yamadori

One good part of the cold snap was the chance to take a photo of the BC’s I’ve collected this season with a better backdrop.

Smaller than my usual but has a cool hollow trunk that can be seen from both sides. Normally I stump cut them but this tree is for my brother (is his 1st bonsai) so letting him make the styling calls and he wants to leave it alone.

This was in clay/shell and hard to dig but reminds me of a mini “twister”. I usually choose trees with pronounced knees but this one only has a couple small ones growing off flutes.

Planning to cut about a foot off the top. Will post updates

Hello! I have a trip coming up where I’ll be flying into Fresno and driving into Yosemite. I would really like to collect a smaller tree or two, but realize it’s absolutely illegal in Yosemite. Is anyone aware of a good location between Fresno and Yosemite where I could collect a couple trees...

I'm sure there is plenty of information available, but maybe I don't know how to find it. Or maybe the answers are so obvious that people assume they don't need to be mentioned. But I've been known to greatly overthink things, so I'll ask anyway. What are some indicators that a tree may not be...

This tree is the first I've acquired from another bonsai enthusiast. This was collected in Utah by @Captkingdom. Many thanks for your help and advice! No immediate plan for "Captain Maple" yet. I definitely like the two trunks. You can see how he captured plenty of finer roots. One option...

As I’ve shown in my olive tree styling post, dainty trees are not my thing. My hands are too busted up to do the delicate work required so my main focus has been BC. Earlier this year I got into buttonwoods and have been doing well in keeping them healthy besides 1. My process after collection...

Hello All, In winter of 2023 I discovered this post oak growing on a steep incline at an old family farm. For context, the substrate is called chert and the family used to sell it by the dump truck load to the city to use for road bedding back in the 70s. The picture of the dormant tree was...

Looking for Collected Eastern White Cedar, Red, Alaskan. Not nursery stock but something with age dead wood and movement. Let me know if you can and would be shipping to the Seattle area. Ben

Has kind of a cool lean and some girth but the guys repairing the fence weren’t thinking pre bonsai when clearing the bulk of it out of their way. Thoughts?

I collected some hornbeams because they were going to be bulldozed in lieu of the hurricane that wiped out most of the land here in wnc. If anyone has any tips to make sure my trees make it through the winter or the projected probability of success that would be nice. I have John Geneangle on...

Our landscaper dug up this very neglected maple when clearing our front yard for our landscaping project. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it or if it would even survive, but I pruned the partially sheared roots as best I could and put it in 100% pumice and a grow bag I had lying around. I'm...

I collected this Limber Pine in mid November of 2023 and have been pleasantly surprised with how it has handled removal and being put into a box so far. In June I decided to remove some branches in order to help control some reverse taper. I have a tendency to make rash decisions so I...

On 8/23 I went by a house that will be demolished next week and paid $20 to dig out this juniper. I'm pretty sure it is an ERC/Juniperus Virginian, and likely ~47 years old as the house was built in 1977. I know that ERC gets a lot of grief as bonsai, but the 5" twisted trunks and tons of...

Hello, so I've scouted for good plants to propagate and I seem to have found a juniper and a rosemary. Attached are the places I'm considering air layering, do they seem alright? On another note, I've found a lot of alright looking olives but the issue is they are all growing from an existing...

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...

A lady on FB market place was giving these away after digging them up in her yard. They had been dug out for a full day with almost no feeder roots left over. Got them home, wired em into these big pits and filled it with tons of perlite, my inorganic mix and a little bit of coco coir. I...

Hi, just this week I collected a birch tree from the wild and placed it in a wooden box. I kept the rootball moist and placed it in a mix that is mostly made up of pumice with 15% bark. Due to my current living situation it only gets a around 4 hours of direct sunlight in the afternoon, but this...

I’ve come across a few threads on American beech yamadori. I felt I would be able to give it a try with one from my property. This one came from an area in the side of a mountain that is actively being cut down to allow more sunlight through to the ground floor for growth(part of my...

Hello all! Last week I have collected this rather young Mugo pine from a crumbling clay ravine. Unfortunately after I started digging it I realised that has 2 tap roots going straight down, which left me with a rather small rootball. Also the roots came out with absolutely no soil on them...

Hey everyone. There's a honeysuckle in my yard. Not sure what type. Bonsai material? Seems to have cool roots and potential with the thick trunk and bending style. How would you guys chop it and plan for the future? or is it not even worth the time?

Hello, hoping for some advice or even just a diagnosis. I collected two Bald Cypress trees this season. The first tree seems to be doing okay but the larger one I am worried about. It was recommended to me that I not water every day since this can cause root rot. I tried this tactic but the...

Hello, I have had this bald cypress yamadori for about a year and a month now. I let it do its thing for a year and now ready to start guiding it with a design. It just started pushing some buds, so I have a couple of questions. I am doing a flat top design but considering different options...

Wanted to start a thread to document the journey of a Pitch Pine I collected with a friend in March of 2023. The tree was originally found to be growing in a small pocket on top of a large granite boulder. I hiked to the tree in the Fall of 2022 to find that it had blown over in its pocket...