am i supposed to grow from seed or transplant one barely alive from nature?

[lorax]

am i supposed to grow from seed or transplant one barely alive from nature thats already tortured and twisted, nurse it back to life with top notch soil?

Forgive my ignorance.
thanks

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Either is acceptable, but nursery stock is probably the most practical approach, in terms of availability, price, and time.

I suggest you begin by reading everything you can get your hands on regarding the art, and find a local club.

 

[Bunjeh]

am i supposed to grow from seed or transplant one barely alive from nature thats already tortured and twisted, nurse it back to life with top notch soil?

Forgive my ignorance.
thanks

No such thing as ignorance in Bonsai. Just different starting points. And the answer to your question is yes and everything in between.

 

[sorce]

Collect seedlings (vigorous young trees) successfully before moving on to old twisted specimens.

The trees are not as forgiving!

The only top notch soil is properly watered soil.

Growing from seed is a great test and very rewarding.
Just don't buy "bonsai" seeds. They do not exist!

Welcome to your beginning of crazy!

Sorce

 

[M. Frary]

Either is acceptable, but nursery stock is probably the most practical approach, in terms of availability, price, and time.

I suggest you begin by reading everything you can get your hands on regarding the art, and find a local club.

Everything this guy said. Growing seeds or seedlings for starting out is not very rewarding at first. Kind of boring waiting for the little buggers to grow to suitable size. In the spring check out nurseries in your area and check out maybe a juniper of some sort. Or an elm. Both of these are great to start out with. In the interim read,read and read some more.
Welcome to Bonsai and Bonsai Nut. You came to the right place.

 

[jeanluc83]

I would say somewhere in-between. I'll echo the nursery stock idea. It also depends on what species you want to grow. There are many deciduous trees that are suitable for collection from the wild. Most will need some degree of trunk chop. For this you will want a very healthy tree to start with since you will be forcing the tree to re grow its self from.

You are starting in probably the best time of year. You will have all winter to study up. I would start with the articles at Evergreen Gardenworks. Read everything there it is all good.

One more thing, add your location to your profile. Any advice you get will be region dependent.

Good luck.

 

[jk_lewis]

But try to avoid the "barely alive" trees.

 

[Jaberwky17]

Thanks to you all

I have to say that when I opened this thread I expected to see either no comments or some curt replies. I guess I'm jaded by all the haters on the internet. So it is awesome to see positive and helpful responses to this poster's question.

Happy Holidays, Nutters.

 

[lorax]

thanks for the replies.

I like the ones that are found in nature because it can save so much time. trunks can be thick and tortured already showing strength and struggle. I was just curious if it was looked down upon.

Im new to bonsai but Im fascinated by it. So thank you all for the insight.

Im really fascinated by Rosemary specifically:
1) its evergreen foliage = i think this style is more visually appealing
2) can be trained quite easily = has a very juniper-esque look to it
3) can flower too = not all evergreens can flower
4) they smell great = so not just visually appealing but also stimulating other senses as well. Creates a nice tranquil scent

Ive seen some beautiful powerful looking rosemary.