Japan's ezo spruce

It doesn't seem that long ago that I spent 3 years on the island of Hokkaido. Now that I'm so involved in bonsai, I've acquired and interest in getting an ezo spruce ro remind me of my days in Wakkanai. who has knowledge of keeping them that could share some basics.books you'd reccomend.... Also I'm looking to find a source and would be appreciative if you know any nurseries that carry the basic or the "red".

Good luck, I wish.
I'm interested to know the accomplishment of your wish.

dick benbow wrote:It doesn't seem that long ago that I spent 3 years on the island of Hokkaido. Now that I'm so involved in bonsai, I've acquired and interest in getting an ezo spruce ro remind me of my days in Wakkanai. who has knowledge of keeping them that could share some basics.books you'd reccomend.... Also I'm looking to find a source and would be appreciative if you know any nurseries that carry the basic or the "red".

https://capitalbonsai.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/ezo-spruce-maintainence/ Could email him.

Might also want to try to use Englemann Spruce. Once I sent a picture of one to a Japanese gentleman, and he kept calling it an Ezo.

maples-san, thanks for the url.....I hired a boat and snuck out to the island ( pronounced sock-leen) mentioned in the copy. The villiage was deserted and no russians around. So that was interesting to read also now, Aarin is the curator here at the Pacific Bonsai museum so was interesting to see his post.

hopefully some retailer will PM me with something for sale......

I do like englemann but to me they are quite different than Ezo in appearance.

Hi Dick,

About 20 years ago I acquired about 200 Ezo seedlings which were then ten years old. All grown from seed and all still in 3 inch tubes.  They were rather neglected and only 20 - 30cm tall. I only have about 50 left now. The others were sold off over the years. The tallest is now about 1 metre high although still quite slender (aprox 1 and a bit inches at the base). They are easy to grow. I have only lost 5 or so due to extreme heat and sunburn. The biggest problem is their slow growth. Extra feeding does not help. Another issue is that it is next to impossible to achieve the wild untamed look you see in the collected Japanese examples in a short time as they are very sensitive to over working, bending, twisting and wiring. Because of this I have basically kept them all as they are without trying to force them into particular shapes. They make excellent group plantings and formal uprights.
Cuttings strike well although subsequent growth is very slow. Due to our hot dry summers I now keep them under 50% shade cloth the entire year. They seem to lose colour easily in full sun here. their growth season lasts only about 2 months. After that they do nothing at all for the other 10! They are very difficult to obtain in this country. (I know of no other grower who has them) Due to quarantine restrictions for some conifers in the US, I assume that they would also be hard to come by there as well? Good luck in finding them. They are supreme bonsai material. You just need patience!

This is my most advanced. This pic was taken before this spring's new growth. Keeping the trunk straight is a constant battle.



Here is a group I put together 4 years ago. It was just too heavy for me (the pot is over 3 ft across) so I sold that as well........

Thank-you so much for sharing what you've learned over the years! So helpful! Nice to see the pictures too...

Try evergreengardenworks.com and check the catalog.

Also, p. mariana has very small needles but color is different. Blue/gray vs. deep green of the Sakhalin, but still an attractive tree.

thank-you for your input

I did contact the nursery you suggested. They had 6- 25 year olds, 3 for sale. I'm in conversations with shipping charges and timing. so again thank-you....
sometimes it tales a "villiage", appreciate IBC for that....

tree ordered supposed to arrive day after Christmas...

Dick,

That's very cool, great Christmas present. I've read that they will take as cuttings but also read that the tree grows very slow.

Merry Christmas to all,

Augustine

That's about all I know about them as well...so will be a learning experience. Appreciate the Christmas wishes...

I have a nice Sara Rayner pot that I was planning on putting a bristlecone pine into but may have to change my mind.

I was looking thru my extensive bonsai book library and found 3 pages on Ezo. Like an early christmas present. It's in an olde book. Authored by Kyuzo Murata. It was published by shufunotomo Co. Ltd and entitled Bonsai: minature potted trees. The information starts on pg 72. I would never have thought to look in this book by title but contents cover many different trees used in bonsai with some depth. The author refers to goyo-matsu ( white pine) quite often as having similar care requirerments.This book has a price tag on the inside cover....$5.50, and copyright in 1964.

Thinking I ought to go buy a lottery ticket, as finding this information was pure luck. I'm thinking what other gems reside in other books, hidden away waiting to be discovered.

Dick,

Saburo Kato's book called "Forest Plantings, Rock Plantings and Ezo Spruce" is still available and a beautiful book. Originally written in Japanese in 1964 and translated into English in 2000. (Stone Lantern or Golden Arrow Bonsai have it, I think)

Did you get a picture of your Ezo to share?

Best,

Augustine

thanks for the additional book info.....I did see a picture to select my tree from but my computer is not co-operating with acknowledging my photo attachments... I need to take it in and have some work done on it.

tree came today. I have to give credit to Evergreen Gardenworks for a beautifully done package job. In the past I have had poor luck with the carrier battering the box contents to where the tree shortly expired. Hopefully it will recover the 5 days in the box travel time and look strong enough to repot this spring. fingers crossed. I thought the tree had better rootage then it looked in the photo, so was pleased....

Have emailed Michael Hagedorn who has agreed to work with me on providing his experience from japan on soil, fertilizer etc.....

Hi Dick,
I would love to hear what Michael Hagerdorn has to say in regards to Ezo. I also bought a few of the Ezo from Evergreen Gardenworks last summer and I am patiently waiting to work on them. I lost one of my Ezo last year (from a different seller) to what I think may have been overworking, and incorrect timing with repotting. So I am being very careful as to when I perform work on them and limiting the work to one major thing a year. What do you think about the soil yours came in from Evergreen Gardenworks? I was also hoping to get mine into better soil this spring as I'm not used to the soil that Brett uses. Anyway, Ezo is easily my favorite tree and I am constantly looking for more information about their care so I would love if you kept us posted on yours!

Sam Shepherd

"ll be happy to pass along any information I get from Michael. Since Brent had the Ezo for 25 years in his soil, it definetly worked for him. I think nurseries and bonsai hobby folks have different ambitions and thus different viewpints. I'm anticipating that they like their moistire so I'm expectiong to have a bigger % of akadama then my standard 1/3 mix.

That would be great! I agree, Brent definitely knows his stuff. I have also heard they like moisture and that they use a mix similar to akadama in Japan.

Michael dropped me some thoughts that I'll pass along...
pot this sprice up in a deciduous tree mix. ( half akadama, pummice)
use a little deeper pot for health then one would use for display.
during heat of summer mist foliage. It appreciates being under shade cloth of 30% sunscreen block during the heat of summer (quite like maples)


He asked me for close up photo of the tips, so I'm gonna see what he's looking for by doing so....

Thanks for sharing!

dick benbow wrote:Michael dropped me some thoughts that I'll pass along...
pot this sprice up in a deciduous tree mix. ( half akadama, pummice)
use a little deeper pot for health then one would use for display.
during heat of summer mist foliage. It appreciates being under shade cloth of 30% sunscreen block during the heat of summer (quite like maples)


He asked me for  close up photo of the tips, so I'm gonna see what he's looking for by doing so....

You have a picture to show us too?
Im also interested in what michael has to say about those tips,
Grtz

close up didn't turn out very good. I found out in Michael's latest email, that he wanted to see not the buds but needle length to make sure we were talking aboiut the same species of spruce. he suggested here in Pacific NW that March would be a good time to repot with swelling of the buds.

Hi Dick, any pics of the tree? spruce tips?