Brand new and overzealous!!!

[outdoormarky]

Hello. I'm Mark. I live in northern Utah just east of The Great Salt Lake. (Zone 7a) I'm just short of 2 months into my new bonsai hobby. It's been increasingly... all bonsai, all the time! I love that there's always something to learn, something new at every corner, and that no tree is ever "finished". I started my journey because I wanted a Bodhi Tree. So I did a little research (not enough really) and got a little Ficus religiosa sapling. Turns out the spider mites came for free! (But that was a different post ) Then I stumbled on to the fact that poinsettias are trees! So this past Christmas' poinsettia is now in training. Soooo then came a pot full of Portulacaria afra because I thought I could do a cool little forest. We'll see how that begins here soon. Then learning that all this material was "pre-bonsai" stuff, I got a mass market Ficus microcarpa to "practice" on. Then another smaller pre-bonsai Ficus microcarpa. Well, I live in a small apartment with one east facing window. So now I have cabinets and lights. It's escalated quickly. But now, I think I'm good on Tropicals. I've got a bunch of cuttings at this point, and I've learned how to mostly leave them alone and just enjoy having them in my apartment.

So I've been reading and watching about what I can grow here in Utah. I've got an east facing 11'x7' covered patio. There is a tree blocking most direct sun. So it's only going to get direct sun in the morning closer to the summer solstice. I came up with a list of potentials that I was interested in. Then I went to go to a Bonsai Club of Utah meeting, joined, and it turns out that it was a winter show and sale. So it was cool to see what locals were working on. And now that list has expanded. I know that I need to calm down. But here's the list that I've put together. In order of desire...

Non-natives to my area
-Azalea: Rhododendron indica 'George L. Tabor'
-Chinese Elm: Ulmus parvifolia 'Seiju'
-Chinese Juniper: Juniperus chinensis 'Shimpaku'
-Amur Maple: Acer ginnala
-Common Hackberry: Celtis occidentalis
-Cotoneaster: Cotoneaster dammeri 'Emerald Spray'

Utah Natives
-Big Sagebrush: Artemisia tridentata
-Silverberry: Elaeagnus commutata
-Utah Juniper: Juniperus osteosperma
-Ponderosa Pine: Pinus ponderosa
-Pinyon Pine: Pinus monophylla or Pinus edulis
-Colorado Blue Spruce: Picea pungens

New inspiration from The Bonsai Club of Utah show
-Japanese Apricot: Prunus mume
-Chojubai Quince: Chaenomeles japonica 'Chojubai'
-Korean Hornbeam: Carpinus coreana
-Siberian Elm: Ulmus pumila

I'm thinking of waiting on the natives so I can learn more about proper and legal collecting protocols. And limiting myself, at this point, to 2-3 on this list.

So I'm here to ask for suggestions. I know this is potentially dangerous. Thoughts on how many of these I should get? Which ones? When is the best time of year to buy them/collect them? Better candidates? Better cultivars of one of these species? Or anything else to help out an enthusiastic beginner

Thanks!

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Welcome!

Get what becomes available to you at a reasonable price, take time to get to know each species and see if anything 'clicks' some will thrive in your care and patio, others may not do so well,

Don't feel bad about losing trees here or there as long as you can try to understand why it was lost.

Best of luck in your journey!

 

[outdoormarky]

Don't feel bad about losing trees here or there as long as you can try to understand why it was lost.

I'm kind of a perfectionist. This is going to be tough. But understanding, like you say, will be the way through it. Thanks!

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Greetings and Welcome Aboard Bonsai Nut!

The yard sun characteristics mentioned above included many trees on the list which would prefer full sun, including many conifers and perhaps the Chojubai. The size of your yard will also limit the amount of choices.

Ghe list of prospective trees included the azalea George Tabor. In the ground likely would do ok, yet in the pot likely this would be an edgy choice due to cold tolerance

Would recommend replacing George Tabor
with hardier cultivars as example: Momo no haru , Coral bells, Bixby dwarf, Komo Kulshan, or Janet Rhea. These are at least a zone hardier then Layton is…. and you’ll need this as once in the pot plants loose at least at least a zone of cold hardiness… or more. Otherwise you’ll need decent, stable winter protection. That said these plants do well with morning sun and dappled sun the rest of the day.

The folks in your club have on scene knowledge and would likely be the very best go to on this topic as would the nearest bonsai shop. Be sure to describe the growing space intended for prospective trees.

Best
DSD sends

 

[Eckhoffw]

Welcome!
Siberian elms are so nice to grow and o so forgiving. Vigorous trees that withstand abuse.
Small leaves and ramification.
My vote for any newbie.

 

[nuttiest]

I would start with the shade varieties if the porch is covered... especially if screened or there is another tall building closeby.

 

[doc spring _work]

Today I found out there's a Utah bonsai club thank you for that

 

[Carol 83]

Welcome to your new hobby and this forum. I know when you're first starting out you want to buy all the trees, lol, I did. I came to realize that quality wins over quantity. Still working on that Enjoy your journey.

 

[outdoormarky]

Greetings and Welcome Aboard Bonsai Nut!

The yard sun characteristics mentioned above included many trees on the list which would prefer full sun, including many conifers and perhaps the Chojubai. The size of your yard will also limit the amount of choices.

Ghe list of prospective trees included the azalea George Tabor. In the ground likely would do ok, yet in the pot likely this would be an edgy choice due to cold tolerance

Would recommend replacing George Tabor
with hardier cultivars as example: Momo no haru , Coral bells, Bixby dwarf, Komo Kulshan, or Janet Rhea. These are at least a zone hardier then Layton is…. and you’ll need this as once in the pot plants loose at least at least a zone of cold hardiness… or more. Otherwise you’ll need decent, stable winter protection. That said these plants do well with morning sun and dappled sun the rest of the day.

The folks in your club have on scene knowledge and would likely be the very best go to on this topic as would the nearest bonsai shop. Be sure to describe the growing space intended for prospective trees.

Best
DSD sends

Thank you for the suggestions! I was trying to figure out logistics to over wintering the George Tabor. I don't have a garage. I was debating draping plastic around my porch. I'm hoping to be moving to a house this year, though. So I can have a space for easy over wintering. I'll definitely be asking the club for tutelage. Unfortunately, there's no bonsai shop within 500 miles of me. It's sad.

 

[outdoormarky]

Welcome!
Siberian elms are so nice to grow and o so forgiving. Vigorous trees that withstand abuse.
Small leaves and ramification.
My vote for any newbie.

Some of the Siberian Elms at the show were pretty dang awesome. There was a literati mame one that I just absolutely loved.

 

[outdoormarky]

I would start with the shade varieties if the porch is covered... especially if screened or there is another tall building closeby.

Got it Thanks

 

[outdoormarky]

Welcome to your new hobby and this forum. I know when you're first starting out you want to buy all the trees, lol, I did. I came to realize that quality wins over quantity. Still working on that Enjoy your journey.

I'm excited to grow quality

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Thank you for the suggestions! I was trying to figure out logistics to over wintering the George Tabor. I don't have a garage. I was debating draping plastic around my porch. I'm hoping to be moving to a house this year, though. So I can have a space for easy over wintering. I'll definitely be asking the club for tutelage. Unfortunately, there's no bonsai shop within 500 miles of me. It's sad.

Okey dokey.

Here’s a resource one can download to get up to speed on overwinter bonsai and some practical examples of different methods.

https://www.bonsainut.com/resources...ry-planning-and-case-studies-azalea-focus.49/

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[awarrenj]

Great to have you. my experience may offer some insight.
I have been collecting a little over a year and when I started , like you, I was anxious to gain as many species as I could. At that time, I didn't have a sense of what trees should really look like and so now I have a number of species that are not very pretty because my understanding of design , while not complete, is enough to recognize I have a few ugly trees.
The understanding you will get over time will alleviate this problem if you go a little slower.
Enjoy a wonderful hobby.

 

[penumbra]

Wish you the very best. Its hard to go slow but remember, plants first and then bonsai, if that makes sense.

 

[outdoormarky]

Great to have you. my experience may offer some insight.
I have been collecting a little over a year and when I started , like you, I was anxious to gain as many species as I could. At that time, I didn't have a sense of what trees should really look like and so now I have a number of species that are not very pretty because my understanding of design , while not complete, is enough to recognize I have a few ugly trees.
The understanding you will get over time will alleviate this problem if you go a little slower.
Enjoy a wonderful hobby.

THANK YOU!!! I need to practice what I preach. Four second inhale, four seconds hold, four seconds exhale. One of the reasons I wanted a Bodhi Tree to begin with.

 

[gooeytek]

Welcome to the best exercise in developing patience!

 

[outdoormarky]

Wish you the very best. Its hard to go slow but remember, plants first and then bonsai, if that makes sense.

Perfect sense. I'm getting there. At first I was excited to have a cool tree. Very quickly that vision became badass bonsai garden. But I am now seeing a tree garden. Slow and methodical. A progression of increasing training pot/boxes sizes. Maybe convincing a sibling to let me plant some trees in their yard. Reminders like yours helps! Thanks!

 

[PaulH]

Welcome and special congratulations on joining a bonsai club. That should be your best source of information on bonsai suitable for your area as well as technique to create and maintain good trees. If your club offers workshops try to attend them all as well as any bonsai shows you can get to. Try to befriend club members with the best trees and learn from them.

 

[Colorado]

Unfortunately, there's no bonsai shop within 500 miles of me. It's sad.

First Branch Bonsai (Todd Schlafer) in Denver is probably your closest option for high-quality Rocky Mountain natives. Looks like it’s just over 500 miles . It’s definitely worth a road trip, but you need to contact Todd in advance to schedule it.

My advice would be to take a year to learn how to keep trees healthy and thriving in containers and then next year you could graduate up to some better material.

Have fun and good luck!