style advice

Hi everyone, I bought this fukien tea about a month ago. It wasn't looking too good when I got it but it's growing very well now. I'm looking for styling advice because I feel it's too lanky but don't really know what to do with it. There's some inverse taper happening where all the branches...

Hello All, I have this Chinese Elm with an S curve that I’m not a huge fan of (and the roots are a mess). How and when should I “fix” it? I’m thinking above the red line is just firewood, too much of a reverse taper. Is the blue line a good place to trunk chop? And if so is it worth trying to...

Did my first chops. Thoughts? Should I go further? Found these at the nursery while browsing. Should of taken before photos. One was a 3ft tall tree (love the peeling bark) and the other was a fairly decent size bush. I forgot the names, I’ll go outside and find the tags once I work up the...

New to bonsai and nervous about removing large branches. The first picture shows the slight S bend I'd like to use as the front but there's a branch (1) near the top that may detract from the trunk line. My bigger problem is the lower branches. I can't decide which ones to keep! Second picture...

Hello! I got this bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) this January from a nursery. It was grown in a huge pot. When I remove the pot and the original soil I found a huge weird roots knot. On the one hand it expanded the base width from 10 cm to 19 cm, on the other hand I have a crossing thick...

Hey everyone!👋 I thought I would make a poll to determine the best possible front/style for this Acer Palmatum 'Little Princess' I got for 60€ from a local nursery! Since I'm very new to bonsai, I'm not entirely sure if it's the best bonsai material, but the nebari seemed promising and the...

Hello, everyone. I just joined and and wanted to ask the community a few quick questions: I got this maple yesterday, it's planted in regular dirt (I think) with some kind of spongy black rocks (almost like perlite) with an orange coating, on top of the dirt. It is 7 years old, according to the...

Just picked up this guy for $30 at local nursery. I had a hard time not getting about 5 maples with them being 25% off, but they're getting a bunch of new ones next week, so I'm going to wait till then and probably get more. Anyway, I was trying to get some recommendations on styling. He's...

Hi all, This is my first post here. I managed to buy this Malus Domestica for just €20,- through a Dutch webshop (happy to share a link if it's allowed). As this is my first pre-bonsai to bonsai project, I seek for some advice. Attached you can find two pictures of what I could consider the...

Hello bonsai nuts! This is my first post and I’d love for some ideas on how to style this jbp. It’s around 25 years old or so and my main concern is that the trunk has little to no movement. There are probably a few options and while I have my own ideas on what to do, I’d love any suggestions...

Hi everyone I'm looking for a bit of advice with a field maple (Acer campestre) I am currently ground growing. The tree is tall and straight, with the beginning of a good nebari. The trunk diameter is roughly 2.5"/6.5cm. The first picture shows what I think is the best front, with several...

Hello y'all, I recently purchased a juniper and I'm thinking of styling it in the coming months. I don't know the specific variety and neither did the seller. The trunk is about 1.5 inches in diameter, pretty straight, and uninteresting. Due to the shari, I don't think I can do any extreme...

I'm really not sure what direction to take this tree. There are 5 branches coming off the main trunk. They have between 2-4 candles each. My initial thoughts are to go really minimal and follow the curve of the trunk by removing the two branches on the right (first photo). It will also slow...

Hi All - I picked this dwarf maple up Saturday after walking by it several times over the course of the day. I saw something in it or at the very least something I'd like to work on and improve. I've got some ideas for where to take it but I would love some advice or suggestions! The main...

Hi All, I picked up a Bosnian pine on deep discount at HD the other day, along with some Mugos. I was hoping for some advice on this one. I was hoping you could all weigh in on branch selection. Or, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyway, I’m very new, so I’m not sure where to go from here...

Hello there. Picked up this Blue Spruce from a side of the road nursery as I thought it might have some potential. Seems to want to want be a leaning style or wire to informal upright? Dug down into the base and seen this interesting trunk. Any thoughts on that? Was thinking I should style/wire...

I picked up this blue shore juniper from the local Home Depot. I may have gotten a bit prune happy but I’ve got to say it is interesting to look at... maybe a bit thin but it should thicken up over time. Any input or advice helps :)

Hello guys, I’m have posted a few times regarding my JWP. I got it a month ago and now I’m planning what I would like it to look like. I’m a little lost for ideas if I’m being honest, I have looked online for inspiration but the look is quite different to other JWP I see. i was thinking about...

Hey everyone, I picked up this giant Sylvestris at my local nursery for a steal a month or so ago. I couldn't pass it up with a trunk that size. I'm super happy with how vigorous it is, but I need some advice. Once the needles harden off I need to do some significant branch reduction. Where the...

Hi all! I have come across a small oak tree that has grown in a unusual shape and was wanting some ideas on what to do with it? I believe it looks interesting with the trunk bending how it’s grown. I would like it shorter to start with so how far can I take it back with the tree still being...

Just picked up some nursery stock. I was drawn to the lean in the trunk and wanted something to practice on. I would really appreciate some advice on this tree. It‘s not an ideal candidate, but I’m wondering what people suggest I do with it. How should I go about reducing length? It had a lot...

Below is my rainier cherry tree, which I acquired spring 2019 from a local nursery and immediately trunk chopped. It's been growing vigorously since and just lost its leaves for the winter. Next spring I plan to air layer it off of its dwarfing rootstock and possibly rework the chop site. A...

I went out hunting early spring and picked up this great Thuja. Its survived the process and will be in recovery for the rest of this year, but I want to start thinking of design decisions. It has a wonderful base with a very interesting root coming off the left, that matches the movement of...

Hello everyone! I am very new to bonsai but have been a voracious consumer of as much bonsai knowledge as possible. The best advice I am trying to follow is "Go get your hands dirty!". So that is what I have been doing. I bought a Japanese Black Pine nursery tree which had been left to grow...

I need some strong advice on this hinoki cypress. I've had it two years. First year it was in a #7 nursery pot (super root bound) It's been in the current grow box for about 14 months. It's healthy, but very leggy and ugly.. Need to clean trunk of moss , but other than that" any style advice ...