A NEWBIE'S ATTEMPT

[Luke308]

Here are a few pics of my bonsai or potensai rather. I'm looking for any advice and or criticisms to point me in the right direction. I know the soil is rather waterlogged, but I am about to remedy that with a mix of aquatic mix/coir fibre/ and zeolite on the weekend, but in the meantime I have "aerated" with a chopstick

Firstly is what started my obsession with Bonsai, a Trident Maple my gf bought me from Bunnings last Xmas.

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I took it to a local Bonsai nursery and they told me it needed to be re-potted as it was too tall for the pot so I had it re-potted into a rectangle pot which I quite liked, however it only had one drainage hole and don't think It liked that too much. This is how it looked

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As you can see, It has no real branch structure, I am unsure how to correct this so I'm hoping for some advice
here is a pic at the start of spring this year to get a better idea of branch structure or lack thereof

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And here is how it looks today

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[Luke308]

Here is another pic I just found of the Trident maple

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Secondly is a Liquid-Ambar which is only very young, and Im thinking should not be in a bonsai pot, but I was eager
Anyway, I think it has branches starting in the right places, however, Im not sure on what the next step is here is a progression of its life in photos......

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[Hornet]

I wouldnt worry too much about wiring branches, choosing a front or taking cuttings. You would be best off just letting it go wild for a couple of years to let the trunk thicken then do a trunk chop to get some taper and starting from scratch with the branch structure.

John

[Luke308]

Thirdly I a Juniper I bought at bunnings as nursery stock because my gf said none of my trees looked like bonsai (how right she was too ) As you can see I have tried wiring it into a shape, but at this stage had read almost nothing on bonsai so I had no idea! ( I still don't, but at least I'm trying to learn more )

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[Luke308]

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[Luke308]

This is another liquid-ambar, which is a lot bigger than the previous one, however, it still has a long way to go before it deserves a bonsai pot. I have trunk chopped this one trying to get a better taper, and loosely wired the new leader upwards. Am I progressing in the right direction?

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Any help on any of these trees would be highly appreciated, but please be friendly, as its taken a bit of courage to put these pics up (I'm too embarrassed to take any of them to my club for advice)
Any books you could recommend would be great also. thanks for helping a newbie out it this daunting yet fascinating hobby/obsession

[Goff]

Hi luke. Check out my post " viewtopic.php?f=130&t=9347
You can get olives like this everywhere in Adelaide. I'm only new to bonsai but that's the way I would go with olives rather than training something that young.. I think there is a dig soon with the club. I went to the last one and it was good..

[Luke308]

Thanks Goff,

There is a dig this Sunday for pines at Mt. Crawford forest @ 10am, and there is a dig for Olives on the 9th Oct @ Annette's place. Is that where you went for olives? I'm interested in going to both, however I don't know what to take besides a shovel, saw and a hand trowel. What did you bring? How did you transport them home? are you going to the pine dig?

[Luke308]

Thanks John aka hornet,

Should I do that for all my trees, or just the trident? how long would you say until I could trunk chop?

[Goff]

Not going Sunday. What area are you in?? Next time I go olive digging you could come if you want.

[Hornet]

I'm no pro, i'm only new at this myself but personally i'd let all of them grow for a couple of years to develop more of a trunk. With that maple i would remove that high root, too thick and out of place. Hopefully someone with some more experience will chime in and give you some better adivce (not saying mine isnt good, just probably not as good as others). Most of my tree's bar a fig and an azalea are all young like yours, takes time but at least you get to develop them the whole way.

John

[Bougy Fan]

Hi Luke
They all need growing on - just be careful doing root work on any of the deciduous if they have started to leaf out. You can slip them into a grow box at any time if you don't disturb the roots. However every year when the buds start to swell you should repot them and sort out the roots. If you don't do that at the right time you have to wait a whole year which is a very long time in bonsai
Why don't you buy an established bonsai to keep the interest going ? Those stock trees will need a few years of growing on before you can do much with them.


Tony

[Luke308]

Not going Sunday. What area are you in?? Next time I go olive digging you could come if you want.

I live in Aberfoyle Park, so Im not sure if i'll make it Sunday as its over an hour drive each way. But please let me know when your planning any digs, I'd be happy to come along

[Luke308]

Hi Luke
They all need growing on - just be careful doing root work on any of the deciduous if they have started to leaf out. You can slip them into a grow box at any time if you don't disturb the roots. However every year when the buds start to swell you should repot them and sort out the roots. If you don't do that at the right time you have to wait a whole year which is a very long time in bonsai
Why don't you buy an established bonsai to keep the interest going ? Those stock trees will need a few years of growing on before you can do much with them.


Tony

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Im looking for an established tree to buy atm, but all the trees Ive seen thus far are either overpriced or under developed. However, my club is having a bonsai show in a few weeks, so hopefully I can snap up a nice tree then?

[Hornet]

or even better, get a nice yamadori

John