Jump to content

Bonsai Trees


Recommended Posts

This forum is supported by the 12ozProphet Shop, so go buy a shirt and help support!
This forum is brought to you by the 12ozProphet Shop.
This forum is brought to you by the 12oz Shop.

not too interesting, but here's a little progress..

had to trim the long sprig on this guy today

3698132001_8216d436e9.jpg

right about here

3698134745_b2907faa28.jpg

now hopefully that sprig will sit below the rest of the tree level. close up to show the structures of the branching. i don't know yet what i'm gonna do with those to shoots on the left so i'm just leaving them for now.

3698948554_51b79c3985.jpg

my bonsai-potted privet is filling out pretty nice. should be looking good by fall..

3698129425_67aa98e0c8.jpg

that's it for now. gonna get a few more this week some time...probably mimosa and ficus.

probably going to sign up for a pottery class this fall and make a bunch of my own pots for next spring. cheaper that way, and custom...which i like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the copper wire is a pretty standard method of shaping a tree. Weights are also good for minor tweeks as well as achieveing a full cascade style.

 

Bonsai trees are sweet, im actually working at a house

this week and the lady has some kind of japanese something

first thing I thought was of this thread its pretty cool looking

just has one trunk that goes straight up for about 2 feet and

then on top is super full off looking purple/green leaves but the

leaves kinda look like a weed leaf but super skinny parts.

But anyways i am interested in how people shape the tree with

wire what do they do just put the wire how they want and the

tree follows it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

could be a japanese maple. there are some varieties that look a whole lot like weed plant foliage.

 

you usually either wrap the tree where you're going to wrap the wire with a small piece of light cloth or something to keep it from cutting in, then you tension and bend the tree and attach the wire to a fixed point. you can use nails on a board outside the pot, or a small board or stick and put it up against the tree (you could once again wrap the tree or your stick to prevent damage to its bark) and wrap around it to make your tension. LOTS of different ways to do shit...getting creative is the fun part.

 

and go back and look at page 1. one of my posts on down the page has a wired tree, to give you a basic idea..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

amongst other things yes. I mean daily maintenance isn't that hard. I mean you have to water it enough and fertilize it if you decide to go that route. But there are a few things that differ in care compared to normal house plants. Repotting for instance isnt just dropping it in a new pot. Depending on species you need to have the proper soil mixture, mineral content. You have to secure the tree to the pot via wire through the drainage hole. Trim the root ball etc. There is just a lot more things to consider when it comes to bonsais.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No worries mang.

 

Not to budge in or anything but to "aquire" bonsai material as you put it is quite simple. You just have to keep an eye out. Look for torn down or abandoned buildings. Usually old lanscaping will have some sort of juniper or something in it. Just dig that sucker up. But be careful to not trim the root ball too much, just take a bit off so the plant can get used to being in a different place.

 

Also, depending on where you are, collecting young species from surrounding areas are good too. Up here (Western Canada) there are mountatins and trees galore. Lots of junipers, pines etc. A great place to look for interesting formations would be mountain of cliff side plants. Because they have to hang on to the side of wherever they are they often produce very interesting shapes as seen below:

 

85402729.34lqzLnJ.ntatsr.jpg

NEA1154.jpg

335574670swdAwP_fs.jpg

1281710-This-is-one-old-old-juniper-0.jpg

 

You get the idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i've never been, but i figure you probably have willows down there. they'd probably do fairly well. pines or evergreens of just about any kind will do well as bonsai. wisteria is another one i've been getting a little geeked on lately, if it grows down that way. you can bonsai lots of stuff...just be ready for some trial and error.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah..i actually looked AFTER posting that and you guys get plenty of cool species down there. elms, ash, hickory...all that stuff. do some reading and go dig a few up. you can leave them in a small pot to naturalize until next year and they'll be just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...