Bonsai trees

[Taku-Shimazu]

Do any of you tend to Bonsai trees?

[Shorin Ryuu]

I used to, but it was pretty much messed up beyond repair after I left it in the care of a friend for 3 weeks...

[krzychicano]

I don't..I seen ralph maccio and Pat Morita doing it so that freaked me out.

[seersin]

No,I've always wanted to though,seems a little difficult however.

[1kickKO]

it does seema bit difficult.

[Ted T.]

I had one of the toughest cqc guys ask me about little trees: here's my reply:::

 

----- Original Message -----

 

ted, what is a good starter bonsai? price? i have no exp. in this or with plants at all, is there a website to start me off?---XXX

 

Well, XXX,

 

if you start bonsai, you will kill a lot of little trees so steel your heart and start with cheap trees!! (That's an insider bonsai joke... )

 

There are two categories or choices:

 

1. Inside or outside bonsai

 

2. Pre-made or you prune a tree from a nursery.

 

(Actually, there is a 3d choice for many and that is to get trees from the wilds, the mountains and take them home.)

 

As for inside or outside, I suggest to folks that they try one of each and see how they like it. Because the root ball is so small, they dry out really fast so much care and attention is needed, especially inside.

 

Pre-made can run from $50 to $200 on average tho many are works of art worth thousands. Pots can be very expensive but nice ceramic ones are as little as $30, and starter pots of plastic for less than $10.

 

So, with all that, my first tree was a sargentia juniper. I find them to be strong and to withstand deep root pruning and fairly strong defoliation. Just be very gentle when you wash the roots. Any juniper, Alberta spruce is good for upright, most small pines are pretty easy, cedars don't mind overwatering, but are harder to make look interesting.

 

I use bonsai books myself from the library and don't know much about the websites. Once you start looking at pics, you decide on the style that strikes your attention the most. I bet that when you look at it for awhile you will see that it is the trunk that makes the tree interesting, therefore if you buy a plant from a nursery, look for a strong interesting truck, and you can hardly go wrong.

 

http://www.bonsaiweb.com/ looks good.

 

Years ago, wild trees were the Japanese fovorites. When North Americans started to get world class trees from the California coastline, the Japanese changed the rules and "perfect" trees with a documented heritage going back 10 generations became the ideal. But I still go for a real wild look - I like the old warrior fighting for his life against all odds - So I'm a romantic!!

 

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/whatis.html looks really good.

 

http://www.bonsaiprimer.com/ might be good, I haven't really looked at it.

 

The big thing is that your little tree will be a young tree but your shaping it will make it look like it is 100 years old, when you learn the tricks. This is what we try to achieve with the pruning and the wiring though I prefer selective pruning, I will wire a branch if needed.

 

(I know I'm getting carried away but I just googled Alberta spruce bonsai and got: http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?mt=a&n=0&coe=0&oidPath=0%3A-23542%3A-23590%3A-39357%3A-39578%3A728121 The picture is a 'before' pic, bottom branches going up, no trunk visible etc. but lots of potential. )

 

An old tree has a wide base and thin trunk at top, so look for that at the nursery. An old tree has down sloping branches at the bottom and more raising up branches at the top, you will creat this by branch choice and the wires. And the branches you keep should let us play peek-a-boo with the interesting features of the trunk, and hide the boring parts.

 

Don't be discouraged - it's a lifetime to learn and practice but the best way is just to do it. Learn by doing and say a prayer for every little tree you kill. Let me know how it goes, hey??

 

this is fun!

 

Ted

[June1]

What is the purpose of these trees?

[Taku-Shimazu]

The purpose someone said?

 

They are, to me, to test your caring skills and they test patience, and they look cool. Well if you can't look after a tree can you look after a son/daughter?

 

The best tree to start with is a Japanese black pine.

 

I consider myself as an intermidiate 'Tender' and I am just soaking some Japanese black pine seeds in water to start a forest (My previous experience spans to singular trees so this is a big step!).

 

Thank for the feed back guys, What kind of trees do you guys have, and also what kind of shapes do you have?

[seersin]

Maybe I'll try Oragami,I am a parent however,Tha bonsai tree would be cool though.

[Ted T.]

My purpose is to collaberate with the tree to form an art-object.

 

Like a trained person is 'more than' the natural person, so a trained tree has a special character that can be seen and enjoyed.

 

I also like to collect wild treee from our mountainous coastline here in BC and since half my trees are wild, they come in a wide variety of shapes but approximate the traditional uprights, wind-swept and literatti etc.

 

I like to create in bonsia the shape of full size but dramatic trees I see on my hikes in the mountains too. For instance, we have a 10 k trail some miles from here at the local ski hill. It meanders thru a meadow that is under ice and snow for much of the year. This depresses the branches down against the ground so you see hundreds of 2' - 4' trees, 3" - 8" thick, that have all their branches downswept. I'm currently recreating the effect with a cedar rescued from a clear cut.