A bonsai you designed on your own

[Anton78]

The title is stupid I know but I couldnt find a better one.. What I mean is showing a tree that you and only you designed from the start, be it from seed or cutting, so not a bought tree, where other people have worked on. So basically a self-grown plant that made it to bonsai.. It also should be of 10 or more years, so not a cutting from last year. I have a few trees I've grown from cuttings and will begin with this japanese palmatum maple. I bought the mother plant in 1999 and took the first cuttings in 2007 or 2008, so this tree is 17 or 18 years old. You can clearly see the many mistakes I made over the years lol
Actually the motherplant was the first bonsai I ever bought, a small 4 trunks group plant.



If you know a better title let me know and I change it. Also if a similar threat already exists, let me know and I delete this one.

 

[rockm]

 

[rockm]

View attachment 620521View attachment 620522View attachment 620524

First is a 50 year old Japanese boxwood dug from an Arlington Va hedge and converted to bonsai 20 years ago

Second is a 40 year old field grown kingsville boxwood styled as a southern live oak

Third is a 300+ year old collected live oak dug in Salado Texas the 30 years ago. Branching and top third apex completely regrown

 

[Nybonsai12]

Omoi No Mama Ume developed for approx 12 years from a 1 gallon cutting grown plant acquired from Evergreen Gardenworks


Hino Crimson Azalea grown for last 10-15 years from rough stock with a good foundation.


J. Maple grown for last 10-15 years or so from young material. in fairness this one had some ok movement to start when it was very young, but i ground grew it for a few years and i'm confident to say it is what it is now because of only my hands.


K. Hornbean grown for last 15 years from 1 gallon marker thick material from evergreen gardenworks. Sold a few months ago...



sadly the many others I am growing from seed aren't much yet and I will need to report back in another decade.

 

[leatherback]

First is a 50 year old Japanese boxwood dug from an Arlington Va hedge and converted to bonsai 20 years ago

Second is a 40 year old field grown kingsville boxwood styled as a southern live oak

Third is a 300+ year old collected live oak dug in Salado Texas the 30 years ago. Branching and top third apex completely regrown

so none of them a self=grown tree then?

 

[leatherback]

Taxus from sprouted seedling in the garden over.. ? 10, 15? years

 

[BrianBay9]

so none of them a self=grown tree then?

The OP was a bit ambiguous about the starting material. He mentions cuttings and seed, but then says, "so not a bought tree that others have worked on". Does that include yamadori? Air layers? Large nursery stock? I can't tell from the first post. "Designed on your own..." may not mean grown from seed.

 

[River's Edge]

so none of them a self=grown tree then?

But all designed by one person with no other artist involved. Collected trees are integral to the art of Bonsai, one might argue a higher accomplishment in that they must be carefully selected and developed with incredible skill to turn out.
Perhaps the poster will wish to clarify if one criteria is more important than the other.
Method of propagation or individual artistry?.

 

[Anton78]

Very nice stuff. Here's another one grown from a cutting I took from a zelkova nire in 2004 so approx 21 years old

Hey leatherback you're Jelle, right? I watch your youtube stuff regulary. Well done.

 

[Anton78]

The OP was a bit ambiguous about the starting material. He mentions cuttings and seed, but then says, "so not a bought tree that others have worked on". Does that include yamadori? Air layers? Large nursery stock? I can't tell from the first post. "Designed on your own..." may not mean grown from seed.

But all designed by one person with no other artist involved. Collected trees are integral to the art of Bonsai, one might argue a higher accomplishment in that they must be carefully selected and developed with incredible skill to turn out.
Perhaps the poster will wish to clarify if one criteria is more important than the other.
Method of propagation or individual artistry?.

Well I admit I had seeds and cuttings in mind, the very first appearance of a plant in this world, so that every future step the plant takes is in the hand of the person shaping it.. But in the end it's fine to also have other base material, so no problem.
Sorry for the confusion, english isn't my first language.

 

[Newish in Oregon]

Omoi No Mama Ume developed for approx 12 years from a 1 gallon cutting grown plant acquired from Evergreen Gardenworks
View attachment 620526

Hino Crimson Azalea grown for last 10-15 years from rough stock with a good foundation.
View attachment 620527

J. Maple grown for last 10-15 years or so from young material. in fairness this one had some ok movement to start when it was very young, but i ground grew it for a few years and i'm confident to say it is what it is now because of only my hands.
View attachment 620528

K. Hornbean grown for last 15 years from 1 gallon marker thick material from evergreen gardenworks. Sold a few months ago...
View attachment 620529


sadly the many others I am growing from seed aren't much yet and I will need to report back in another decade.

Nice trees. Do you have 'naked' pictures of the Ume and Japanese Maple?

 

[leatherback]

a bit ambiguous about the starting material.

Did not think that was all that unclear..:

a tree that you and only you designed from the start, be it from seed or cutting

So basically a self-grown plant that made it to bonsai..

Collected trees are integral to the art of Bonsai,

might be, but this is not what the OP put in as critereum.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I wondered about the designed by the owner too. Here in the eastern US there is only limited opportunity to collect yamadori of any size so collected garden plants and nursery stock are a major source of plants. This is my prize winning hinoki acquired from Appeldorn’s nursery in 2019 and trained by me as an informal upright.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Nice trees. Do you have 'naked' pictures of the Ume and Japanese Maple?

I already screwed up the thread by posting trees that weren’t exactly fitting the required criteria so i won’t post em here, but if you search my threads you can see them, I will be updating in the next few weeks once they are finished dropping leaves.

 

[rockm]

so none of them a self=grown tree then?

Nope. Show me a self grown tree and I’ll show you a lot of mediocrity and irreversible Mistakes. Show me a decent collected trees and I’ll show you an interesting bonsai in a shorter time frame with more character

Here’s some photos of the oak as collected. You tell me is the 30’years ofwork that went into it not sufficient for the thread?

I don’t have photos of the boxwoods but the two one was basically twice as tall with stubby branching after it was collected

 

[Anton78]

rockm wrote:​

Nope. Show me a self grown tree and I’ll show you a lot of mediocrity and irreversible Mistakes. Show me a decent collected trees and I’ll show you an interesting bonsai in a shorter time frame with more character

Listen no offence but this is bs. Some of the best japanese trees were grown from seedlings. Growing bonsai from seeds and cuttings is an accepted and well established tecnique.

 

[Jrmcmich]

I wondered about the designed by the owner too. Here in the eastern US there is only limited opportunity to collect yamadori of any size so collected garden plants and nursery stock are a major source of plants. This is my prize winning hinoki acquired from Appeldorn’s nursery in 2019 and trained by me as an informal upright.

View attachment 620538

Wow beautiful tree!!

 

[Wulfskaar]

Nope. Show me a self grown tree and I’ll show you a lot of mediocrity and irreversible Mistakes. Show me a decent collected trees and I’ll show you an interesting bonsai in a shorter time frame with more character

Here’s some photos of the oak as collected. You tell me is the 30’years ofwork that went into it not sufficient for the thread?

I don’t have photos of the boxwoods but the two one was basically twice as tall with stubby branching after it was collected


View attachment 620540View attachment 620541

I don't think OP asked for world class champion trees. I think OP asked for trees only touched by one bonsai artist.

Here's one of my favorite trees that only I have ever touched.

World class?
Worth $50?
Impressive?
Mistakes all over the place with more to come?
Needs another 20 years?
Only touched by one bonsai artist? Yes. Requirement complete!

 

[rockm]

rockm wrote:​

Listen no offence but this is bs. Some of the best japanese trees were grown from seedlings. Growing bonsai from seeds and cuttings is an accepted and well established tecnique.

That’s bs. The most dramatic and revered bonsai in Japan are from collected trees.

Of course there are great seed grown bonsai but I said A LOT of mediocrity and mistakes. I didnt say all “self grown” trees are that way

Also the “self grown” trees you mention from Japan are often generations old. Which means they are the product of possible dozens or even hundreds of bonsai people. The thought that The person the planted the seed is solely responsible for any tree kind of misses one of the points of Bonsai. The best are mostly the products of collaborations of growers designers etc. regardless of the person who claims the “finished” tree is “theirs” and theirs alone. It’s mostly egotistical fiction

 

[Anton78]

Check here

Only one artist involved from start to finish. World masterclass from cuttings. If he's doing it, I'm doing it too. Turn on the english subtitles and scroll to 3.06