Bonsai has me "styling" every tree I see...

[DavidBoren]

Since I have some material to mess with, I find myself mentally chopping random trees I see on the side of the road on the way to/from work. It's kind of ridiculous, as I am very new to bonsai [in general]. It is good "practice", as the trees are large/mature, and it is easy to see where one would cut [if said trees was a bonsai tree]. If nothing more, it is good mental masterbation on an otherwise boring AF drive.

Does anyone else find themself doing this? Or is it simply a byproduct of my overactive mind?

I had a summer job at a tree farm as a teenager for booze money... literally picking weeds from seed beds with a spoon. After a while working there, you would "see" these weeds superimposed over freaking everything... in the carpet, the shower curtain, your blankets... the image of these tiny weeds haunted you every moment, even in your dreams.

 

[Housguy]

LOL, I always do that, I think it is normal if you have a creative mind for making bonsai art, I am either looking at trees to see how I could make them look like a bonsai or admiring the natural bonsai look it has already and thinking how I can reproduce that in a little tree.

 

[berzerkules]

Pretty sure that's normal. Maybe I fades after years of doing bonsai idk. Right now every time my wife is driving I feel like a dog sticking their head out the window tongue flapping in the wind checking out every cool stick they see.

 

[BeepBeepBonsaiSheep]

There are a few trees around town I would like to have in mini form on my bench

 

[0soyoung]

There are a few trees around town I would like to have in mini form on my bench

So make it in miniature.
For many, this is exactly what bonsai is about.


It is known as the realistic style.

 

[Shibui]

I've been known to mentally 'improve' random trees too.
You should also try to capture genuine growth patterns of different species. Rather than turning the trees into 'bonsai', look at the actual shapes of real trees and try to see patterns of growth. Every species has a slightly different form, shape or branch pattern. When you really get your eye in you can pick some species from a distance whether they have leaves or not.
For good 'natural' bonsai we can apply those growth patterns to our developing trees to produce more realistic bonsai versions instead of the S shaped Chinese elm and junipers or elms and Japanese maples with down swept branches that are so common with beginners.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Perfectly normal.

 

[Paradox]

I haven't mentally styled trees around the neighborhood but there was a period of time that I really studied the branching of particularly older trees.

 

[Shogun610]

Why yes. Do that all the time , even old shrubs in peoples front yards. After all bonsai is nature in miniature and is inspired off nature or an idealized form

 

[BeepBeepBonsaiSheep]

So make it in miniature.
For many, this is exactly what bonsai is about.


It is known as the realistic style.

I’m actually planning to dig a few trees today. We’ll see what I can mangle!