AlainK

No, this is not the script of a Monty Python sketch.
It isn't an exceptional, remarkable, first-rate tree either.
It is not an evergreen, so to speak, it's one of the few conifers to lose its leaves in winter.
But it is probably my favourite species for bonsai, so I feel like giving it some publicity

Local species are as suitable for bonsai as the Japanese larch (Larix Kaempferi). In Europe it's a must in a collection (most often Larix Decidu, in North America, you have the tamarack (Larix Laricini, but there are 12 species of the genus "Larix", see:

English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larch
French: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larix (nice photo of a larch in Autumn/Fall in the Fr. version)

The ones I have are (More resistant to drought and hot temperatures than the European larch)

• Even when potted, very hardy
• Need a lot of water in summer
• Soil: I use about 60 % 3-5 mm lava rock (pozzolane), 25% composted pine bark, and 15% 3 mm "aquarium sand". They seem to like it.
• Repotting: when buds are about to open.
• Pruning: in winter for the structure (leave a stub for bigger twigs, cutting too close to the main branch often causes die-back), pinch new growth in the summer to keep shape.
• Wiring: in winter, when the tree is bare, just like for deciduous trees, with the bark heals faster than for deciduous.
• Feeding: from my experience with the Dunkeld Larch, a lot of water in spring/early summer gives long internodes. This seems to be more important than fertilizers (providing the soil is adapted, that is if if doesn't dry too fast).

NB: I'd really like to see some tamarack, or other N. Am. species here... I'm pretty sure they grow well in Illinois f'rinstance

To cut a long story short, it's the one I had chosen in the "BonsaiCHAT" former forum as an avatar, I've just trimmed it a bit, and wired it today after 2 years during which i couldn't take care of it.

1st pic: 24 Feb. 05
2nd pic: 26 Jan. 08

Attached Images

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	mlz9403_080126a.jpg (34.6 KB, 39 views)

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Alain K.
http://www.rdb45.fr
http://ak2.apinc.org/bdB

JLDoggett

Unsure about Illinois (unsure if they have many trees there), but here in New Hampshire they ae fairly common. My house's beams were hewn from larch, long, straight and sturdy. Seedlings abound though the deer do enjoy eating them.

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centaura

Thanks for the info. A friend gifted me with a larch last summer, and I'd been at a loss for how to deal with it. Its the only thing I have that has needles, though it technically is a deciduous. I'm thinking it was a joke on his part, I said I only grew deciduous and that he could keep his pines, and then he gave me the larch.

When you say its very hardy, do you know what temperature ranges it likes? And how well it backbuds? Will its buds swell like a regular deciduous, to know when to prune before? That's a couple of months away for me as of yet, but I could drag it out of winter storage and do some wiring at this point.

-Centaura

Mattbonsai

Larix's buds do swell to an extent, they turn a really shiney golden colour and look slightly swollen, this is also the time to repot, not before they swell, and not after the shaving brushes appear (so i've been told)

-Matt-

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anttal63

hey centaura i have owned a larch for about 6 mths. now at the end of summer in another month. and suffering due to very hot suns and north winds. so in that it seems typical of a deciduous tree. i do believe they are very fine in the colder extreme's.

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Antonio......
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Dav4

The three most common larch species are extremely winter hardy. L. laricini (USDA zone 2), L. kaempferi (USDA zone 4), and L. Decidua (USDA zone 3). It is generally the summer heat in mild climates that is detrimental to their vigor. I'm fairly certain they are vigorous back budders, but I honestly have never worked with any of these as bonsai.

Dave

AlainK

Others have replied before me, and Mattbonsai's advice is the best you can get for the time of repotting.

From what i've read, they backbud profusely when chopped hard, I've read many accounts on various forum about trees taken from the wild, but I've never tried large specimens so far.

__________________
Alain K.
http://www.rdb45.fr
http://ak2.apinc.org/bdB

anttal63

definately back bud really well

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Antonio......
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FOX7591

after i move at the end of the summer i can collect tamarac in my backyard, ill send some pics then