advice

I am an absolute newbie when it comes to bonsai, and am in need of help I inherited this particular tree from a now deceased relative, so I don't know what species it is I bought some specific bonsai feed that said to be used once a week (twice during growing periods) - if anything I've been...

I got this loblolly pine in May that is (obviously) very straight. I trimmed the candles and actually cut the top off to see how it would respond. It back budded very well and there was a second push of growth all over the tree. My plan was to wait until late winter/ early spring to cut back...

Western Hemlock I picked up this western hemlock from a nursery in early spring, did an air layer in May. Last week new growth above the air layer started to die. I thought I did a good air layer job—aside from starting late...my gut tells me this thing’s going to slowly die if I don’t take...

Hey all! I’ve posted about this tree before, with a ton of help received (thank you!). I did a repot on this about a month ago, and so far it’s been sprouting new growth and looking good, however I have noticed a bit of yellowing here and there and some dried out/pale internal foliage that’s...

Hello all. I recently acquired this beautiful little twin trunk Shimpaku Juniper. I did a repot on it about 6 days ago (later in the season than I’d like but it was bricked up pretty good). I was gentle as could be and I kept the roots mostly intact with about 20% total removal of the feeder...

Recently (3/24/25) I removed my 2 1/2 year old black pine from its pot to trim roots. I replanted in same pot with fresh soil. About 2-3 days after repotting, I pulled a good amount of needles and trimmed remaining ones. Some of the top needles on the most mature growth started to brown and now...

I’d be interested to hear some feedback on this Japanese Larch. It’s about 40” tall nursery stock that went on sale after another tree fell on it, snapping trunk in the previous fall. It’s shown signs of recovered health, with buds swelling. According to what I’ve read, I am now beginning its...

Hello! In the fall I went crazy buying and collecting different tree seeds for bonsais and to grow full size. I was at a nursery that had 3 large grafted JWP with pine cones on them. I did not know anything about the tree at the time (still very new to the hobby, and it's my first year growing...

Hello I’m new to bonsai. 3 days ago I received a Chinese elm tree and I was a little disappointed because the leaves were very thin through out the tree and there is constant yellowing on the leaves, any advice on how to make this bonsai flourish? I put the Chinese elm by the window which only...

Hi everyone Firstly - happy new year and wishing you all the best for 2025. My friend is currently house sitting for me and has sent me these videos of my two Japanese maples. One is a bloodgood and I’m unsure of the other cultivar. They both seem to be suffering from extreme heat stress and I...

Hello there, Recently I got hold of this Prunus Incisa "Kojo-no-mai" and I am looking to do something with it. Currently it has three trunks and I am looking into reducing it down to one, but still cannot decide which one to keep. Any advice? Also, is there any possibility to get 3 different...

Hi! I was gifted this two beautiful trees and, since I’m still a beginner, I wanted some guidance as to what to do with them. The first one is an ash tree and the second one a ginkgo biloba. The ash tree is disproportionately long for a bonsai, I was wondering if it can survive a chopping. Also...

Hello all, I obtained this P.afra at a flea market about 1.5 years ago and have just been letting it grow out with minor cuts/pruning to thicken the trunk up, which is now a little over 2” (at the lowest point). I started reading up on bonsai about 2 years ago (took that long to get through the...

Hello, I have just received this beautiful Maple (Acer Deshojo) from my gf. I am wondering what to do with it? It has two leaders from the top third of the truck. Maybe I should airlayer the larger leader? I am also thinking to airlayer the first third of main truck

So I've been interested in bonsai for a while and got a seed kit as a gift. As I imagine you all know, it's slow and inconsistent way. As such I've decided to obtain a grown tree. I have a family member with a farm house and there's a few species there that might work so I'm looking for advice...

Hopefully this is the right subforum. I made a post in the ‘new to bonsai’ section and got some suggestions to try cuttings and air layering to propegate some local trees/plants whilst I wait on my seeds. I went and had a look at the beech hedge we have and took some pictures, these are just...

This is my first pine it’s been a couple of months since thinning it out and trimming buds down to 2 per branch. Today I did some major chops to create taper and also did some wiring to creat some style. The lower right branch will most likely be a sacrificial branch after the trunk thickens up...

I recently received this Chinese Elm via an online auction. I’m well aware of the preparations and patience it takes for a while to allow this tree to get back into a proper growth. However, if you were gifted this tree, what steps would you take and/or what experimentation would you take...

Hello! I am a newbie to bonsai and have become quite addicted. As someone who is also interested and experienced in ceramics, I'm getting more and more fascinated by bonsai pots, infact I would love to make my own. However I know very little about bonsai pots (besides the selection process for...

This beech got clobbered by a big ash tree that came down on it years ago. I’ve been messing around with it for the last two years. I want to make 1 or 2 more big cuts before I pull and pot it with in 2025 or 2026 (depending if I make the full chop now or do it over two seasons). Here is a...

Hey All! Got a Japanese black pine from the nursery a month ago and planted it into the ground this summer. I planted it on a mound to help with drainage and have been watering ~ 3 days or so. It gets about 5-8h hours of sunlight a day. I got my soil tested and nutrients are plentiful with...

Hello everybody. I'm new to bonsai; as of right now I only have a pre-bonsai (zanthoxylum simulans) that I'm growing until its trunk is more satisfying and some ficus benjamina cuttings that I'm propagating for bonsai purposes. The ficus will probably suffer some mangling, but I have virtually...

So I recently went to my first workshop and it was great, I learnt a lot and It made me a little more confident with trying to do things alone. However when it comes to wiring I am still not confident in my abilities and I was hoping to get advice on the wiring here? Basically I used a young...

This American beech, I collected 2 years ago. It has 4"-5" base, and has been growing untouched. I am just looking for ideas on what direction to go with this tree. I'm am not a fan of the type of broom style where the trunk splits into two leaders of equal size. I just don't want to create one...

Recently got a another tree from a nursery, a Chinese Juniper 'Blaauws'. I slip pot into a bigger nursery pot to allow it to grow more and also wired the trunk and a few other thicker branches just for movement. Besides that pulled out small crotch growth and tiny weak interior foliage to open...