have a lot of lower branch needle mass/healthy branches. Interested to know from experts what they would do with this tree. Shorten? encourage more growth at the lower part of the tree? Jin on of the trees in the grouping? Thanks in advance.
Do you have any pictures of the tree?
Looks like a mountain hemlock to me. Depending on where you bought it, it is very likely it could be a collected tree (I’ve seen collected trees at Portland Nursery and a few other nurseries in the area).
Anyway, it think it would be bonsai-able. It would definitely be a taller bonsai, even if you chop it half-way up. I think it would have a nice flowing design with some very elegant lines.
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Thanks Nick. Do you have any experience with hemlocks? I am interested in hearing ideas about where to begin. The branches are very long with not much needle mass close to the trunk. I would like to compress the design to create more brach pads vs. long leggy branches. I’ve watched a couple of hemlock videos but not quite sure what to do.
I don’t have much experience with hemlocks. I have one western hemlock, which I’m finding does not back bud easily, but when wiring the branches you can move them back or forward a little to help compress the design (rather than go just straight down).
Good point. Thanks Nick. Hopefully others will chime in here.
@judysdad any updates to share?
I had just begun experimenting with Hemlock before I moved out of the PNW. Started to get a better understanding of how to handle the species. Some thoughts in no particular order
- Good to see that you’ve got a lot of “fresh” green growth on this tree. Clearly you’ve got a lot more growth higher up towards the apex, not so much on the bottom
- Stylistically yes I would be thinking about a trunk chop. If you go too low on this I think you’ll endanger the tree. I think your best bet might be to work 1/3 to 1/2 down the tree.
- I would do one move at a time - trunk chop, hard pruning, repotting. In my experience hemlock are extremely sensitive and can’t handle a lot of stress
- If I were to trunk chop, I’d be focusing on letting the bottom branches grow unchecked to accumulate strength. When you go to prune and style you’ll have a lot of energy moving through those branches. I would be mindful of pinching buds near the top in the spring to try to redistribute the energy
- Maybe think about cleaning? You’re going to lose more on the bottom if those branches and foliage are shaded from above - introducing airflow and thinning it out could promote more growth down lower.
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this looks like mountain hemlock to me too.
I would think you would want to repot first. I bet it is really root bound. Leaving all foliage will make repotting smooth.
When I hear trunk chop I think of what some people do to deciduous trees where they make a severe cut across a girthy part of the trunk. Most deciduous seem to be able to send out new shoots and the practioner starts to build from scratch.
I dont think a hemlock will do that. They dont really back bud. So I think you would be left with an ugly stump on the top of the tree.
I think you can reduce the trunk height by bending the trunk (hemlock are very pliable but will tear at crotches) so that a mid way branch becomes the apical leader. Then you can cut the top trunk off for a smoother transition.
Dont worry about foliage at the bottom. All established hemlocks are like this. By wiring you can get what you want out of these trees.
Sorry for the long delay. Great advice and is what I had in mind as well. Good to have confirmation. Thank you.
Thank you for the good advice.