Pre-bonsai Feedback?

[JustinD]

Hey everyone,

I just joined and excited to be here, so figured I’d share some of my trees. I mostly only have pre-bonsai and am self taught via the webs, let me know what y’all think!

Commercially-styled Fukien Tea, defoliated in March. One of my first, made some bad cuts early and waiting to


Hawthorn from sapling- after two reduction


Bald Cypress grown from sapling, just received its first trunk cut


Native experiment grown from sapling - Halesia diptera. Grows fast and seems to be reacting well to reduction


Coastal Azalea - Rhododendron atlanticum, reduced a few


Clearance snag - JBP practice tree.
Now hear me out (only 1x yr) - induce roots at the halfway point, remove top half & lay over on the right into an arching raft, then practice a lot of grafting


River Birch grown from sapling - forced into a trunk cut after summer drought took the crown


Unknown azalea - pulled from an old established yard


JBP practice saplings, destiny unknown but lots of bending. I’ve done more research and plan to start pruning my pines properly next season

 

[JustinD]

Chinese Wisteria

 

[JustinD]

Ficus benjamina I picked up recently and had to cut in half to get inside

 

[JustinD]

Chinese Elm just acquired

 

[Carol 83]

Welcome. Looks like you have the bug pretty good, lots of material to work with and quite the variety.

 

[Warlock]

Nice!!!!
Where do you get all them mesh baskets?

 

[Grovic]

Ficus benjamina I picked up recently and had to cut in half to get inside View attachment 347993View attachment 347994

This ficus has one hell of a nebari, I really like its potential.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Lovely!!!!!

ALL wonderful specimens I would LOVE to work with!

That Halesia is AWESOME! And the coastal Azalea... love the Wisteria too.. and.. all of them!

Can’t wait to see some of these guys in their own threads!!

 

[Grovic]

This ficus has one hell of a nebari, I really like its potential.

I'd chop it to the first branch of each trunk.

 

[JustinD]

Welcome. Looks like you have the bug pretty good, lots of material to work with and quite the variety.

Thank you! Yeah it’s set in pretty good now too

 

[JustinD]

Nice!!!!
Where do you get all them mesh baskets?

Look up pond baskets, these are 12in square. They come in different sizes & shapes and seem to be holding up fine after 4 years - got mine from Amazon

 

[JustinD]

Lovely!!!!!

ALL wonderful specimens I would LOVE to work with!

That Halesia is AWESOME! And the coastal Azalea... love the Wisteria too.. and.. all of them!

Can’t wait to see some of these guys in their own threads!!

I appreciate the kind words! I am a sucker for natives and deciduous

 

[JustinD]

This ficus has one hell of a nebari, I really like its potential.

Yeah, I’m stoked. Endgame is to get that far down, but I think I’m going incrementally this time. Plan is to air layer a few tops for new trees, and I probably need to remove a trunk or something to address the lack of taper?

 

[Shibui]

JBP practice saplings, destiny unknown but lots of bending. I’ve done more research and plan to start pruning my pines properly next season

Don't get confuse between maintenance pruning for pines and development of pines. Most bloggers seem to love to show they understand the maintenance techniques because that's something different from most other types of trees. They either don't understand that development techniques can be different or just forget to tell readers about that phase of the growing cycle.

 

[JustinD]

Don't get confuse between maintenance pruning for pines and development of pines. Most bloggers seem to love to show they understand the maintenance techniques because that's something different from most other types of trees. They either don't understand that development techniques can be different or just forget to tell readers about that phase of the growing cycle.

Thank you for the advice, I will make sure I research that in depth. Pines are not my strong suit, hence the practice subjects.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Great start!

Make sure you repot them at least once to get them into decent soil.

Don't forget to define the front of the tree before you make major pruning cuts. Your goal isn't to 'shorten the tree', but to 'prune where it makes sense for the future vision of your bonsai". This is particularly the case with a project like your bald cypress, where the surface roots and the lower trunk flare are so critical to your eventual composition. Last thing you want is to prune the tree, wait a year, repot, and realize the front (as defined by your pruning scar) doesn't have any roots.

Looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[JustinD]

Great start!

Make sure you repot them at least once to get them into decent soil.

Don't forget to define the front of the tree before you make major pruning cuts. Your goal isn't to 'shorten the tree', but to 'prune where it makes sense for the future vision of your bonsai". This is particularly the case with a project like your bald cypress, where the surface roots and the lower trunk flare are so critical to your eventual composition. Last thing you want is to prune the tree, wait a year, repot, and realize the front (as defined by your pruning scar) doesn't have any roots.

Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Solid advice all around! Thank you for your input, I look forward to posting

 

[HorseloverFat]

Solid advice all around! Thank you for your input, I look forward to posting

Yes-bsolutely! Get those roots “right”!

 

[sorce]

Nick of Time!

Sorce