Wednesday, November 5, 2008

FAT Douglas Fir

Here's a Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)  I Collected a few weeks ago. It lifted right out of a pocket along a granite shelf. I had to cut off some of the thicker roots because the root pad was around 8' long. I lost some roots when I did that, but there are a bunch of White tipped roots close to the trunk that I kept.

I'm not into the clear yet, but I think this tree will be okay. The trunk is about 8" wide and the entire tree is about 28" tall with the foliage how it is currently. When it is styled I am going to bring the curved trunk up about 6" or so (I think) and bring the foliage down.

There aren't many Fir Trees in Bonsai and there are no famous ones that I am aware of. It is great material and is going to grow in popularity very soon.

This is an OLD tree and will make a great bonsai someday.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

wow! impressive.

Jason said...

Hey Todd,'

I was in Colorado over the summer collecting and got about 5 killer fat firs. I also collect them out of the Cascades as well and have some monters.
It is my understanding that the firs have been collected in the Denver area but will not survive when brought down near that area. I have heard this from Dan R., Larry told us too and some others.
All the trees I got over the summer are doing well...lost 2 out of 50+...that isn't too bad!

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Todd's Colorado Bonsai said...

Hi Jason,
Larry is a good friend of mine and we have collected firs together. The firs do just fine once brought down, i do keep them out the the midday Hot sun in the summer. Usually when you collect them they are on the North facing side of the mountains So I try and replicate that type of environment for them when brought down.

Unknown said...

Judging by the texture and color of the bark, I wouldn't be surprised if that tree is 200 years old.