Am hoping for suggestions/design-tips/inspiration on general 'nursery layout/design' principles

[SU2]

I've got a backyard that's ~25' wide by 20' deep (it's a shared-yard with an adjacent building, they never use the back but I don't like leaving my border/line for obvious reasons!), it used to be mostly shady but Irma came and knocked-down the tree that was stealing all my light, I've now been trying to design a nursery layout and am just getting more and more unsure the more time I try to think of what to do.. I've built another bench, may build a 3rd, and am about to build a 2-legged table with perpendicular slats acting as a top (like c54fun shows in this thread: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/s...-so-you-can-get-more-vegetative-growth.29236/ ), that will run along the back-edge of my backyard (in the middle of the back-edge)

The tables/benches are movable, and the raised-bed on the left is going to be removed.. I've got several great deadwood pieces I plan to make into more monkey-poles (only have one now, and it's just a 4x4)

Am hoping for any links, general principles/concepts I could google, etc to help me decide on how to setup things - one concern I've got is that the bench I want to build, with its legs in the ground, can't be moved - am afraid that may end up being a problem, I'm constantly moving stuff and abhor the two planters I have that are stuck in-place!

Thanks for any guidance/direction on this, here's a shot of it (yes yes I know it's cluttered as heck!) to give an idea what I'm working with now, the two tables are 3/4' different heights so could be put beside each other and form a '2-tiered table', heck I could put that against the about-to-be-built table for a 3-tier thing! Am just so unsure, there's so many options!!

 

[sorce]

Sounds fun!

Draw it all out.

I think.....
Place the permanent bench in great place and design around IT.

Sorce

 

[SU2]

Sounds fun!

Draw it all out.

I think.....
Place the permanent bench in great place and design around IT.

Sorce

ROFL that is exactly the conclusion I came to last night when cutting the pieces for the bench, to have it be central and work from there!! Doing so even helps another way, by solving my height-dilemma, wasn't sure how tall I wanted it but I've already got 2 tables, the newer one is days-old but is longer and taller than my first one, and this bench discussed here is longer still - so I figure I'll make the height the same as the difference between the first two, that way I'll always have the option of putting them adjacent to each other for a '3-tiered bench'

And re drawing, I did it for days and it didn't help me much, being out there was all that's helped... alright time to go out and finish building/installing that table!!

 

[parhamr]

@SU2 in this thread I show what I’ve been doing on my patio that’s a square around 20 feet on each side: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/i-built-my-first-bench.25173/

I hope it’s useful. I list dimensions and materials in various posts.

 

[sorce]

height-dilemma,

Seems one sure!

a '3-tiered bench'

Sounds good!

I think creating many specific places, like 3 3 tiered benches, one each in full sun, part shade, and fuller shade, allows you the most convenience, as far as ALWAYS having a SAFE or more appropriate spot to put a tree, and still have it at a viewable (easy to care for) height.

Better to have open spaces you aren't using on a bench (Like those last long!) Instead of tossing stuff on the ground somewhere in the shade where it is no longer easy to care for.

I made my shelves nip and eye high, with monkey poles a little lower.
Higher is better for pest inspection.

But it is important to remember to style a tree, or more appropriate, THINK about the style of a tree, from an APPROPRIATE viewing height.
So, trees closer to a finished image, that are pondered daily, should be kept as close as possible to the table height of your local show, or your home viewing space, so when they get there, the image presents as designed.

Go high, bending over is for snitch criminals!

Sorce

 

[M. Frary]

Do some light studies. See where you get the most sun for most of the day and go from there.
I go for ease of access with the hose too. I can water 2 benches at a time by standing in specific spots between 2 rows of benches.
You also want a spot near to work on the trees. The farther you carry a bonsai is more time to trip and drop one.
My trees are right out my bedroom window too. If I or Rupert hear any noise at night,he hears it first, I turn him loose.

 

[Bolero]

Do some light studies. See where you get the most sun for most of the day and go from there.
I go for ease of access with the hose too. I can water 2 benches at a time by standing in specific spots between 2 rows of benches.
You also want a spot near to work on the trees. The farther you carry a bonsai is more time to trip and drop one.
My trees are right out my bedroom window too. If I or Rupert hear any noise at night,he hears it first, I turn him loose.

Would you have a picture of Rupert, I always like to know what I'm up against, how is his eyesight...Do you have anything worth borrowing ?

 

[M. Frary]

Would you have a picture of Rupert, I always like to know what I'm up against, how is his eyesight...Do you have anything worth borrowing ?

Do I have a picture of Rupert?
Like 150.
His eyesight is great and he goes from 0 to 30 in like 2 seconds.

 

[Bolero]

Do I have a picture of Rupert?
Like 150.
His eyesight is great and he goes from 0 to 30 in like 2 seconds.View attachment 163860

Hey Mike, beautiful dog, your bonsai are safe, at least from me...

 

[M. Frary]

Hey Mike, beautiful dog, your bonsai are safe, at least from me...

He's my boy!
And he isn't a mean one either. Just does what German Shepherd Dogs are supposed to do. He's actually a lovey guy. Just don't be thinking bad thoughts. He will know.
I almost took him to the club show but it would be too hot in the greenhouse where they have it.
You would love him. He's a great dog.
Everyone needs one if you ask me.

 

[SU2]

@SU2 in this thread I show what I’ve been doing on my patio that’s a square around 20 feet on each side: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/i-built-my-first-bench.25173/

I hope it’s useful. I list dimensions and materials in various posts.

I think I like the feet on that better than everyone, great build!! I've got a serious limitation in that I want to use on-hand materials, so can't just build as I please

I think creating many specific places, like 3 3 tiered benches, one each in full sun, part shade, and fuller shade, allows you the most convenience, as far as ALWAYS having a SAFE or more appropriate spot to put a tree, and still have it at a viewable (easy to care for) height.

Better to have open spaces you aren't using on a bench (Like those last long!) Instead of tossing stuff on the ground somewhere in the shade where it is no longer easy to care for.

I made my shelves nip and eye high, with monkey poles a little lower.
Higher is better for pest inspection.

But it is important to remember to style a tree, or more appropriate, THINK about the style of a tree, from an APPROPRIATE viewing height.
So, trees closer to a finished image, that are pondered daily, should be kept as close as possible to the table height of your local show, or your home viewing space, so when they get there, the image presents as designed.

Go high, bending over is for snitch criminals!

Sorce

Good stuff, thanks a lot!! I went higher than I my intuition told me to, am glad I did I like it taller now that it's all finished:


Thing is pretty wonky/warped but it works! I planted some ornamental grass at the legs (have a bunch more of those clumps to put in I just didn't get to it yet!), I also dug-up ~10 purple bromeliads to put under (or in a row behind) the bench but am now unsure....), I've also got two large purple porterweeds that I'm thinking to put at either end as they attract lots of bees (that's good right? ) Am really unsure about anything more than the decorative grass though, am afraid of making it look cluttered, I've got all that stuff just sitting in buckets of sand for now:


So the new bench is in the middle of the back-edge of the nursery, after moving some trees to it I've now got tons of space on the other two benches:

which is great as I've got a bunch of specimen that need to be made presentable, it's hard to see but there's a pallet under the right-side bench that's got ~7 freshly-potted cuttings (they'd rooted for several months in the raised beds), I've got another ~15 specimen in the beds still that need to come out into pots, and I've got two massive (>1' trunk) bougies in boxes that're stationary on the ground, needing re-boxing / on a shelf, so am incredibly stoked to have all this space now! Am likely going to decommission the raised-beds once I'm done getting all the cuttings out and potted, then weed the ground in the middle and, once again, setup my mini-golf course out there! I used to have a mini-golf setup and a table/chairs, it was nice going and hanging out out there, I'd put in the am's with my coffee- once I got into bonsai ~1yr ago, there was always something else to do out there and the general-use of the backyard disappeared, it's been bonsai work only...Am very excited to have a usable backyard again, even got a powerful flood-light that I'm going to replace the simple incandescent fixture with so that the area is usable at nighttime

Do I have a picture of Rupert?
Like 150.
His eyesight is great and he goes from 0 to 30 in like 2 seconds.

Beautiful dog!! How old is he?

Re lighting, the whole backyard gets more-or-less 'full sun', the differences are pretty trivial although the right-side is slightly dimmer in some spots but I'm keeping that in-mind while placing stuff, luckily it's pretty homogeneous though as most-all of my trees like full-sun! If I had a bunch of plants that didn't like full-sun, I'd have a problem! And re hosing, I've stopped doing that as I was getting some bark-mold issues so switched to manual watering (I share walter pall's opinion that they like their crowns soaked when watered, I just ran into too-many problems with that approach, maybe it was because I undertook it mid-summer when the local enviro is like a greenhouse already, if you had a steamy greenhouse you probably wouldn't spray your plants you'd just water the media that's dried-out!)

 

[M. Frary]

Beautiful dog!! How old is he?

He's 2.
There's a progression thread on him here somewhere.
It starts with this.

 

[SU2]

ROFL in the bonsai pot!! /right-click, save!
What a cute lil guy!! I miss my doggy Congrats on what seems to be a great friend/companion!!

 

[M. Frary]

ROFL in the bonsai pot!! /right-click, save!
What a cute lil guy!! I miss my doggy Congrats on what seems to be a great friend/companion!!

Thanks!
He is. If I didn't have to work,he would be the happiest dog ever.