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Most conifers like water about once a week or so. Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' is actually a full-size tree. You can keep it in a pot, but it's going to do best (read: live) outside. It does take well to pruning, if you want to keep it fairly small. Now would be a fine time to repot. Pot with something that's more than 50% inorganic, and you can water right away. New growth will come in the spring.
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Jan 6, 2014 00:52
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BizarroAzrael posted:I'm pretty new to this, picking up a bonsai for my student room a month or two back. Had no problems so far, but I have to leave it for a few weeks over winterval. I know that's too long without water so sought a solution, and at a garden centre was given a strip of porous fabric and was told to put one end in the bottom of the tree's dish and the other in a container of water. Seemed to make sense to me and they said it would just suck up what it needed. Fortunately I tried it before leaving, and I just found the dish overflowing with water. I've emptied it out now, but now I don't know what I should do. Did I set it up wrong? My bonsai didn't die! The bowl was dry by the soil was still moist.
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Jan 6, 2014 02:25
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So has anyone been experiencing any weirdness this winter with all the strange weather patterns throughout the world? Here in Cali there are some trees in my backyard that are already coming out of dormancy without having lost all their leaves because the weather has been so mild. Makes me worried for my maples if they wake up and then get murdered by a February frost.  Also been a terrible OP and haven't updated with any articles. Been busy gearing up to move to Oakland to pursue my Horticulture major there. On the bright side, the California Shohin convention is this weekend so I'll see about taking pics of the masterpiece bonsai for the thread. (And then posting them when life isn't total chaos...)
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Jan 29, 2014 06:38
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Mr. Soop posted:my Horticulture major
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Feb 3, 2014 14:53
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I'm looking to get my AS in Landscape Horticulture at Merritt College, a community college in California that's one of the last Cali colleges at all to offer a non-science or agriculture based Horticulture program, as big State colleges or Universities offer it more as a big business or purely scientifically based major. Botany and Ag are great and all, but I want something more practical. In terms of what I can do with that sort of knowledge, this guy is a great example of how far it can take you. Also, I was unable to take pictures at the California Shohin convention. They really cracked down on unregistered visitors this year for it for no discernible reason. Didn't matter that I'm a student of one of the people doing a seminar, I'm  That mentality was there last time it took place though, so I can't say I'm not terribly surprised. I did network quite a bit and pick up this nifty keychain though, so there is that.  
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Feb 4, 2014 06:51
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Looks like Spring is almost here. I present to you my humble, rookie works in progress. A yaupon holly which is inexplicably dropping leaves now the the weather is finally warming up.  Freshly pruned bougainvillea from the bargain bin last Fall. Hopefully that long, wired limb survives the crack I put in it from being a little overzealous with bending it. So far so good...  Baby jade? Found this plant discarded on the ground one day, planted it in a pot, and after dropping all it's leaves it's been kicking around for 3ish years. Not sure what to do with it, playing it by ear. Smugworth fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Feb 26, 2014 |
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Feb 26, 2014 05:24
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e: This post shamefully edited a week later as I've come to the obvious conclusion that my poor bonsai is dead and I just need to move on.  Think I'll look at getting a trident maple when spring rolls around, as at least it would be able to survive the winter where I live! kedo fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Mar 10, 2014 |
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Mar 2, 2014 23:06
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Spring has arrived in the greenhouse at least and it isn't to bad outside either. No freezes this week where I'm at. My maple clumps pot cracked and I slapped it into the only pot I had that was about the right size. I also had a shallow oval that I like but I was to scared to put it in a super shallow pot.  Here is a delicate cascade I started working on last year. Not sure what type of plant it is.  I don't know what this is either but I chopped it hard last summer and it is waking up well. 
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Mar 31, 2014 14:12
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kedo posted:e: This post shamefully edited a week later as I've come to the obvious conclusion that my poor bonsai is dead and I just need to move on. No shame in losing a plant. It's part of the learning process so long as you know what to do the next time around. Trident maples are really good trees, did you get your hands on one by any chance? @Illudere: No idea what those last two are, but they all look good. I'm curious as to that plant just off to the left in the last picture. A cedar of some kind, looks like. Maybe an Atlas or Deodar? Or something rare like a Cedar of Lebanon? Sorry once again I haven't been in this thread as of late. IRL stuff like moving to Oakland to pursue a degree in Landscape Horticulture and being in the running for an internship at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens have been keeping me from doing more serious thread stuff.
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Apr 7, 2014 06:12
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Mr. Soop posted:
That's a Colorado blue spruce. I killed the top and it's just been sitting around waiting for me to get rid of it. Spruce are problematic in that they have super supple branches that don't like to stay where you put them and are prone to die. Back budding is also tricky.
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Apr 7, 2014 12:54
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Mr. Soop posted:No shame in losing a plant. It's part of the learning process so long as you know what to do the next time around. Yup. Lesson learned: don't leave tropical plants out in freezing temperatures! I'm planning on grabbing a maple of some sort once things start blooming and getting their leaves... I was worried that without leaves I couldn't really judge a tree's health or looks. Probably going to ask the lady at my local nursery for a recommendation for a tree that would be good in my region (DC), but I was leaning towards a trident because they can withstand colder winters. Also they're purty. 
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Apr 7, 2014 14:48
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Illudere posted:That's a Colorado blue spruce. I killed the top and it's just been sitting around waiting for me to get rid of it. Spruce are problematic in that they have super supple branches that don't like to stay where you put them and are prone to die. Back budding is also tricky. Ah, so! I've only experimented with one Spruce before, a Bird's Nest Spruce. Like you said, back budding is tricky. I haven't seen too many spruce bonsai in Cali, so I'm curious as to what your plans might have been/are for it. kedo posted:Yup. Lesson learned: don't leave tropical plants out in freezing temperatures! Good choice! Tridents can deal with cold weather like a boss, grow quickly, and are both easy and rewarding to work with. Let us know when you get one. I myself have a particular fondness for Tridents.
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Apr 20, 2014 07:37
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I just found out that this place is only a few blocks from my apartment. http://www.highlandgardens.org/about.html The owner claims to have over 30 Japanese maples, some in decorative pots. Doesn't mention bonsai specifically, but seems like a good shop. I want to stop in and hopefully get a Maple to use as a bonsai. I've never grown a bonsai before. The options for starting are overwhelming. (seed, seedling, cutting, aerial rooting, etc.) I'm also worried about the available light. I have a balcony that gets good light one 2 sides, it sounds like this tree can tolerate shade, think that would be sufficient? As long As I'm not starting from a large plant, I could carry it down an exterior fire escape to give it full sun some days. I live in Hardiness Zone 7a : 0 to 5 (F) according to the link in the OP if it matters. Any advice would be much appreciated, even if only what questions to ask at the nursery.
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Apr 22, 2014 01:05
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As long as that spot gets 6 good hours of sun per day, you should be fine. Start with just keeping it alive in a pot until next year. This is how most people actually fail. Once you know and love your tree, you'll have a better idea what you want to do with it. Personally, I really like all the very orange JM hybrids coming out.
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Apr 22, 2014 01:27
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unprofessional posted:As long as that spot gets 6 good hours of sun per day, you should be fine. Start with just keeping it alive in a pot until next year. This is how most people actually fail. Once you know and love your tree, you'll have a better idea what you want to do with it. Personally, I really like all the very orange JM hybrids coming out. Nailed it. Japanese Maples actually do well with a bit of shade, but 6 hours of sun is definitely necessary. What JM hybrids are you mentioning? Are they like, Amur Maple hybrids or JM's that have been bred for more orange?
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Apr 23, 2014 06:09
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I'd be talking out of my rear end to act like I know much about all the JM hybrids. My knowledge of conifers is hard to beat, though. I just remember seeing a picture from Buchholz's Flora Wonder Blog that had some field planted maples, and god did the orange ones glow.
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Apr 23, 2014 12:10
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So I'm a little confused, if you're growing a tree in the ground to increase trunk size, are you pruning it the whole time, letting the roots grow huge as well, then uprooting it, trimming it and planting it then? As I know nothing about this, and have been reading the thread I kind of want to buy a maple sapling and try to make it work. I've successfully been growing a pineapple for 8 months or so!
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May 2, 2014 19:47
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SaNChEzZ posted:So I'm a little confused, if you're growing a tree in the ground to increase trunk size, are you pruning it the whole time, letting the roots grow huge as well, then uprooting it, trimming it and planting it then? You don't really work on a tree much when it's in the ground. For most things in that situation you just let them grow, maybe working on it just in terms of getting directional growth down with branches. It's pretty minimal at most. When you dig it up then that's when you do root trimming and after it's been potted up for a bit then you do the lion's share of branch trimming. I hope that clarifies it some. Nice job with your pineapples, btw. Those are tasty.
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May 2, 2014 22:46
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Mr. Soop posted:You don't really work on a tree much when it's in the ground. For most things in that situation you just let them grow, maybe working on it just in terms of getting directional growth down with branches. It's pretty minimal at most. Yeah, that helps clear it up a bit. One more thing though, when it's growing in the ground, what happens if it gets tall, is your chance to bonsai it ruined? I understand that the trunk girth and strength are the main concerns, but what about height?
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May 3, 2014 04:51
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SaNChEzZ posted:Yeah, that helps clear it up a bit. One more thing though, when it's growing in the ground, what happens if it gets tall, is your chance to bonsai it ruined? I understand that the trunk girth and strength are the main concerns, but what about height? It's entirely subjective when it comes to what you want to do. If you want a small bonsai then you should prune tall shoots that come off of it occasionally in order to help repel upward growth. Bonsai come in so many sizes though that it's very difficult to say you've ruined any chance of something UNLESS you have a specific goal in mind, such as the 9 inch and under 'Shohin' style of bonsai for instance. Giving it a haircut is routine maintenance, but saying "This is 3 feet tall and I need it to be 1 foot tall!" is another endeavor entirely. Sorry if that was a bit abstract, but that's because of the artistic aspect that goes along with height in particular.
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May 3, 2014 22:00
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Mr. Soop posted:It's entirely subjective when it comes to what you want to do. If you want a small bonsai then you should prune tall shoots that come off of it occasionally in order to help repel upward growth. Bonsai come in so many sizes though that it's very difficult to say you've ruined any chance of something UNLESS you have a specific goal in mind, such as the 9 inch and under 'Shohin' style of bonsai for instance. Giving it a haircut is routine maintenance, but saying "This is 3 feet tall and I need it to be 1 foot tall!" is another endeavor entirely. No that totally makes sense thanks for laying that out. Turns out there's a super awesome Japanese nursery near me that has a shitload of bonsai and other strange succulents. We're going to check it out next weekend to get some ideas. As far as growing a JM, morning sun and afternoon shade is what I gather. Also, I'm in socal so its 72 and sunny all year pretty much. I do see the maples around here dropping leaves and changing colors regularly but there's no extreme cold. Would that be beneficial? Also, would I be better off trying to grow one from seed, or ordering a sapling?
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May 4, 2014 01:35
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Mr. Soop posted:I haven't seen too many spruce bonsai in Cali, so I'm curious as to what your plans might have been/are for it. I'm just planning on trashing it really. I have three better candidates of the same spruce growing in the ground so it isn't even worth much as an experiment/practice plant at this point. Here is an article on developing deciduous trunks with pictures: http://www.bonsaiprimer.com/trunk/trunk.html
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May 4, 2014 10:16
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Illudere posted:I'm just planning on trashing it really. I have three better candidates of the same spruce growing in the ground so it isn't even worth much as an experiment/practice plant at this point. Nice, that's a good visual representation. Here's the shop I was talking about, gunna go check it ou tin a bit. http://yamaguchinursery.com/about-our-bonsai/ They have a bonsai hospital and also offer 'babysitting' when bonsai owners have to go out of town 
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May 4, 2014 17:38
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So we went to the nursery, holy crap they have a bunch of beautiful plants! Here's an album with all the pictures of some of the stuff they have: https://www.flickr.com/photos/11045674@N03/sets/72157644100636637/ Most notably:   I picked up a standard JM sapling and some bonsai mix, which is pumice, soil, bark, mushroom stuff and drains super well.  So since this maple has two distinct sections, one up top and one at the bottom with about 9" of trunk in between, would I be able to do the thing where you peel the bark in a section, wrap in moss and root it in the middle of the trunk? The top part looks like it would be better suited as there's so much trunk between that and the bottom. I was hoping I could get two for one out of this plant perhaps.
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May 4, 2014 21:03
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You might want to repot it and let the root ball expand for a while before trying to airlayer the main trunk, otherwise you might overstress and kill it.
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May 6, 2014 02:09
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Vaginaface posted:You might want to repot it and let the root ball expand for a while before trying to airlayer the main trunk, otherwise you might overstress and kill it. I've got it in the 1gal terracotta now, going to give it a couple months to establish before I do anything. Right now the trunk is about the size of a sharpie.
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May 6, 2014 17:57
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SaNChEzZ posted:I've got it in the 1gal terracotta now, going to give it a couple months to establish before I do anything. Right now the trunk is about the size of a sharpie. Fair enough. Those are some nice trees at that nursery, looks like. Congrats on your purchase.
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May 7, 2014 21:59
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Mr. Soop posted:Fair enough. Those are some nice trees at that nursery, looks like. Congrats on your purchase. Thanks! I'm very impatiently waiting haha. In the meantime I'm reading up a ton.
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May 7, 2014 23:13
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I worked on this juniper today with some help. I find jinning/carving trickier than it first appeared.  
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Jun 1, 2014 09:56
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Yesterday I went to Kew Gardens and was really impressed by the bonsai trees they had there. I'm a complete beginner when it comes to bonsai but went out and picked up a couple of shrubs to experiment with anyway. They didn't set me back much at all, so I won't be gutted if I murder them (although I will be gutted really). I got: Juniperus Communis 'Gold Cone'. I trimmed away the lower growth to have a look-see at what lies beneath.  Chamaecyparis Thyoides 'Top Point'. Again I had a wee trim.  And together  Both plants appear nice and healthy with solid root growth to the bottom of each pot (not pot bound though)and the juniper is putting out a lot of new growth on top. So yes, here I am with my two potential bonsai and I'm a little stuck as to how to proceed really. Both seem to have really lovely shapes so I'm happy to let the plants guide me, any ideas though?
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Jun 1, 2014 15:38
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Gold Cone (true name is 'Suecica Aurea')is a lovely cultivar. Here's a nice mature one in my friend's garden:
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Jun 1, 2014 16:15
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Dr Scoofles posted:
Have you read this guide on Bonsai4me? http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/AT%20Styling%20Juniper%20Bonsai%20Branches%20Thinning%20Out.html I don't think you want a lot of top growth on that juniper, it's too thick up there already. It looks like it has a twin trunk thing going on so I would choose one trunk line on each side and trim off anything that is too large (larger than the trunk you've chosen is a good candidate for removal). Then pinch the tips of the remaining foliage and see how it's looking in a month. It's hard to see what's going on with the Chamaecyparis but I would keep removing branches to thin it out even if you do so slowly a few at a time.
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Jun 4, 2014 14:01
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Illudere posted:Have you read this guide on Bonsai4me? Thank you! That link is absolutely perfect and it's good to hear your advice on the top growth being bad. I've thinned out the branches and have pinched out all the new growth, I found it incredibly absorbing and was so into what I was doing I hadn't noticed it had started to rain. It's funny, as pinching out new growth feels so wrong, like I'm killing it, but afterwards it looked much more bonsai-esque. I would really appreciate peoples opinions on my juniper now, and perhaps some advice on which branches are the best ones to keep? I've ordered some bonsai wire, but in the meantime I'm letting it rest up.   (I think I want this to be the front of my bonsai, this is the side I like the most)  (top view, in case it's helpful at all) I'm turning my attentions upon my Chamaecyparis next, I'm just going to thin it out a little to get a better idea.
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Jun 5, 2014 10:11
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In my head I want the juniper to be shorter, like half its height now but there isn't a lot to work with there and the main trunk is really straight so I suggested some cuts with red lines. The large branch growing up emerges to high to be a twin trunk but in this case I say work with it. I'd take the tips off the lower branches they don't need to be any longer and it will encourage back budding. This tree is getting a pretty substantial hair cut so I would let it recover for quite awhile. 
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Jun 5, 2014 14:40
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Done and done, they are resting up now, must leave them be  Thanks so much Illudere for the advice, you rock. I've found a place near me that does bonsai workshops, I'm seriously tempted to go along and have some hands on time, s'all good learning.
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Jun 6, 2014 14:27
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I'm not a pro by any means. Investing in workshops and good starting material is a great idea. I got off to a slow start buying lots of blah plants and regret it. Collecting is fun too but it's nice to just tag a long with experienced collectors your first couple of times.
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Jun 6, 2014 15:00
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Illudere posted:I'm not a pro by any means. Investing in workshops and good starting material is a great idea. I got off to a slow start buying lots of blah plants and regret it. Collecting is fun too but it's nice to just tag a long with experienced collectors your first couple of times. Sound advice. And if you feel you don't have "good enough" material to bring to a workshop, you can always be an observer. Even if you see stuff you think you might never need to know, it may indeed come in handy someday. In other news,  I got that internship at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens! I am now a paid intern in the Temperate Asia & Dwarf Conifer areas for 1 year. Aww yeah. I'm going to be gardening badass.  (Sorry, had to brag on myself some. I sacrificed a lot to get to this point and fought hard to get it but that's a whole other story.)
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Jun 8, 2014 05:18
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So I recently purchased a Trident Maple bonsai from Brussels Bonsai and it seems to be doing pretty well on my balcony which gets just enough sun in the morning and is shaded for the noon and afternoon sun. I am still a beginner at this though so I do have some questions. I have read that I should work on the trunk first, then start shaping the branches and leaves later, once the trunk is established. The look that I am going for is a straight vertical trunk that ends in some nice full branches at the top. Anyway, upon inspecting the tree's shape I noticed that at the top of the current trunk there are 4 branches all meeting at the same junction, with the narrowest one being the one that continues vertically. Currently I have rotated the tree so that the leaves connected to the vertical branch will get the most sun as I want that branch to continue onward as the upper part of the trunk. I was wondering if you guys had any tips and tricks to help give that branch some priority in growth without potentially killing the tree. As you can see the tree has some lower branches that will eventually get clipped once the trunk gets to how I want it.  And here is the junction that I am talking about. 
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Jun 28, 2014 21:55
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Question about ground cover for my new bonsai which I have yet to kill! I have a trident maple growing in the deciduous soil the nursery recommended. It's a pretty coarse mixture with wood chips and such in it. I tried transplanting some moss to get a little ground cover going (mostly for looks), but I think my balcony might get too much direct sun, or the moss isn't happy with the soil, or I did a terrible job of transplanting it. Short version is the moss is dead. Are there any other sorts of grass-like things I could plant to get some nice greenery going? Wheatgrass is easy to grow... would it steal too much water from the tree?
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Jun 30, 2014 17:20
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Talking of grass, something has sprouted in the pot next to my tree, should I do something about it? Its pretty quickly gotten taller than the tree. Also, I want to check I'm doing the right thing, mine sprouts loads of little shoots that end in flowers, which pretty much die straight away, should I be picking those off?
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Jun 30, 2014 19:31
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