The foliage on that Korean fir is very interesting. Is that all juvenile foliage, or is this what it always looks like?Here are a couple more of my trees. I made an effort to get better pictures of my trees to I could begin making specific threads on them in the very near future.
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This is a Korean Fir "Ice Breaker". It was going to be my 'hurry up and get it in a pot", but went through some severe dieback from sap loss (not sealing the cuts and spider mites). So i cut the dead branches off and sealed them a few days ago. I left two of the dead lower branches, that I cut the bark off, as an experiment for myself. Needless to say, it will not be going in a pot this year or getting a repot.
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A tree that I got from a friend this year. I don't know what it is (probably a juniper) but I also haven't really taken the time to figure it out yet. I also didn't fully appreciate the way it looks until I took some photos of it a few days ago.
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One out of 14 of my Ablizia Samanea aka Raintree or Monkeypod tree. This is the best looking one of them so far at only 1 year old. Almost all of them have already started dividing their trunk lines into threes. I have enjoyed the expirements on these so far.
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One out of three of my Adonsia digitata aka Boabab. This is the the best growing out of them. It has mature leaves and is already dividing its branches. At one year old, this has a few years to go before I really start playing with it.
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My Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Ericoides'. Inspired by Fidur, I set to work playing with this guy. I am still exploring how the tree itself will end up looking, but I wired some of the branches to let more light into the interior as well as cleaned up the trunk. Definitely one of my favorites so far.
I can't say for certain unfortunately. From my understanding the folliage should stay like that as it is a witch's broom. We will see with time if it changes.The foliage on that Korean fir is very interesting. Is that all juvenile foliage, or is this what it always looks like?
That last photo with the wise man looking up is a really nice composition. The man, the small bush and the tree complement each other…color and position….exceptional color coordination even with the man’s head and hair balanced against the flowering color at the very top of the tree. The pot you’ve selected is also well chosen as it mirrors the curve of the moss mound. I like that each of the elements has a complementary curve working together. Lots of individual elements all working to create the scene. It all assembles as a nice peaceful setting accomplishing what I hope bonsai should do in my opinion. Impressive. Well done. Mighty fine!Chamelaecium uncinata. Bought this one almost a year ago:
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Chopped and repoted:
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A week ago, broke one of the two main branches while bending (it's very fragile). So it looks like this now....
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I believe the regular Abies koreana still has a significant twirl to the foliage but its less pronounced than the Dwarf / Witches Broom cultivars like "Kohout's Icebreaker" and the like.The foliage on that Korean fir is very interesting. Is that all juvenile foliage, or is this what it always looks like?
This thread popped up about the time I joined the site, and I felt the same way.Thank you for this thread! Finally I feel confident enough to post something on this forum (which is completely not due to the friendly nature of the people on bnut, but a mentality i’m trying to shake). I started bonsai post-covid (if that even exists) because of my father-in-law who had a boatload of books and his own thriving juniper, with some slight nudging from my fiancée. I’ve killed my first tree, a Sageretia Theezans, and messed up a Chinese Privet which I hope to trunk chop in spring. I’ve bought some nursery stock that I hope to slowly transition to bonsai soil and terracotta training pots in spring. There’s my Juniper Procumbens Nana, which is probably my favorite. Then there’s my Thuja Occidentalis which was very cheap so I figured I’d give it a whirl. Last but not least, a Pinus Mugo which I’m totally intimidated by in terms of styling so I hope the slow transition to proper soil will give me time to get inspired.
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I like your style!Thank you for this thread! Finally I feel confident enough to post something on this forum (which is completely not due to the friendly nature of the people on bnut, but a mentality i’m trying to shake). I started bonsai post-covid (if that even exists) because of my father-in-law who had a boatload of books and his own thriving juniper, with some slight nudging from my fiancée. I’ve killed my first tree, a Sageretia Theezans, and messed up a Chinese Privet which I hope to trunk chop in spring. I’ve bought some nursery stock that I hope to slowly transition to bonsai soil and terracotta training pots in spring. There’s my Juniper Procumbens Nana, which is probably my favorite. Then there’s my Thuja Occidentalis which was very cheap so I figured I’d give it a whirl. Last but not least, a Pinus Mugo which I’m totally intimidated by in terms of styling so I hope the slow transition to proper soil will give me time to get inspired.
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Ofcourse you can PM me! I’m in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Well, I’m moving to The Hague next week but in terms of USDA it’s the same zone, 8B I believe.I like your style!
Where on this fixed, spinning rock are you located? Updating your profile to reflect this, will provide you with more comprehensive answers, advice, and dialogue. (It can be vague, mine just says "northeastern Wisconsin")
I have some questions to ask, and things to say about your trees, (all pretty mild, I'm not a rude one )
So if you'D LIKE, we can get a PM conversation going so I don't "muddy" this thread with my "long-talking".
Newbie here! Attached below is a pic of my first ever bonsai, a chinese elm gifted to me in 2019... technically my only bonsai considering my 20+ other trees are still in the trunk-building phase.
I pretty much spent the first year just trying to keep it alive, slowly understanding its flaws and figuring out how to remedy them. Its previous owner certainly took the 'S' shape to another level!
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Was pleasantly surprised by its beautiful fall colours, although it decided not to show them the following year. (Brought indoors purely for photography purposes).
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Come summer 2020, following a much needed repot in March, I decided it was time to do some tidying up. I had a general idea of where I wanted the foliage pads to emerge, but I was still nervous to cut back too much.
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This winter I took the plunge and cut back the leggy and straight branches, hoping to rebuild them in the coming years to give them interesting, naturalistic movement. While I still feel like an absolute newb, at least now I'm a newb courageous enough to experiment (and thus, learn!).
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Note: If anyone has advice on growing out the branches which I've reduced in the above pic, lemme know.