AusBonsai

Hi
I have been training this jade for 5 years now and come to a stage where it's resembling a small tree. However it's nowhere close to some of the bonsai pictures in this forum. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions will be invaluable.

Thanks in advance

a photo might be a good starting point so people can give you options of where to take it

I second that - we need to see to the tree. Remember all of us started somewhere so don't think your tree is good enough to post here.

Probably just having trouble uploading a pic...


Cheers dwayne
I'm a bonsai newb

Something wrong with the post. I thought I had uploaded a picture. Will try again

I have uploaded pictures from different angles from my laptop now. Probably something was an issue when I tried with my mobile.

Akhi, I don't think it's a question of you doing anything wrong. As a specimen of P afra, its fine. The question you should be asking yourself is " how do I want the tree to look?" If you want it to assume the appearance of a more traditional-looking bonsai, say, an informal upright, then there are steps you probably need to take in order to get the tree on the right path. For example, if that was my tree (and I have lots of P afra - i love 'em) and I was going for the look described above, I'd do some pretty radical pruning to set a basic framework upon which to build. Unless you are able to visualise what you want and then carry out the necessary preliminary work to set your tree on the right path, the appearance won't change much over the long term. The main thing is to be realistic in your expectattions.

Having had a closer look at the tree, I'd thin out the canopy by removing all inward facing, or odd-looking branches, and any that are growing directly downward. If you want to establish foliage pads, you should also remove any fine branches back near the trunk so that growth is concentrated on the foliage at the tips of the branches. Do that and then post some more pics.

Thanks ToddB I wasn't thinking a traditional informal upright but more like the one in the picture in this link which I just found by doing a Google search

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=tree ... 0p5qx1M%3A

Should I still be pruning the interior of the tree to get this look?

Akhi, if you're going for that sort of style, I'd do two things: 1) remove all the small inward and downward-growing shoots as discussed earlier and more importantly, 2) allow all the outward -growing shoots tips on the branches to extend until you see lots of growth happening all over the canopy. Dont prune it while this growth is in full swing. Then, when these shoots have extended to the desired length, just remove the tips. It's really just a matter of repeating this process ad infinitum until the canopy closes in. With a tree like yours it will take 3-4 years. No shortcuts I'm afraid.

2 year’s since my last post and a lot of regular pruning feeding and sun it’s beginning to look better. The nebari is beginning to thicken with it sending shoots from the base which I allow to grow for a year and then clip to the base increasing taper as well. Have been doing annual repots removing roughly an inch all around the pot. Any suggestions on refinement welcome. But still at least another two years away from being anywhere close to what I want it to look like.
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I was wondering if it's beneficial to gently squeeze the base of the trunk with pliers or multi-grips? would the scaring then add to the age and thickening of the base? this scaring would then remove the ringlets, or do i have "no idea"

no idea wrote:I was wondering if it's beneficial to gently squeeze the base of the trunk with pliers or multi-grips? would the scaring then add to the age and thickening of the base? this scaring would then remove the ringlets, or do i have "no idea"

yes it will remove them as it has happened elsewhere on the tree never occurred to me. Thanks


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