My First Bonsai Trees

[blackers_92]

I Decided to buy my first bonsai, so i went to gardenworld in springvale, which had a large selection of bonsai for sale, i bought a Japanese Maple, a Trident Maple, and a Norway Spruce, they are very undeveloped and i dont really know where to go from here, i bought a small handbook on bonsai and have read another more detailed one but none really explain what to do with such a young bonsai, if you could please give me advice as to how i should begin shaping or pruning it would help me out alot, also bought 3 new pots and some soil, the lady at gardenworld said I would not need any utensils at this stage.

any help would be appreciated

[PeterW]

Hi Blackers,
First of all just spend some time looking at them and try and decide what you would like them to grow into. Small material like that you can either rush them into a pot now or take your time and learn along the way. Why not pot the worst one of them (the one you least like) and keep it alive for a few months and in the meantime wonder around AusBonsai and see what you can learn. I see you are from Melbourne, dont let them get to much if that heat down there at the moment.

Regards
Peter.

[blackers_92]

thats what i thought i might do, they werent overly expensive so i might do that, yeh the heat down here is ridiculous it hit 46 yesterday so i wont repot them thanks for your advice

[anttal63]

blackers welcome how ya doin?

i will tell you the same 2 thing i tell my own students; 1st do you want some thing that resembles a bonsai now/ in the shorter term? if so you have purchased the wrong material. if you throw these into a bosai pot you will bairly thicken them and will always look like twigs in pots at some stage graduating to sticks in pots. to do instant bonsai's you need to get more advanced pre bonsai stock. yeah yeah i know you dont want to get to carried away and spend too much yet and thats cool so now i will move onto the 2nd thing; would you like to put these little twigs in the bank and earn interest? interest meaning you grow these trees out while learning how to care and keep them alive, to prune correctly energy balance the tree as it goes and then eventually have some decent size and shape stock to work on. if so then when the time is right you need to repot these into some polystyrene fruit box's and let them grow. first lesson to repot and check out the roots.

i say putm in the bank and they will pay dividends. im here in melb, lots of clubs around. if you need any help finding ya way all you need to do is ask.

[blackers_92]

no no no haha i didnt want a pre-bonsai i understand that they will take a long time to grow, and i was thinking about repotting them into something else until they mature more and are ready for the pots, i understand what you mean by twigs in a pot and im not going to go for that look, i dont think anyone really would. So far as i can see it might be 1 year + before i actually plant the trees... im not entirely sure though, i would rather the trunk thicken before i plant them, do bonsai develop better in pots or like polystyrene boxes, would i use bonsai soil if i transplanted them into a box or just normal soil?, and should I have them in individual boxes or just one large one? A club would help but i may not have the time, i have year 11 and at least basketball 6 times a week including state commitments so i may not have to to participate, are they individual course i could attend?

[anttal63]

you wanna seriously thicken up? take your pick, pot or box as long as there is loads of soil. approx 3 yrs min just to get out of stick league, its thicknes at this stage will suit shohin. good luck and enjoy. soil for growing out could be half 5-7mm stone and half fine shredded pine bark. good luck and enjoy.

[buddaboy]

Blackers, Most would agree that in the ground is the best place for thickening trunks. However if you dont have ground space( renting, in units, living with parents, etc ), then planter boxes followed by larger pots. If you havent already seen them, look at the "Seiju Elms" post in the exotic trees section. Those elms are a good example of the rule. Get your trunk and roots right before you pot down. Also look around your nurseries for the reject tables, a lot of the best cheaper stock comes from trees that cant be sold due to the fact that they are bent, or have not developed correctly. I dont mean buy trees that are sickly or half dead, but for example if a topiary fig doesnt stand up straight the nursery cant sell it as a topiary.
Good luck,
Ron

[blackers_92]

thanks for the advice my dad isnt to keen on me planting them in the ground as we dont have much space, but i will definatly try a box, would it really take 3 years to develop? thats a long time, would i have been better off buying one at a more developed stage? either way i am keen to grow a bonsai and will do whatever it takes to see it as a true bonsai

[Hector Johnson]

Three years is a reasonable time. I have an azalea that spent 33 years in the ground before I lifted it 12 years ago. Next year I hope to have a good crop of flowers on it, as I've really put some time into pruning it correctly, to force a lot of new growth. Bonsai is a hobby for the patient, if nothing else.

[MelaQuin]

You can go to a bonsai nursery and for up to $25 get a good starter with movement and potential and work on that and have an up and coming bonsai in a very short time. If you are going into any hobby you can't think 'cheap'. Some investment is always required. In Sydney at the moment you can get good stock of Pyracanthas for $10 and $25, the latter being larger. Heaps of potential and even after the first prune and styling you have a bonsai looking plant. Starting with a seedling is somewhat depressing and the only thing it will really prove is that you will or won't kill it by neglect. If your attitude is 'buy cheap so if it dies it won't matter', then buy dearer so you will look after your investment with more care so it won't die. But these seedlings are best potted up and put in the back of the bonsai area [however small] for some future work. A bit of wire to give the trunks movement and let nature take its course.

Bonsai nurseries sell a lot of short stock with movement as opposed to nurseries who sell tall and straight. Go on a proper crawl!!

[Milehigh_7]

Everything anttal63 has told you is right.

In bonsai you must stop thinking about how long it takes. Just enjoy the whole journey, it is a marathon and not a sprint.

You may try reading some articles such as these:
http://evergreengardenworks.com/bonsaip.htm
http://evergreengardenworks.com/bonsaibe.htm

In fact I would recommend reading all the articles on Brent's site.

Do you all have cotoneaster available to you there? If so that would be an excellent plant that could be a bonsai quickly.

Here is another great site for your learning:
http://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics.html

and another:
http://www.knowledgeofbonsai.org/

Have fun!

[Jordy]

I know this post is somewhat old, but, hectorjohnson would you be able to post a few pictures of your azalea?
i'd love to see it!

Fingers crossed you read this!

[kcpoole]

I know this post is somewhat old, but, hectorjohnson would you be able to post a few pictures of your azalea?
i'd love to see it!

Fingers crossed you read this!

Doubt hector will do that as he is no longer posting

I will tho with one of mine

This came from a friend of mine that works part time at an retirement home.
It has been in a (Large ) pot for many years, and was severely pot bound and had 3 long straight stalks coming up from the nice base.
I cut them back and was going to cut off the horizontal one too but was going to wait until it had recovered after i repotted it, but after seeing it flower this year I think I will be keeping it as a Semi cascade. The apex will be developed into a low crown only

Ken

[Jordy]

wow! are u planning on elongating that cascade more?

not that it doesn't look amazing already, i'm just curious

[kcpoole]

Yes I reckon I will make it a little longer eventually. After I took these photos i removed all the buds to get the thing rowing hard.

I want to let that branch Grow as much as possible to put on as much girth as it can in the next year or 2, Then I will cut back to its final length