styling

I used large pumice to create the rocks, I had a bronze figure of an eagle which I thought would go well with the rough look. The soil used is 80%perlite with 20% coco coir. It is around 2 years old(purchased from bonsaify USA. Feel free to criticize, give your rating on a scale of 1 to 10.

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

I thought I’d had information on it bookmarked, but apparently not. It’s like a Contorted Filbert as a style, way beyond your stereotypical old twisted juniper. I think it was created by some American guy? I want to say it was based on twisty live oaks or something like that, or at least the...

hii everyone , i have this ficus that i cut back hard and there is a beautiful base and i wanna make a shohin to medium size bonsai . I am planning on a banyan style bonsai but i have no idea on how to develop bones and branches . does anyone have any idea on how should i approach this tree ?

I'm looking for advice on styling and pros and cons of removing the lower limb this spring. Good idea or bad?

 Hey guys, just chopped up my first nursery stock juniper. I can’t decide what to do next. I’m open to informal upright or semi cascade, whichever makes the most sense with what the current structure wants to do. I can’t decide which will be the new leader. I was thinking about cutting off...

Inherited my dads ROR ficus approx. 11 y.o. with the tree left to grow freely. Fear of killing the tree its been Semi-neglected the last 4 years, it's been great practice learning trees habits, and basic bonsai techniques(Thank you bonsainut community!) The lack of balance and unruly growth is...

In November 2018 my Father in Law passed away and a dozen of his trees passed on to us. We had kept these trees during the past two winters, but we did nothing except repot and keep the trees alive for the next year, mostly due to damage and subsequent surgeries from auto accident for 18+...

This Blue Atlas Cedar bonsai is one of the many trees owned by my Father in law. It was a full cascade then.. A couple years before Dad passed this tree (amongst others) was given to his oldest son. My better half and I repotted it over five years ago. Since then hadn’t seen the tree. A...

June 24th 2022 Todd Schlafer Workshop MABA 202two Limber pine had been collected three years earlier and put into solid pumice. How it started Partway through the workshop. I normally work with smaller material so wiring this was interesting. At the end. Wasn't fully happy with it but...

I was curious if there’s a general rule of thumb you Nutters use when to implement raffia. As in, if the branch is X thick, I’ll probably wrap it before any major bends. I understand this will probably be different depending on the species, with some being more flexible than others. I was...

I potted this Shimpaku about 20-25 years ago in a workshop with Guy Guidry at Bonsai West in Littleton MA. Over the years, it has been "bowing" more and more, then a freak wind blew it off its stand and cracked the top, lowering the front even more than it was. The first photo (S4) is a front...

Here's a white spruce I picked up at a club this spring. It was collected in Maine over 20 years ago, and was very potbound. I reported it that weekend, into pure pumice, and have fertilized the heck out of it this year. It grew vigorously all spring and summer, and now it was healthy enough...

Hello everyone! I’m in Texas, zone 8a. I’ve had this Parson’s juniper for about 2 years I I’ve let it recover for a couple of growing seasons, as I had given it a few pretty good insults since I bought it from nursery stock. (ie. changing potting angle, working roots and getting the king whips...

Hey I have this Shin deshojo that I've let grow quite uncontrolled through the past few months, as I do not know how I want to style it. Im not looking to make any drastic changes such as chopping a part of the main trunk or anything, im mainly looking for tips on pruning etc. I was think if I...

Hi all! I'm a noobie here and 1 year into my bonsai adventure. I just bought an awesome white cedar, thuja occidentalis, from nursery stock and I was wondering if it is safe to leave outside for the remaining weeks of winter. It seems  really healthy as of today's date, and I would like to keep...

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...

Kinda stumped on where to go from here on this nursery juniper. I’m fairly happy with the design, I’m just seeing two apexes becoming a problem here and could use some insight. Front: Another angle: Back: Other side of front:

Picked this trident up at Bjorn’s back a couple months ago for a steal. Been trying to decide which would make a best front. I personally am leaning more towards option 2 or 3, but would love to hear y’all’s thoughts. Plan is to cut back each trunk to the next major branch to start working on...

This weekend my local bonsai club is doing a BYOT workshop. My question is, what trees would benefit from being worked on this time of year? In my mind this is one of the worst times of the year to work on trees. You guys are welcome to correct me if I’m wrong. I’m just not sure what trees would...

I feel like most of my posts are questions on issues with my trees. It’s been a rough year between having an incredibly hot summer, watering issues, pest issues, etc. I thought I’d make a thread and continue updating trees that I’ve been working on that are actually doing well. Lol

Hello everyone, I’m having a rather difficult time choosing a front on this Juniper. It has a beautiful curved trunk and great taper. I also need a little help choosing which branches to trim and which to keep. I was thinking about a possible a semi cascade with it by repositioning the tree...

Another of my twisted trunk shimpaku. I've been tempted to do something with this one for several years now but I've been disciplined and held off doing much to this one in an attempt to allow trunk to thicken. Several large sacrifice branches encouraged for a number of years. Here's what I...

Hello, I wanted to update you all on my little Nurserystock I so happened to get the last few years! I got my hands on a few Pinus Cembra from a local nursery that gives them away for 10€ each. Was hard to resist not to get all of them! So I picked a few that I liked and let them stay in the...