By Reiner Goebel

Eastern White Cedar
(The name "cedar" is a misnomer-true cedars are native to Africa and Asia) is an evergreen native to the northeastern part of North America roughly bounded in the north by a line drawn from the southern tip of Hudson Bay west to the Ontario/Manitoba border and east to Nova Scotia. In the south, it occurs along the southern shores of the Great Lakes and most of the New England states. The leaves are yellowish-green and scale-like. The fibrous bark is reddish brown and peels off in narrow strips. Both wood and foliage are highly aromatic. The wood of eastern white cedar is long lasting, making the species an ideal subject for driftwood style bonsai.

Figure 1: Bottom view of eastern white cedar
(Thuja occidentalis) rootball

When growing in the open, cedars are straight-trunked with a slightly conical, columnar crown that extends to the ground. The foliage is dense, and the tree has an almost pruned appearance. The root system is shallow and wide-spreading, making the trees adapt easily to life in a bonsai pot (figures 1 and 2).

Figure 2: White cedar rootball side view

In areas where they are subjected to abuse by wildlife and the elements, cedars attain the trunk shapes that make them ideal bonsai subjects. Because of poor soil conditions and periods of extended drought during the growing seasons, cedars growing under those conditions are naturally dwarfed, and can frequently be found with shari and jin in place, although requiring some refinement. Cedars are suitable for all bonsai styles with the possible exception of literati. It is their rugged appearance and usually well tapered trunk that make them unsuitable for this style.

Foliage
If cedars have a drawback, it must be their foliage. It is similar to the foliage of Hinoki cypress but not as tight. On the other hand, it is not as curly. Fronds will grow every which way, and the view of regular cedar foliage can be daunting for the cedar novice (figure 3). However, with judicious pruning and pinching (figures 4 and 5), it can be forced to behave and form foliage pads not unlike those of junipers.

Figure 3: Typical folige on unpruned white cedar


Figure 4: Typical folige frond before pinching


Figure 5: Cedar frond after pinching

Cedars grow throughout the growing season without a period of rest if conditions are appropriate, which they should be if they are being grown as bonsai. They therefore need to be pruned and pinched frequently. If you time your pruning sessions to coincide with the appearance of Haley's Comet, your cedars will not look good. Each of my trees is subjected to at least two scissors pruning sessions per growing season in addition to being pinched whenever something sticks up, down, or out. Unless this pruning is carried out religiously, cedars will develop elongated shoots with long internodes.

While I have seen cedars bud back on 3OO-year-old trunks in the bush, I have never had that happen on the trees I grow as bonsai. There must be special ingredients in the air "up north." Anyway, they do bud back on younger twigs, and also on areas of the trunk where branches are already growing (figure 6)-a somewhat redundant feature.

Figure 6: Back-budding on older wood