Introduction

[Guy Smiley]

I wanted to introduce myself to the Bonsai Nut community. I have been growing trees for 20+ years but I am still a beginner. I have been interested in Bonsai since I was a child. I experimented with a variety of trees growing up and brought one Ficus with me when I went to college. After college I lived in Colorado Springs where I collected a few Ponderosa Pines. Over the last 16 years I have moved 6 times. It has been hard to keep trees with the number of times we have moved but I have one collected Ponderosa that has made all the moves. I am finally at a stage in life where we don't plan on moving and I can start to develop some trees. I am primarily interested in Pines. I only have a few trees now but plan to acquire some nicer specimens in the next few years. I currently only have my well traveled Ponderosa, a little Ficus i bought last year, and a few black pine seedlings from Cmeg1.

I will start a separate thread on my Ponderosa as I start to redevelop the tree. It has been growing wild in the ground for the last 2 years when I moved back to Kansas City. Next spring I will get it out of the ground and back into a grow box.

 

[Carol 83]

I wanted to introduce myself to the Bonsai Nut community. I have been growing trees for 20+ years but I am still a beginner. I have been interested in Bonsai since I was a child. I experimented with a variety of trees growing up and brought one Ficus with me when I went to college. After college I lived in Colorado Springs where I collected a few Ponderosa Pines. Over the last 16 years I have moved 6 times. It has been hard to keep trees with the number of times we have moved but I have one collected Ponderosa that has made all the moves. I am finally at a stage in life where we don't plan on moving and I can start to develop some trees. I am primarily interested in Pines. I only have a few trees now but plan to acquire some nicer specimens in the next few years. I currently only have my well traveled Ponderosa, a little Ficus i bought last year, and a few black pine seedlings from Cmeg1.

I will start a separate thread on my Ponderosa as I start to redevelop the tree. It has been growing wild in the ground for the last 2 years when I moved back to Kansas City. Next spring I will get it out of the ground and back into a grow box.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[TN_Jim]

 

[misfit11]

Welcome. It's a fantastic hobby and this forum is a great resource. I urge you to find a local club. There's no substitute for working and learning with other bonsai enthusiasts in person.

Do a search on pines in general or specifically on Ponderosa here on the forum. You'll certainly find numerous threads that will give you lots of helpful information.

There's lots of folks on here with tons of knowledge and can give you lots of useful information (Brian Van Fleet, Adair, MarkyScott etc). There are also lots of peeps who spout a bunch of advice but dont know what they're talking about. A good way to find out which is which is to take a look at the particular member's trees. If they have numerous nice trees with threads detailing the years of work put into them, then they are probably reputable. If they don't, then they're most likely full of ...

Good luck and post your projects!

Cory

 

[ShadyStump]

Welcome aboard!

Eegads, there's some craziness in that tree! That straight lower section of trunk might be baffling, but you have enough going on in the rest that I think you can pull off a good tree.

Mind sharing what sort of ficus?

 

[ShadyStump]

If they don't, then they're most likely full of ...

But I mean well.

 

[Guy Smiley]

This is my small Ficus Benjamina “Too Litte” It does best when I keep it outside but I learned last year that the squirrels get very active in the fall. A squirrel provided an unsolicited styling last October when it chewed the tree down to the trunk and the branches back to nubs. I lost the main leader for the trunk but now will have more movement in the trunk as I bring up a new leader. My goal is to develop it into a tree that is about 16” tall. These Ficus are tough trees and are pretty easy to take care of.

Any pointers on styling are always appreciated. My experience has been to only wire these Ficus for a few months in the summer then pull the wiring off when I start bringing it inside for the cooler nights in the fall.

 

[penumbra]

Welcome on board friend. Glad to have you hanging with us.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Welcome Aboard Bonsai Nut!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[ShadyStump]

This is my small Ficus Benjamina “Too Litte” It does best when I keep it outside but I learned last year that the squirrels get very active in the fall. A squirrel provided an unsolicited styling last October when it chewed the tree down to the trunk and the branches back to nubs. I lost the main leader for the trunk but now will have more movement in the trunk as I bring up a new leader. My goal is to develop it into a tree that is about 16” tall. These Ficus are tough trees and are pretty easy to take care of.

Any pointers on styling are always appreciated. My experience has been to only wire these Ficus for a few months in the summer then pull the wiring off when I start bringing it inside for the cooler nights in the fall.

View attachment 450968

Well, if the goal is a natural looking tree, I guess squirrels are natural.

Looks like a good tree going there. Some people dislike benjamina because it's many varieties are very difficult to make good nebari with, but otherwise they are so easy it's almost cheating. I'm a fan of the hanging foliage they produce personally. No personal experience with the "too little" variety, but I know I've seen plenty around here.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Welcome.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Any pointers on styling are always appreciated. My experience has been to only wire these Ficus for a few months in the summer then pull the wiring off when I start bringing it inside for the cooler nights in the fall.

Welcome to the site!

It depends a little on where you are with the development of your tree, but I tend (for ficus) to wait until right before the warmth of the summer, and then defoliate and wire. The tree will be at its strongest, and when you defoliate you will be able to see the structure of the tree clearly. As you pointed out, you have to be careful to keep your eyes on the wire, because it can easily bite in if you wire too tightly or leave it on too long.

You've got a lot of wire on the tree for what you are trying to do. Consider copper wire because it will give you the ability to really bend some of those thicker branches. Also some of your wiring looks good, but some is a little spaced out. You don't want to use wire to just lay out your branches flat, you also want to give them character by introducing random motion - up, down, left, right. You can only do this if you have more compact spirals of wire, and if you use wire that is strong enough to hold the branch exactly as you bend/style it.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Not sure if you're from KC, but it's a great city! GO CHIEFS!!!

 

[Scorpius]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Carol 83]

I don't love ficus, but I do like my "Too Little". It grows like crazy even in the winter. I feel your pain with the squirrels, they were especially destructive this spring here. Then in the winter I have all kinds of little oaks popping up from the acorns they hid in the pots. Welcome.

 

[LanceMac10]

Guy Smiley? Far out, man....
Your big entrance!!!!

Lived in the Springs years ago and I've got my KC Royals T on....what are the odds?

Have fun with your trees.