My Trees

bribonsai

Just thought I'd share my new trees. I am a beginner and was wondering if anyone had any opinions or ideas they might want to share. The trees are: Japanese garden juniper, Victor crape myrtle, Japanese maple, and my favorite - the Satsuki azalea. The first two trees are from a local nursery and are mainly for practice. -Practice keeping trees alive in containers that is. I didn't pick them for there shape but hope to hone my skills on them. The Acer was rescued from under my brother-in-laws beautiful japanese maple that sits in his front yard. He was 5 feet from weedwacking it when I saw it and screamed nooooo! It was repotted today. The azalea I found at a huge tent sale here in my town, I looked through over 200 azaleas before finding this one. I don't know a whole lot about bonsai yet, but when I saw the nebari and curved trunk on this azalea I had to have it. I will post another picture after repotting and taking all the leaves off. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Attached Images

	Juniper.JPG (63.3 KB, 86 views)
	Crape Myrtle.JPG (51.0 KB, 71 views)
	Acer - Japanese Maple.JPG (58.8 KB, 97 views)
	Azalea.JPG (54.2 KB, 73 views)
	Azalea Nebari.JPG (42.1 KB, 77 views)

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Bonsai Barry

I hope you've done your homework before you repot. Azalea can be a bit touchy.

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Bonsai Barry

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susieq

Greetings Bribonsai,
welcome to the forum. You have a nice collection of material with possibilities that you have put into bonsai pots a bit prematurely....we all did that when we started. Please check in your area to find a local club to join. This will speed up the learning process so much faster than just reading in a book. It is worth the effort and you will be glad you did it.

There is nothing wrong with your trees other than they really need to develop more before putting them into a bonsai pot. Growing pots or even growing them in ground will get you more trunk and better branching to work with faster than putting them in a pot right away. Living in a bonsai pot slows down growth and development which is what you want after you have already developed the tree to it's mature phase. A tree that is not much more than a twig in a pot.....twenty years from now, will still be not much more than a twig in a pot.
Best wishes
susieq

ps....as bonsai Barry says, there is a proper season for repotting any tree and it varies with the different varieties. Where you are, spring is nearing it's end and hot weather is nearly here. You can kill a plant real fast by messing with it during the wrong season....again...something we have nearly all done at one time or another when we were just starting out. That is why a local club is soooooo important.

nedz

Well, the Maple and the Myrtle could both use some growing. The best place for this is NOT a bonsai pot. They should be in the ground or large grow box and let grow more or less wild for 2-3 years. You can do some minor training along the way.


The Azalea has very good potential and could be made into a small bonsai or also put in the ground to fatten up.

The Juniper can go either way also.

All depends on what you want. I have a couple Azaleas that I made into small bonsai. But be careful not to trim or repot while flowering. They also like acid soil.

All in all, very good choices!!

bribonsai

Thank you everyone for your advice. What you are saying is what I was afraid of. I had these plants in 1 gal. pots for a few weeks and was planning to move them into the ground at the house my wife and I will be moving into shortly. Buying the trees after we settled on the house would have been smarter. We are now on a different time schedule and won't be in the home until at least July 1st. I was having problems keeping the trees alive( I acctually killed my Nandina - darn it) in there original containers as all of the soil mixtures were different and the watering schedule threw me for a loop. I was hoping that although these bonsai pots were small, they were all the same size and they would all be filled with the same soil mix except for the azalea. My thinking is that this would make them easier to care for, and more predictable, before I put them in the ground. I was stuck with slowly killing them in the nursery pots, so I decided this was my best choice for the time being. I was planning on repotting the Azalea into another same-size bonsai pot, or a 8" round regular clay pot from home depot. I got some advice from jfecme last week with the Azalea. Jfecme is also located here in Georgia so his advice is great help as I am new to the area and climate. The azalea is quite pot bound and I am worried about the whole potting process with this plant. I feel like I'm going in half blind. I guess it's all a learning process.

On another note. I would like to have a semi-decent looking azalea in a pot for the plant stand I'm bulding for our japanese garden. How may I achieve this in a short time? Maybe finding larger azaleas already in the ground for a few years? I am very interested in the azaleas and plan on only getting more of them for my collection. Nedz, I would love to see some pics of your small azalea. Is there a place I might be able to see them?

I am very interested in the artistic side of bonsai. I am a cabinet maker and custom jewelry box and furniture maker, so working with the beauty of wood is something I am familiar with. I was brought to bonsai through research for design ideas on the internet. These small trees seemed to be able to transform a space completely with a very small presence. Most of my woodworking is influenced by Japanese, chinese, and korean architure and form. So it feels natural to me to have an interest in bonsai. Whether I will be any good at it or not, we will see!

Also, I tried looking for a club near to me and couldn't find anything. I found some a few hours away, however, I have a nine month old son, a full time cabinet job, and I run my own box making and furniture business. This does not allow me the time to drive a few hours back and forth. And with the gas prices the way they are, I would be broke after one trip.

Well, thanks to all of you. You are truly invaluable to a beginners success.

Victrinia_Ensor

Welcome...

If the trees are delayed a year by being prematurely in the pot while you are settling on a place, it's better that they were in better soil than not... However I was wondering if you made your soil, or if you purchased it? The soil particles in your pots look somewhat large... so if you are making your own, it would bare some discussion. If not... then I would suggest purchasing some from reputable suppliers on-line or making some yourself from components you have available. As you have realized, how a tree responds is very much tied to it's soil, and large particles are not optimal.


Kindest regards,

Victrinia

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JohnQuinn

It is common practice to prune and repot azaleas soon after blooming. My Satsuki are now in bloom, so I routinely end up repotting in late May or early June when it is common to have temps around 90F here in SC. I'd guess your's in not a Satsuki cultivar and likely bloomed last March or April, so it's a little past due but do-able with proper aftercare...mostly shade or just early morning sun for a few weeks, keep it protected from drying winds, etc. "I will post another picture after repotting and taking all the leaves off..."
I have never totally defoliated azaleas but routinely prune back to one or two leaf pairs depending on the intended design.
I just posted a few azalea pics.
Good luck!

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