Canceled grafted tree, best jm for bonsai?
- Thread starter Porkchop
- Start date
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
The regular green acer palmatum would be my first choice with arakawa running a close second for me if they survived up here.
Maybe arakawa first.
It's a toss up.
Maybe arakawa first.
It's a toss up.
Maybe pixie? My local nursery has cuttings of those growing in pots. Not grafts. I don't want a huge bonsai maple. Medium size is what I'd like. The pixie is supposed to be good for medium size with small leaves according to evergreengardenworks.com
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Fantastic Decision!
I would see if your nursery can winter it for you the first year.
Or at least have some type of Acclamation plan.
Sorce
What would be a good species? Is the pixie a good choice?
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
I am a big fan of Evergreen Gardenworks, and have bought quite a few trees from Brent. However, the buyer for 2 3/4" pots is really the enthusiast who must have a certain variety, and intends to grow it out. If you want something for bonsai now, you need to start with something larger. Even the 1-gallon cans will require 5-10 years for an experienced enthusiast to make into a passable bonsai.
Contact @Stickroot and see what he has. Spending just a little more now to get something that has been prepared for bonsai will shorten your learning curve. @ColinFraser started with better material. Check out his work compared to someone who started with little Lowe's nursery cans 4-5 years ago and you'll see the difference.
Stick with trees that do well in your climate. Healthy trees that don't need a lot of attention are easier to train.
Find a person who has nice trees, and stick with their advice. Multiple sources will lead to confusion.
Saddler
Chumono
I would recommend the standard acer palmatum because it is fairly hardy in my experience. Problems that arise with it have been seen a hundred times before, probably on this forum lol. When I first started this hobby, a couple expensive (for me at the time) trees died and I almost quit bonsai. I would hate for something like that to happen to you or anyone else. Start with a well known cultivar, learn what you need to keep it alive, let your bonsai palate develop and use the time find that beautiful blood good you really want. It is out there and will only be better in a year or three when you are ready for it. Not many people stop at one and if they do, its probably because they killed it with too much love or neglect.
Saddler
Chumono
This is my go to site for when I need a summary of a particular bonsai topic. It almost always gives me a solid direction and terminology to start digging deeper with.
http://bonsai4me.com/bonsai_basics.html
http://bonsai4me.com/bonsai_basics.html
This is my favorite right now. If you zoom you can see buds popping down low and right now it is so leafed out you can't see the base. If I have it in spring I will lose the top two trunks and work with the base only.
I will get pics of it later,this pic is from
April 23.
It's for sale.
LanceMac10
Imperial Masterpiece
Buck up. http://gregorybeachbonsai.com/
pixie? think that's a bougie.
at least give your business to somefolk like evergreengardemworks.com and mentione your new. you'll be better enabled.
but don't spend too much before your ready to groe somwthing in a container/join club.
beer
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
I would start out with the regular Japanese maple, they are real tough and grow pretty fast. and as Mike mentioned, arakawa (cork bark) they are tough and the cuttings from both are easy to root.
dirk hoorelbeke
Omono
There are a lot of nice trees out there. Start with good material, grow trees that grow well in your area, find a local "master" or experienced enthousiast. Rest is personal taste. Better one good tree than 5 mediocre (must remember my own advice when i'm in my bonsai garden)...
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
FWIW I'll throw in my thoughts on this. Yes, there are a lot of nice and beautiful A. Palmatum cultivars. Some are excellent for bonsai such a Kashima as was mentioned. I have several cultivars growing as bonsai. With all that said, by far, the best in my opinion is the standard green maple. Why? They are the most vigorous which means they are excellent at responding to various horticultural techniques which leads to less frustration which leads to a happy bonsai life! In Japan, the most you see are these green maples grown as bonsai. There is a reason for that.
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
@Stickroot don't you have any that aren't chewed up?
Yes I do, Probably close to 800, but who wants perfect trees?
I have been trying to pick out the ones with good character. I wish you would venture up here and help me choose the best ones
@Brian Van Fleet
@Brian Van Fleet
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
I'd love to. Those hornbeams are calling me. How long was the drive when you came through here? I can make Cape Girardo in about 8-9 hours if I remember.I have been trying to pick out the ones with good character. I wish you would venture up here and help me choose the best ones
@Brian Van Fleet
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
If you are looking for raw stock, and know how to air-layer, you can sometimes get big trees on sale. These JM's are being sold this week at my CostCo of all places for $48.99. Those are 12' tall bloodgoods in the back (see shopping cart for size comparison). I picked up a couple, took them out into the parking lot, chopped them down to 4' so I could get them into the SUV. Took them home, re-pruned them and sealed the wounds, and potted them up in large propagation grow flats in decent bonsai soil. Very late in the year to repot a JM, but for $48.99 I was willing to risk it. Next year will be air-layer time. Year after that will be prune back to the trunk line time. Then I will start to develop a bonsai
A professional pre-bonsai grower will save you those two-three years of development, and if you aren't confident in what you are doing (air-layer, etc) they will provide you with the security of knowing you are already past a couple of stressful operations that can kill trees.
A professional pre-bonsai grower will save you those two-three years of development, and if you aren't confident in what you are doing (air-layer, etc) they will provide you with the security of knowing you are already past a couple of stressful operations that can kill trees.
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