A nice diamond in the rough. Nursery stock Dwarf Balsam fir

[Bryan Ruznik]

Ah, I see, you removed a lot of foliage, you have work the tree pretty hard. Remember "Piccolo" is a slower growing cultivar, it needs recovery time, needs to create new growth.

For what it's worth, there really is no such thing as a "gentle repot". Even "slip potting" is more traumatic to the tree than most new to bonsai would think. If this tree were mine, I would do nothing to it for 14 to 24 months. This tree will need to recover. No pruning, no repotting, even no wiring. Nothing. I specifically mentioned months because some novice growers think if they prune in autumn of 2016, and then repot in April of 2017, they have "waited a year" when in fact it was only 5 or so months. If you are feeling impatient, buy another tree. Pick up a juniper or several more trees. The cure for impatience is more trees.

I like this tree, and what you have done, only critique is your timing for season is off. But if you get it through winter, it should be okay.

Yep, I think you got it all. I couldn't agree more on all counts. More trees. Patience is not a virtue that comes natural to me. Bonsai has already taught me a lot and hopefully has a whole lot more to teach. I just have the strong desire to keep working on the trees. the biggest problem is that I will come up with my overall plan and be fully decided and convinced - then the next day in a new unit of time I see it in a completely different light thereby changing my plan. Often it's too late. I have to find a way to remind myself why I decided on my original Idea to keep moving in that direction. It seems with bonsai, especially, the end results are not reflected in what is seen day to day. I need a notebook. I could keep sketches notes and ideas on each tree so the work stays linear.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Bryan Ruznik - good ideas, definitely keep notes. Once you have a big enough collection that you are always behind on work, impatience won't be a problem. I too have gone through the constantly seeing something different problem. My collection is big enough, that I now will let material that I can go different directions with sit on the bench a year, sometimes more, until I consistently see the same plan. Or, decide to just charge ahead and go one of the several routes. Trick is to not forget what your plans were. I sometimes add tags to the pot. I have a seedling JBP that I stuck a tag in saying 'formal upright' I still neglected to read my own tag and wired curves in the trunk. I later discovered the mistake, took the wire off, hopefully it will straighten out.