moreateleven
Seedling
Hello all,
Got my first two bonsai trees this past April, and officially have the bug. Bought a bunch of books that I'm currently working my way through, subscribed to a few youtube channels (shoutout bonsai heirloom, Milton is very charming), and been browsing this forum until just recently creating an account and doing this: making my first thread. I'm based in NYC, and as such, don't have access to much outside space; just a pretty sunny fire escape, so my ability to delve into some of the more involved aspects of the art are severely limited. My trees seem to be doing pretty good for now though, and I'd like to show you them, tell you my plans, and then have you tell me why what I'm planning on doing is wrong or stupid and what I should be doing better. So! First up is my ficus (apparently a "Pandora Weeping Ficus"). This is the one I have the most involved plans for. When I first got it, it was three years old and it looked like this:
As I was reading a lot online, I came across a picture of a ficus I really liked the look of, and (based on nothing other than uninformed gut instinct) I thought I might be able to achieve something similar, if on a much smaller scale. Namely, this one:
I've been struck by how well my ficus has grown, specifically the branches -- they've all gotten much thicker. To achieve a look vaguely similar to the one above, I've wired them flat. This is what it looks like today:
I've got a lot of new growth, and it sure seems to be healthy and happy. My plan is to just let it do its thing until spring of next year where I plan to significantly chop back the horizontal branches in the hopes of developing some more ramification. the current vertical leader I plan on leaving for a good long while to let it fatten up and hopefully develop into the apex. So, as for this plan of attack, good idea or bad idea?
Ok next up is my Japanese Dwarf Juniper. I got this in April as well and it was four years old. My understanding is that junipers are very slow growing, and even more so in a bonsai pot, so my plan with this guy is to just let it run kinda wild and see where it takes me. When I first got it it looked like this:
And now it looks like this:
I've been really happy with how much growth I've seen, much more than I was expecting. Like I was saying, I don't really have anything in mind for this tree! The only thing I plan to do is remove the buds that form along the whip(?), as I'm a little worried about developing inverse taper. To that end, is there anything I could be doing to fatten the trunk, even just a little? It doesn't seem to want to sprout any buds below the turn, which would help thicken it if I'm understanding correctly. I probably just need to be patient. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, I'd be very happy to hear them.
Finally, I got my 5-tree dawn redwood forest (really more of a jungle at the moment) a couple months ago, apparently 7 years old. When it arrived in the mail it looked like this:
And now it looks like:
Man, these things like to grow. I have a pretty good idea what I'd like to achieve with this, and think I'll be able to do it. No reference pictures, but I have a good picture in my head (basically just Endor). I've also watched the youtube video everyone recommends about pruning dawn redwoods, and plan on following that religiously. Gonna go in in the next couple of days and trim back those big leaders, but other than that, planning on leaving it alone until next year. My only question with this tree is pruning in spring, before the fronds come in -- does that work? It would of course make it easier to see what I'm doing without all that greenery, lol.
Anyway, that's it! I hope I've posted this correctly, and would love to hear any of your thoughts and ideas or praise or insults or whatever.
Got my first two bonsai trees this past April, and officially have the bug. Bought a bunch of books that I'm currently working my way through, subscribed to a few youtube channels (shoutout bonsai heirloom, Milton is very charming), and been browsing this forum until just recently creating an account and doing this: making my first thread. I'm based in NYC, and as such, don't have access to much outside space; just a pretty sunny fire escape, so my ability to delve into some of the more involved aspects of the art are severely limited. My trees seem to be doing pretty good for now though, and I'd like to show you them, tell you my plans, and then have you tell me why what I'm planning on doing is wrong or stupid and what I should be doing better. So! First up is my ficus (apparently a "Pandora Weeping Ficus"). This is the one I have the most involved plans for. When I first got it, it was three years old and it looked like this:
As I was reading a lot online, I came across a picture of a ficus I really liked the look of, and (based on nothing other than uninformed gut instinct) I thought I might be able to achieve something similar, if on a much smaller scale. Namely, this one:
I've been struck by how well my ficus has grown, specifically the branches -- they've all gotten much thicker. To achieve a look vaguely similar to the one above, I've wired them flat. This is what it looks like today:
I've got a lot of new growth, and it sure seems to be healthy and happy. My plan is to just let it do its thing until spring of next year where I plan to significantly chop back the horizontal branches in the hopes of developing some more ramification. the current vertical leader I plan on leaving for a good long while to let it fatten up and hopefully develop into the apex. So, as for this plan of attack, good idea or bad idea?
Ok next up is my Japanese Dwarf Juniper. I got this in April as well and it was four years old. My understanding is that junipers are very slow growing, and even more so in a bonsai pot, so my plan with this guy is to just let it run kinda wild and see where it takes me. When I first got it it looked like this:
And now it looks like this:
I've been really happy with how much growth I've seen, much more than I was expecting. Like I was saying, I don't really have anything in mind for this tree! The only thing I plan to do is remove the buds that form along the whip(?), as I'm a little worried about developing inverse taper. To that end, is there anything I could be doing to fatten the trunk, even just a little? It doesn't seem to want to sprout any buds below the turn, which would help thicken it if I'm understanding correctly. I probably just need to be patient. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, I'd be very happy to hear them.
Finally, I got my 5-tree dawn redwood forest (really more of a jungle at the moment) a couple months ago, apparently 7 years old. When it arrived in the mail it looked like this:
And now it looks like:
Man, these things like to grow. I have a pretty good idea what I'd like to achieve with this, and think I'll be able to do it. No reference pictures, but I have a good picture in my head (basically just Endor). I've also watched the youtube video everyone recommends about pruning dawn redwoods, and plan on following that religiously. Gonna go in in the next couple of days and trim back those big leaders, but other than that, planning on leaving it alone until next year. My only question with this tree is pruning in spring, before the fronds come in -- does that work? It would of course make it easier to see what I'm doing without all that greenery, lol.
Anyway, that's it! I hope I've posted this correctly, and would love to hear any of your thoughts and ideas or praise or insults or whatever.
