New member many questions

ml_worl

I have been trying to find sites to learn from and I dicided to try this bonsaitalk and bonsaichat. I have been working with bonsai for about 18 months, did the normal routine of buying supercenter shurbs and chopping, wiring, and killing a few plants to start. I have purchased a few through the mail that are a few years old. Give me somthing to work with til I can get some projects of my own going. I have a Dawn Redwood/7yr about 2 ft, Chinese Elm/5 yr 14", Japanese Red Maple/3yr 12",Tansu/5yr 12", Braziliaan Rain Tree/4yr 18". At the present they are doing well, the Rain Tree was a Christmas gift. On 12-25-07 all the leaves fell off! It looked like a thorn tree/stick. I followed the suppliers advice and mist each day. On 1-25-08 it was covered in new leaves..I am amazed. It has done better or maybe shown the most change of any so far. I have questions about some of them and this may not be the place to post them but here goes.
Dawn Redwood- all leaves are gone, should I remove the small limbs and do any wiring now (I live in the south, its cold here but will be warming up starting next month).
Chinese Elm-I left it out side this winter, I thought it was to loose leaves and go dormat, it did loose a few but never all and now has new growth...?
Red Maple- all leaves gone, small trunk and not many limbs...what can I do to get more limbs and large trunk?
Tansus- the tree is shaped like in layers...do they grow this way or shaped by user?
Ok I know this is far too much for one post..but thanks for any thought or help.

Michael

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Cathie

Hi, first of all, where do you live (UK, US?) - it's important to be able to know what conditions the trees are in. Also, it sounds like you might have forgotten cold hardy trees do lose their leaves in winter, and you need to wait for spring for new ones to sprout, but I'm wondering if your maple has even tiny buds on the branches? Don't do anything to the redwood yet (why would you want to remove small branches?) until we get more information on where you are. Is Tansus the Latin name of a tree with a more well known 'common' one (I'm not familiar with Tansus)? When you say it's shaped in layers, can you be any more descriptive - or much better, post pix of all/any of your trees?

Sailor_Jerry

You're in the right place, Michael. I've checked out a lot of other bonsai forums and this one is by far the most informative, welcoming and responsive.

I don't have any experience with redwoods or raintrees, but I can tell you that Chinese elm is a pretty forgiving tree. With the maple a lot depends on the specific type as there are over 100 different Acer palmatum varietes.

Check out the articles section, species-specific areas and old threads, particularly in the beginners' section. Tons of good info there. You might try bonsai4me.com as well.

Anyway, hope that helps and welcome aboard!

BarbaraM

Welcome Michael. Try using the search option at the top of the page. You will find many previous threads. That way you don't ask a question that has already been answered many times and you often get your answer right away. When you find an old thread with good information scroll to the bottom of the page and there will be a selection of other threads that are most similar to the one you are reading. You can find answers to questions you haven't asked yet.

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"What I like about bonsai is that it has a beginning but no end. A bud today becomes a branch tomorrow. It is like searching for the rainbw's end; the farther it is pursued, the farther away it is." John Naka