Criticism For A Beginner's Bonsai

diamondlyme84

Okay, I just got a Bonsai tree on Thursday and I've been doing a ton of reading and such trying to get to know even 1% of the art. There is SO MUCH MORE to it than I expected.

Anyways, from what I read, I finally got adventurous and trimmed a little today. I didn't do anything too heavy because from what I've read, it doesn't sound like it's a great time to do heavy trimming right now.

I haven't been able to completely determine the type of tree, but my best guess is a Juniper.

As for wiring, I'm not doing any right now (I'll wait until spring) because from what I've read, during the winter is not the time to wire. But I'm planning to wire the first curve, where the branch goes from left to right, because although you can't see it very much in the pictures, when looking at it in real life it looks very unnatural.

Here's a link to a few pictures, I'd greatly appreciate anything you can tell me!

http://www.geocities.com/diamondlyme84/index.htm

I've always been fascinated with Asian culture and anything even remotely associated, and I think I'm becoming obsessed with Bonsai though I've only had a tree for close to 6 days now.

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FredL

Hi dl, nice to have you aboard. Welcome to the obsession! You will meet some very nice people here who will be happy to share it with you!

A comment about how to approach your new tree: Many of the popular bonsai species will hold up amazingly well to some pretty harsh abuse, BUT, most of them prefer to take it all at one time and then be permitted to rest for several weeks or a few months. They take frequent small doses of training much more poorly than the same amount at a single session. I might suggest to you to find another tree, perhaps a few or several more to work on as well as your new tree. If you have 3 or 4 trees rather than one, you will accumulate experience 3 or 4 times as fast and, as observed on another thread, there is no substitute for experience. You might look for trees around your home or in the roadways near you and collect a couple of natives as well as try the local nurseries. At your stage, any sort of experience is beneficial, even growing seeds that may become available to you from street trees or trees in neighbors yards.

You are right; there is a whole lot to learn, but few learning experiences are more fun. When you finally start to "get" some of the basics and you can see an actual bonsai being formed with your own hands, or even just celebrate your first year of actually keeping one or more trees alive in a pot, it's pretty exciting.

Regards, Fred

diamondlyme84

Thanks for the advice!

I think that I will try and grow a few more trees at the same time. I don't know that I can get a small tree very easily, but getting seeds should not be a problem.

I may also be able to propagate (sp?), but all I really know about it is what I've read in the forum here. I also don't think that it's a good time to do it right now, even though I'm living in southern California.

Thanks!

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FredL

dl, in S. California you should have Spring well underway and can start doing most heavy-duty bonsai operations right away. Also, you are blessed with some of the greatest bonsai clubs in the nation where you are. You should be able to find them easily thru the internet. S. California is really where American Bonsai started.

You will learn 10 times as much at your first meeting at one of your local clubs than I (or most) could teach you on the internet in the next year! You will find lots of help acquiring new material and lots of advice on what to do with it. Also, what is arguably the best book ever wwritten on Bonsai in this country (Bonsai Techniques 1) was written in S. California by a guy from your area named John Naka. I'd recommend it highly to you.

Hope to hear more from you, Fred

Rene_Voortwist

I will post the pictures of your tree here for convience..

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Rene_Voortwist

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and #3

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diamondlyme84

One of my favorite things about California (I just moved here), is simply the fact that there is a very large Asian culture here.

How do I go about joining a Bonsai club? Are these clubs age restricted? I'm only 14 myself.

As far as planting more trees, are there any specific varieties that you can recommend? Should I stick to Juniper for now, or do something deciduous? If I was going to do deciduous, I was thinking about a Maple or some variety of that, but I'm not sure how forgiving that would be.

Thank you very much!

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FredL

dl, you will find that the bonsai clubs you contact will be delighted to have a new member your age. I am sure that you will find any number of older members that will be delighted to take you under their wing in a sort of "Grandfatherly" relationship.

If I remember right, the Chinese Elms will be in bloom and shedding seeds in your area soon. These trees are outstanding for bonsai and easy to produce seedlings from. If you start looking around with a "Bonsai Eye", you will probably be surprized what will turn up within a couple of blocks from where you live in the way of collectable material. Walmart, Kmart, Lowe's, etc will be getting in amazing collections of 1 to 5 gallon trees and shrubs of all sorts of descriptions starting about now. Don't be afraid to make mistakes; you will learn more from your mistakes than from any amount of reading and advice. The first thing you must learn is simply how to keep trees alive in little pots. This is a non-trivial challenge and in experimenting with pots, drainage, soil, fertilizing, repotting, etc., etc. you will learn all sorts of unexpected things. Most trees and shrubs with small leaves can be used for bonsai. Start with what you find attractive or check back here if you are unsure before spending money.

Anyway, good luck and have fun! Fred