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Grown out, cut back for a couple of seasons now. Almost killed it last year with a bad batch of osmocote. I like the way this is shaping up.

Here is a large ficus benjamina that I have been working down from a houseplant for a few years. I bought this at an incredible nursery in Salt Lake that has since closed down, probably around 10 years ago. It was about 7 feet tall and had smallish leaves (could be Natasja?) that made me wonder...

I posted about this yesterday in my progression thread and did not get any response, so trying again here. After cutting the trunks on my japanese maple clump, I was concerned to see these darkened/blackened areas of sapwood. Could this be verticillium or something similarly sinister? Is there...

Salt Lake City is an arid, high desert environment, elevation about 4,700 feet at my location, at about the 41st parallel for reference. The weather is looking good this week, and I am starting to think about how to position my tropicals when I move them outside. Last year, I had them on a...

My big Japanese larch pre-bonsai has some browning tips on the ends of about a third of new needles. I just repotted it about 3 weeks ago out of a nursery can into a grow box, just sawing the root ball down to fit and teasing out the edges, then filling in the voids with aggregate mix. It is in...

I purchased this tree from John Chikasuye in November 2021, and have left it pretty much alone in the small wood box it came in until today, when I repotted it into a much larger box, about the same depth. I worked the roots very little. This is the best view of the root flare: Here is a...

Over 15 years ago, I passed up buying a ficus too little with the trunk the size of my forearm because it was "too expensive" (probably like $100). Ha! Well, I bought myself one a couple of years ago on the FB auctions with nothing for scale. You can imagine my surprise when it showed up with a...

This is the tree I haven't stopped thinking about since I heard it was for sale. It is a cork bark elm of unknown variety, purchased around 2018 at Telperion Farms by the BCU member I got it from. It stands about 26 inches from the pot rim. I am told it needs a repot this year. In some sense...

Generally in the past I have left my deciduous bonsai alone in the winter, but this year I managed to make a good child storage space that rarely freezes, so I am trying some mid-winter structural pruning on this elm. Before... After...

I purchased this as a small cutting a couple of years ago from an ebay seller. Since then, I have just let it grow, but cut it back hard this past summer and will be repotting it and working on branching next summer. This is it now:

About two years ago I discovered this in the back of a small-town hardware store. The soil only came about halfway up the 3gal nursery pot that it was potted in, which created a nice environment for lots of surface and aerial roots. I squeezed it into this unglazed pot shortly after I got it...

I figure somebody here would know - what is the technical definition of the term "kabudachi?" I have seen it used to refer to any multi-trunk tree, but I came across this page on a Japanese website that seems to suggest it only refers to trees with five-plus trunks. Not sure on the reliability...

I have been keeping tropicals indoors over the winter in a mylar tent for the past few years, and I still have not found the perfect tool for watering. A watering can with a straight spout required a lot of care so as not to slosh soil out of the pot. A can with a shower rose was not precise...

I picked this up at Costco on a whim over the winter. It was a big, s-shaped monstrosity but I saw some potential in the first branch. So I cut it back to there a few months ago, and last week hacked the branch back to set the structure. A lot of new buds have popped out so I will see what I can...

I purchased this from Joe Winkler/BamBam Bonsai last spring. Everything below the curve was buried so the large base was a nice surprise. I chopped the top by 12-18" and potted it in this crummy unglazed oval because it was the right size. I gave it a structural pruning this spring to set up...

Well it's nothing too crazy, but it is (so far) pretty much unlike a lot of the ficus salicaria I have seen around. The trunk divisions are a little wild, and whenever I look at it, I struggle to form a unified concept in my mind for it so I move on to something else. I just gave it a thorough...

Who on the forum has experience growing cliffrose in containers? I have one that I collected from deep sand in southern Utah that has been chilling in a 5gal nursery can since spring 2021, in a mix of pumice and lava. With such an open mix, I was watering daily last summer. This spring, for...

I have had this pot for 15 years, never thought much about it, but find myself suddenly curious. I couldn't find any similar chops on japanesebonsaipots.net. Does anyone recognize this?

Not being one for keeping my thoughts to myself, I thought that I would put this out there, and seek out others' experiences as well. What I am pondering is whether to keep going with "sticks in pots" projects, or to dump those and focus on acquiring high quality trees that are ready for or even...

This is a pot that I acquired over ten years ago from an estate sale. Trying to figure out if it is worth keeping. Can anyone identify it?

I purchased this larch online several weeks ago, and it suffered some shipping stress. When it arrived, the foliage was green but wilted all over. I stuck it in the shade, watering it every 2-3 days (it is in a #3 nursery can with an organic mix). About half the foliage turned crispy and brown...

I acquired this little elm from Kawa no Oka Bonsai a few months ago. It was nicely trimmed when I received it, and I did some additional thinning once it had gotten settled in. All of the extensions that have grown out since then have this odd weeping habit. The leaves also come in dark green...

My last post in this forum ("Search Thread" button) was a little embarrassing. The answer was right under my nose. I have often said that I should stop myself right before I ask the store clerk where I can find something and simply turn around, because the thing I am looking for will usually be...

Being close to southern Nevada and California makes it hard to find hardy species suitable for the mountains where I live, but the upside is a decent selection of succulents, like this big dwarf jade I picked up last year. The height as it stands is roughly 14 inches, after chopping off most of...

So first off, @Bonsai Nut, this site is awesome as it is. Thank you for all of your hard work to make this work. And thanks to the nameless others who probably help out as well. My suggestions is to add a "Search Thread" button at the top of each thread page. The idea is that, when referring...