Spruce ( Picea abies )

Hi!

I want to share with you a story of my tree that I'm very pleased with. Comments and ideas are most welcome.

Few years ago I found this multiple trunk spruce on a cow pasture. At that time half of it was already dead. It looks like bark beetle did attack that part of a tree. That must happened few years before I found it, because new callus was already formed, but old bark was still attached on a trunk.





Than I brought tree home in 2008 and start to clean old bark from dead trunk. At that point green mass looked sad, because i had removed few trunks from the tree because they were useless. After that, I left tree alone till this year.





This spring I put spruce on turn table and start thinking about it's design. I have cut some more branches off. I wanted to style a tree but I rather forced myself not to do it and wait to get some more experience. That decision proofed correct latter.





In late spring a funny coincident happen, and I found myself in Ryan Neil garden helping him for couple of months, what I'm very thankful for. At one point he gave me a redwood to work on with similar character. I have really get a lot from that lecture. More my time there went to the end, more I have been thinking about this spruce. And when I came back home I started to work on it.





And It's done... for now. How it looked after few days wireing...





And how it looks today. Brings memories of high mountains in winter... Btw: Merry Christmas everybody!!!





And that is the plan. To put tree on this slab. But first tree must be ready for it.





Greetings, Matija

Indeed a most remarkable spruce. Here with Matja, Randy Knight and Fanchon.

oh ...wonderfull tree ..
i try a drawing with making more focal point on the deadwood
but maybe...by this way... i make it loose a little of his natural side ?



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One of the best naturalistic spruces I've ever seen

Matija--very nice job on that spruce. Ryan is a good teacher and has a lot of good tips. We had him in for our November program and I picked up two things in two hours that have gone a long way; I can see that two months must be a charm

That is a beautiful tree. I'll be interested to see what it looks like on the slab.

Chris

really naturaly beauty

Thanks for your reply everyone. Cram, your idea looks good. Spruce looks triangular now, so in future I'll try to make tree look wilder by changing branches length. I'll grow some branches longer and others keep short. Also a top of a tree must become bigger.



greetings, Matija

... or like this.

ANCIENT AND GNARLED

VISION OF ANTIQUITY

LIVING ON AND ON

Twisted by Seasons
The Tree from the Mountain Gorge
Sees Me Growing Old.

drgonzo wrote:Twisted by Seasons
The Tree from the Mountain Gorge
Sees Me Growing Old.

VERY GOOD HAIKU, DRGONZO!!

---------------------------------
speaking of bonsai
words so carefully chosen
illustrate beauty

MP

Stunning tree great form throughout.

mike page wrote:

drgonzo wrote:Twisted by Seasons
The Tree from the Mountain Gorge
Sees Me Growing Old.

VERY GOOD HAIKU, DRGONZO!!

---------------------------------
speaking of bonsai
words so carefully chosen
illustrate beauty

MP

Thank you Mike
you inspired me to write one for this tree as well.
-Jay

I have no words to describe this tree... It's just amazing! Happy new Year!

That is a stunning Spruce! Great work.

And Merry Christmas!

Nice work. Looks like a fun species.

Would it be sacrilegious to suggest to prune or remove some of the really skinny dead branches? To me they look too juvenile on an otherwise old looking tree.

Hi Rob, thanks for your reply!

hehehe, yes It would be sacrilegious if you would suggest this a year or two ago. I thought that I'll use everything in final look. When I started to style the tree I finely saw that thin dead branches must go. Yes Rob, I'll broke some thin dead branches even more like you suggested, but first I wanna grow pads a bit bigger and than see witch dead twig must go and witch stay.

Greetings Matija

beautiful find. I'd love to work the deadwood for you

Matija, this is probably the best looking spruce I have seen. The story it tells me is just so real and deep. Very good eye. Congratulations on such a wonderful possession.

Hallo Matia,
what is the Status of this stunning spruce by now ? Please let us see the breathtaking result ;-)

saludos
avicenna

The best spruce I have ever seen and is my favorite!

Nearly three years since she last visited. Too busy makin' more kick ass trees.

really fantastic !

Very fantastic, soo natural.. Remind me to say this: ..Merry christmas all..