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Another bonsai practitioner. Its nice to know there are a few of us about.I have been working with bonsai for about 12 years.Although my collection has dwindled down to only a few trees at the present.Most are in the ground.Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL
Why are they in the ground?Quote:
Originally Posted by zenshaver
The wife,(there so dirty and have bugs) and I can take care of them eaiser for now.I took an amur maple out of the ground this spring and am trying to work on that(slowly). Plus I have a black bamboo and buddah belly bamboo in pots. One as bonsai(black bamboo) and other in regular soil in a pot.
Maples are very temperamental and it is so easy to devalue them. Pure camellia oil is used on non glazed pots when exhibiting. Because it is in pure form, with no additives and so on, it will not cause harm to the plants.Quote:
Originally Posted by zenshaver
Yes, I have read in books how oil(cammellia or whichever) is used to shine up the pot to give it a more presentable finish. I have tried it myself and it definitely works. I don't remember what I used at the time. I know it wasn't camellia oil though.It might have been cooking oil of some kind.
On the subject of maples I have found that amur maples seem to be the most hardy for my area(Connecticut). Tridents can work if you take good care of them in the winter.I have one trident (in the ground) that is coming along nicely. It has a 3 inch trunk and is being trained to be a double trunk tree. I also, have a corral bark and cork bark japanese maple in the gound but they are being grown as full size trees. I suppose later if I wanted to I could cut them back and start shaping them again.I have found this to be a very relaxing hobby and it has taught me an awful lot about trees and how to grow them. I have had to put this hobby on the back burner when I met my wife about 8 years ago.I am slowly getting back into it though.
Has anyone ever worked with a japanes cork bark black pine?I have always wanted to get one but was unsure of how to take care of it. They look simply amazing. The knobby cork bark is very striking.Unfortunately, pines can be one of the hardest bonsai to grow. At least for me. I suppose that shows when you have achieved a level of expertise with bonsai when you can take care of one of these.
you guys need to add some pictures!
i wish i had a picture of this tree. It has some of the best bark you will ever see. the bark just out at 90 degrees from the turnk in little squares that really make the tree look old.the re is a place in mbellingham mass that sells them on ocassion . next spring I am going to pick one up. I just would ahte to kill it. The winter would be the hard part. So, for the spring.summer, and fall i should be ok.I killed a japanese white pine over the winter. I paid over $300 for it too.:(
Obviously, bonsai is not a very popular subject.
I have tried it:)
I had a cork bark elm that had been potted for about 8 years. It never saw a tenth, a couple others that were made from nursery stock got hammered by a hot wind one day and they never came back. I just sorta lost interest
It is hard to keep interested in bonsai. I transfered a lot of mine into the ground and let them grow for a number of years. They are a lot easier to take care of that way.Right now I have about a 1/2 a dozen in the ground still. Some I just let grow to full size trees. I have a cork bark japanese maple that is about 6 feet tall now.
Here are some pics of what I have going now.
I can't wait to see what you picked up for trees. It can be so addicting. At one time I had about twenty trees in pots.
I just looked at your lost thread and I like your trees. I especially like the pines and the other deadwood style tree. What type of tree is that?
Thanks for bringing that back. Those are fabulous!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL
is there anywhere something on the net about how you start doing this? I'm very interested in trying this myself. :)
Just type in the word bonsai and you should be able to find a number of sources. There are a lot of books on the subject.I like this place.Welcome to Stone Lantern
I have this book and love it.The Complete Book of Bonsai
Very nice trees. I think the first tree is called a zelkova. It resembles a chinese elm. I have a chinese elm tree I just planted in the ground so it can possibly regain some strength. Hopefully, it will make it through the winter here in new england.It looks like you have a lot of fun ahead of you. Repotting,wiring etc...I find that the new trees are the most fun because there is so much to do with them. They give you a lot to think about.I have always wanted to build a nice forest style planting with some trident maples on a big slab of rock. I have seen some beautiful ones.
here is a picture of a zelkova three tree forest planting.Although the bark looks a little different from yours.
This is a shot of the inside of a bonsai nursery outside of boston mass.Its about a hour and a half from where I live. I go there ocassionally.
The tsubaki looks like it may be interesting(because of camellia oil, I guess).I have a prunus umi(flowering plum) I think that is what it is called in my yard. It is about 12 feet tall now. It has a large 3 inch trunk at the base. I was thinking of making a bonsai out of that because it has a side shoot coming out at the base that I could use. Maybe next year.Here is a picture of the flowering plum in the background.
here is a picture with the shoot i plan to use outlined in white. That is the mume in the background if that is what you were referring to.The shoot is coming out of the ground at ground level. I am planning on chopping with an axe right at the "V" between the two trunks and then let it grow a little to reestablish more roots and maybe a year after that take it out of the ground and put it into a pot for training. The shoot is a little over an inch in diameter.
I tried to have a lavender bonsai this summer but the plant I pulled out of the ground was already dead:(It had a beautiful looking trunk even better than this. This upcoming spring I will get one from a nursery.
Here are the rest of my trees.
this is the tree i want to split at the base and make a bonsai from. it is a prunus mume(flowering plum) and has nice small flowers in early spring.I hope it will work.
All of this talk about bonsai has made me want to get some more or start getting ready to work on my trees in the ground. Here is a link of some awesome trees by walter pall: Bonsai Gallery of Walter Pall
Sorry, I've been lurking in this thread. I used to raise a few basic bonsai, and loved it. I became a college student and my living situations just got too tough for bonsai. I never really tired of it. I'd love to get started back up, but I'm poor, so I have to limit my hobbies.
Get something that does not need a lot of light and can grow out of a window. At least that is something. I am waiting until spring and may pull some more trees out of the ground.I can't wait. This hobby can be addicting once you stop killing trees.Although there will always be that one tree that doesn't make it. That is why you shouldn't spend a lot of money on trees.
I must have killed at least twenty or more trees in 12 years.I once got a real nice japanese white pine for about 300 dollars and killed it trying to keep it over the winter. That was my most expensive kill.:mad:
Very nice. You are going to have a housefull.
Fall is here now so bonsai are basically all over till the spring. now I just need to get my trees ready for winter.It can get to -15 F here in connecticut.:cool:
for those bonsai gurus out there:
I have been interested in bonsai for a while, but don't know what is a good tree to get started with. I live in a very hot place (for instance, although it is October, it was 95f at my house yesterday) that is usually dry, although I can water at least once a day. The guy at the nursery told me that a good starter bonsai is the juniper... did he know what he was talking about?
Basically, what is a good tree for a newbie to get? (a newbie with weather like mine) Also, since it's so hot here 9 months of the year, should I keep the tree inside (very dry, but much cooler) during the hottest months? I have a grow light for some of my other plants, I could put the tree under that to keep it alive during the summer.
Any input is very much appreciated.
Thats a very good idea to find a tree that is already growing outside. I would look for one with a real old looking bark. You would have to dig it up so you have all of the rootbal and just plant it in a large pot at first. I would also try and get some very quick draining soil to put in with its original rootball.Get a pot with a hole in the bottom so the water can drain and put a screen so the soil won't fall out.Also, try and keep it in its same environmental conditions. If it was in the shade find a shady spot etc.. I was just hiking in the woods yesterday and saw an awesome tree on the top of this cliff. It was about twenty feet tall and had fallen sideways and had old withered bark and everything. I could not make it a bonsai because the trunk alone was about 2 feet across but it showed a great example of what a bonsai is supposed to look like.
Also, keep the tree in the shade for the first week or so that it can adjust to the transplanting. Cutting roots can be very stressfull for a tree.Also, get a good bonsai book that gives you good info. I gave reference to one earlier.The good thing about digging up your own trees is they are free.:D
I've got a couple of branches from two different on native junipers that I've been figuring on air layering for about the last 5 years. That's one way to get a decent start. That's what i remember reading anyway.
There's a bunch of junipers that have been domesticated as nursery stock. or a Japanese boxwood- you know, shrubberies lol. fairly inexpensive starter material, a few fence slats to make a box? Stuff like that and small pine trees are what i tried.
They're all dead now. My biggest loss was in cutting a plastic pot with scissors. That was the first time I learned about tool specialization, like so many razors with shards clanked off the edge. tsk tsk. That was very disappointing. I've also noticed it's hard to keep pots alive unless you have a tree in it. I broke a few of those too.
I've heard Wisteria makes a decent bonsai tree. Quick search for images: WISTERIA : Bonsai Care GuideQuote:
Originally Posted by jockeys
There's one in my backyard (similar climate to yours, though a little cooler this time of year) that has nearly taken over an awning over our patio. We cut it back severely in the fall, and before the end of spring it's back to being overgrown. I actually just planted a half dozen seeds this week, so we'll see how they turn out.
Getting nursery stock may be an even better approach. What I suggested earlier requires some skill in taking care of trees in order to keep it alive. I would say too go to a nursery and get something native to your area. If it is hot and humid you may consider a ficus. They make nice bonsai.Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL
Wisteria are beautiful. I tried one of those one year and they have the most beautiful flowers.Their flowers smell wonderful too. They make very nice bonsai.:DThey have the most delicate flowers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge
The wisteria is in the ground where I used to live. It was doing great when I moved about 5 years ago now.
You do have to be careful. This bonsai thing gets you wanting more and more and before you know it you have a lot of trees. That is why I stopped buying them and just purchased small trees and planted them into the ground. That way they can get as big as the pricey trees then I can make bonsai out of them.Plus if you get tired of doing bonsai you can plant them into the ground and they are a lot easier to take care of.Its all about fun though. Either way.In the ground I am doing japanese gardening.:D