AusBonsai

Hi all!!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New year!!

Santa (aka, my mother) was very excited when she presented me with a 12 year old Trident Maple she had ordered for my Christmas present, I love it!!
I think its clear it needs some work, but still being very new, I'm not sure what yet, as I've only had experience with much younger trees..

Does anyone have some suggestions for it perhaps? I've looked up how I should feed, water, shade it etc, so I think I'm ok there, just no Idea where I should go in terms of styling!
Oh and if anyones wondering, I picked up it's little stand from Bunnings for $99, I think you need to order them in, the one I got was a promo thing

Sorry about the crappy photos, I took them on my phone before I left for work this morning

Hello Hannah,

Welcome to Bonsai and to Ausbonsai in particular! There are many approaches to bonsai and the ethos among ausbonsai members varies. From my experience you will get a lot of conflicting feedback. Your maples is a nice bonsai already and is excellent material for a beginner. It is healthy, has a good root spread for its age and I am assuming it has reasonable taper under those leaves. My first advice is don't rush. In my view there are really very few things that have to be done urgently in bonsai. Those few are a) water, b) remove wire if it is cutting in and c) treat pests or disease. For now I would recommend learning how to maintain the health of the tree by keeping it in a good position and learning how to water and fertilize. You can trim any stray shoots but don't rush into making drastic changes until you know the growth patterns of the tree. Then as your desires develop you cans start making changes.

Altogether your maple makes a great display on its stand and it is a much better start than my humble beginnings in bonsai. My first advice is to obtain a pair of tweezers with a spatula on the end like these (there are many shapes and brands- any would do):
They will allow you to tamp down the growing mix around the lip of the pot. That way, when you water, the stones on the surface will not be moved. Also the water will better penetrate the pot. The tweezers are useful for removing weeds and also pinching out soft shoots. I use them every time I do maintenance on any particular tree. Also try to get a good watering can and a bottle of all round fertilizer + tonic such as fish and kelp.

regards
Ash

Thanks so much for the great advice Ash!! I'll be sure to pick up a tool like that from ebay or another online store!

I'm hoping to start a little cascade bonsai soon and I also have a little port jackson in the works too, they seem so much smaller now since I was given this lol!!

Thanks again Mate!

Nice an healthy look to it

be nice to see this again in winter when nekkid, as I suspect you will be chopping the left branch back hard to the little branch you can see in the second pick

then an other chop higher up on the other big one on the right will lead to the apex.

Ken

Brilliant advice from Ash...

Ash, that's some of the best advice I've seen for a tree of this size, and especially for someone relatively new to Bonsai.

You've got the makings of a good tree there Hannah, just follow Ash's advice and your tree will develop over time.

Hey Ash,

How did you know her name???

And to Hannah,

I agree with Ash. just learn to keep the tree healthy for now. I reckon the best time to shape a trident is in winter when you can see the tree's branches. Read the internet forums, and learn about wiring and pruning. This tree will probably want some root work done, so you need to learn about root grafting, or encouraging growth of new roots. This is easier than it seems, so don't be put off. Also look at as many photos of these trees both in leaf and bare and see what you like. During winter you can have a careful look at the branch structure on your tree and decide what may work and where you want to head towards.

Your tree looks really healthy, and although I am no expert on Tridents, I'd suggest that if you don;t know where to go, then go nowhere at all. This is the joy of bonsai. You do not need to change things just for the sake of it. If I were you, I'd just clip/pinch back all the growth that extends outside of the current tree's shape. Once it loses its leaves the action can begin. That should give you a while to figure out where you want to go with the design.

Oh, and join a club, it is the best way to learn.

Cheers, and a Happy New Year to you too!

Andrew

Cheers guys, all great advice

I'd say Ash probably read my original "hello im new!" thread a while back where I mentioned my name hehe

I'm very excited about how the maple will look in autumn/winter, i'll be sure to post some pics when that comes around!
Bonsai is very addictive.. I'm already finding myself studying rocks and imagining penjing landscapes and looking for small shrubs with awesome trunks.. lol!! I keep telling myself to slow down and approach slowly!!

A little off topic but if anyone knows a nice bonsai place to visit in sydney/newcastle, I'll be there for big day out soon!!

Hi Hannah
I'll be in Sydney for BDO too. Are you going to day 1 or 2?
Due to budget reasons i'll probably be avoiding any nursarys while I'm up that way if I can possibly help it
Daniel

Tinmonkey wrote:Hi Hannah
I'll be in Sydney for BDO too. Are you going to day 1 or 2?
Due to budget reasons i'll probably be avoiding any nursarys while I'm up that way if I can possibly help it
Daniel

Awesome!! I'm day 1, but I'm wishing I knew about the free ticket thing or I would have gone day 2!!
I'm mainly going to see Tool and Rammstein lol! but I'm excited about all the aussie bands too!

I'm thinking that after buying tons of tour clothing, I'll probably be breaking the bank, but I'd still love to go and have a look at some nurserys and maybe take the camera.. that would be lovely! plus the other half wouldnt be dragging behind me saying "we've looked at everything at least twice, can we go home now?" LOL

I'm a mad tool fan they go off live.
I'm day 1 as well and I wish i knew about the free ticket thing too.
Should be a good day though.
Dont worry too much about the other half I'm sure once he starts seeing some cool trees he will hopefully begin to understand your affliction

Hi and welcome, Great taste in music and great maple to start with.

I wish tool was doing ther own show in sydney not just big day out, that is slack on the fans, might have to fly to bris.

Anyway, Take part in some bonsai classes, even if you read the basic information over and over , it is still fun to work on bonsai in a group.

That is the best advice that i have been given.

Adam

blkrota wrote:Hi and welcome, Great taste in music and great maple to start with.

I wish tool was doing ther own show in sydney not just big day out, that is slack on the fans...

Adam

Agreed! But im going to Sydney BDO, couldn't swing Bris/Melb

HAHA BDO has completely hi-jacked this thread.
But hell yeah a Tool sideshow would be awesome, but they did do a comprehensive side-show tour last time they were in AUS for the BDO which wasn't that long ago.
I cant wait for BDO it'll be wicked. I have a spare ticket to the first Sydney show (the sold out show) for sale if anyone is looking for a ticket. PM me if your interested or know somone who wants a ticket

Tool are doing sideshows, but not in sydney which sucks

and lol!!! yeah, BDO has hijacked this thread, but hey, listening to tool makes my maple happy LOL