development

At the moment almost all of my trees are Prebonsai in large containers so I can grow their trunks and branches as quickly as possible. How would fertilizing differ in this stage from refinement? Would I want a balanced fertilizer in both cases or would a different fertilizer ratio be better for...

Recently got a another tree from a nursery, a Chinese Juniper 'Blaauws'. I slip pot into a bigger nursery pot to allow it to grow more and also wired the trunk and a few other thicker branches just for movement. Besides that pulled out small crotch growth and tiny weak interior foliage to open...

Wife got me my 2nd tree from the same old lady and her van on a St. corner. It’s a healthy little tree but I want more tree. Can I just use a cheap black plastic pot that all my other gardening plants come in. Like a 1 gallon? Or do I need something fancy like I see on AmericanBonsai.com? Also...

Hi all! Just wanted to send some pics of a buttonwood I found. Styling suggestions/virts always welcome! The tree is budding everywhere, I’m really excited to see where it goes.

Three year progression on this Itoigawa Juniper whip originally sourced from Shoka Bonsai in the UK. Picture below from 2019 Picture below from yesterday. My wiring could still use a little refinement but overall I’m pretty happy with the progression & how much I’ve learnt in the process...

Hi all. I’m stumped about how to choose which branches to keep on this chinese elm tree (and really any tree in general). How do you choose which branches to keep vs cut off? How do I choose a 1st vs 2nd vs back branch and so on?? I’ve read that there are some guidelines to follow with...

Good afternoon everyone! I recently received my order of 3 satsuki azaleas from Wayne at Riverbend Gardens. I love their small foliage and wonderful flowers. The cultivars I will developing into, hopefully, one day to become bonsai, are: Kimi Maru, chitose nishiki & ai no tsuki. I recently came...

Hello Again Nutties, This tree started as a big tree I purchased at a nurseries ugly plant sale. It still has a massive root base but I have started chopping down and working on regrowing shoots. I need your opinions and advice on how to do that. Do I get out of this big pot and cut the roots...

Have a number of tropical and deciduous tree that are in need of a repot this spring and further growth before settling down into a bonsai pot. I’m still quite the beginner, but thought I could learn from everyone’s different setups. Read some older posts related to this, and learned a lot from...

Live from DC and I had some general stying and development questions concerning my Swamp Cypress. This is my proposed front and I was looking for any advice on making it a flat top. I did the repot in early Spring, feeding and watering through the season. Are the bottom 2 branches too...

Found a pretty good sized Encore Azalea at Lowe’s yesterday and did a full bare root repot of it and some major pruning back to give primary structure definition. the purpose of this experiment is to see if it’ll endure the Texas summer heat in august. I only used a wooden chopstick to...

Bought some rooted Parsoni juniper cuttings! Does anyone have experience dealing with them and developing pads/ ramification? I’ve heard they’re really hardy so that’s a plus for my zone. Excited to develop both of them and try different styles. thinking of uppotting them soon, maybe… because...

Hi everyone. I just started getting interested in bonsai this summer. I’ve just found a juniper with root in a bit a bad condition so for now i just did so trimming. I just wanted to know how could one develop or style the tree i have.

Hi, I was wondering what techniques can be used to develop taper in field growing conifers. trunk chopping to a new leader is what I’m using for deciduous trees (to develop taper whilst field growing), does this technique work with coniferous species? How would you deal with candles/growth...

I’ve been working on this tree since June 2014. I think I’m working on an informal upright globe/flame sort of style. I’m inspired by Andrew Robson’s amazing beech. I have many years to go before this is show ready ;) As I bought it from Portland Nursery for about $12 in a 4" pot 2015 in a...

I’m working on an upright Trident Maple. It’s one of many trees where I’m attempting a fairly conventional and traditional aesthetic to build some of my skills. I’ll update this thread over time with progress. I got the tree in 2014 as a $14 sapling with a pencil-thin trunk in a 4" pot. I moved...

In 2014 I bought a 1-gallon seedling Quercus garryana from a local retail nursery for about $15. Here it is in 2015 in a 3-gal clay pot: I decided to grow out a second main trunk line and work on a natural looking informal broom style This tree is inspiring So I grew it out in full sun...

I purchased this tree from Andy Smith last year (2017). I took it to a workshop with Bjorn in June of last year (2017) I fertilized with Sumo Cakes Acidic Blend for the rest of 2017 and so far this year. (2018) April: May: Here are a few shots of the growth. I will keep my...

First of all, I have seen plenty of articles on trunk development for small shohin black pine bonsai, but I haven't seen any for large black pine bonsai. I have pre bonsai that are a foot in height, and I would like to eventually get them to around two feet in height. I have selected existing...

Please keep posts in this thread to a minimum so it’s concise and clear. Purchase 1: “2,000 Pinus Thunbergii Seeds (Pinus Thunbergiana, Japanese Black Pine Seeds) 2000 Pinus Thunbergii B28 SAC” from http://www.rarexoticseeds.com/ (2017-11-03) I’ve never purchased from this vendor before...

I bought a Western Hemlock prebonsai from a Bonsai Society of Portland silent auction in mid 2016. I forget the final price but I believe it was around $30. February 2017, top center In the 2017 growing season I let some of the lower branches run to put on vigor and girth. September 2017...

I bought a 3-gallon Dwarf Norway Spruce in mid 2016. I think it's a "bird's nest" cultivar from Iseli Nursery. This purchase was my first Spruce. I'm working on an informal upright with a sturdy, masculine style. November 2016 Its first pruning from nursery stock. The tree canopy was globular...

This is how my fourth Shimpaku looked when acquired in May 2016. (My fence was in progress!) I paid $85 for it in a silent auction and felt good about what I paid. The trunk has a 2.25" diameter above a strong basal flare. I started pruning and found the tree was well overgrown, in sandy loam...

I obtained this tree in 2014 and I'm progression from upright to slanted. It is the Cascade Range subspecies of the Lodgepole Pine. I have a trunk notch started with the intent of folding it over on that line. That styling would turn it into a mashed and contorted mountain tree. This will not...

I have recently acquired 26 Japanese Black Pine seedlings and 15 colanders. The seedlings are from Weyerhaeuser and Forest Farm. The colanders are 10" plastic "wash baskets" from Amazon. Jonas Dupuich is inspiring and I hope to replicate these results...