development

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...

This is another Japanese maple I've started from seedlings collected in 2012. The form will be clump, but maybe I'll find a way to sumo the tree if the base starts to fuse together really well. I'm intending to add a fifth trunk for balance. April 2013 June 2014 October 2015 January...

I bought this Japanese Black Pine at the 2016 Bonsai Society of Portland Fall Show. It went to the oral auction and I got it for $165. I'll be cataloging its development in this thread. Here it is today with a 12 oz can for scale Close up of the exciting basal flare and lichen I need to...

This will be another stick-in-a-pot grows up sort of thread. I'm currently aiming for some manner of freestyle design, as if this had collapsed multiple times in a sinewy fashion. I plucked Calocedrus decurrens seedlings from a flower bed underneath a large mother tree in 2014. Here they are in...

This is another pre-bonsai gathered in 2012. I think I collected 30 that year. This tree can put on 3–6 feet of growth a year, like its siblings. April 2012 April 2014, repotted into individual 1-gallon nursery cans October 2015, it was repotted this year into a 3-gallon can January...

I’m working on a longer term informal upright Chinese elm. I purchased the tree in early 2012 and its first three years were subpar due to my noob usage (“learning opportunity”) of subpar soil material (too organic), inadequate pot sizing, and poor timing of pruning. Tiny tree, mid-2012...

Today I bought a 3" trunk diameter Dwarf Blue Scots Pine nursery tree. This will be a long term project and it is my first Scots. I suspect this is grafted but I have yet to see an obvious union mark. I did a tiny bit of digging around the trunk and found field soil with some fine feeder...

I obtained this tree for about $10 as a rooted cutting in a 4" nursery pot. The sapling was planted in pumice and scoria. June 2014: After purchase, I slip potted it into an 8" round nursery pot. March 2015: May 2015, showing a lack-of-water mishap: (and/or bad repotting aftercare) 2015...

Five blocks from where I live is a recently-razed double lot slated to become apartments. I've been watching this place for a while and waiting for the right season and weather; today was the right day. After making peace with the woman living next door and promising to not touch her rose...

Just got my first Japanese Black Pine, still pretty new to pines in general. I picked this one up on Muranaka's ebay page. I feel like it has great potential. I've always loved shohin pines and I've done a fair amount of reading on here and Bonsai Tonight. The concepts are just beginning to make...

Calocedrus decurrens is not a common bonsai subject but I'm giving it a go with two volunteer seedlings. It's a native tree, here, so that's part of my enthusiasm for the species. With this particular tree I am attempting to replicate the candelabra form I have seen in photos and out in some of...

I've purchased another native North American nursery specimen: a Pinus contorta contorta 'Spaan’s Dwarf' cultivar. I was feeling like taking a bit of a risk with my wallet and tools; it cost $84.99 for a specimen with 2.5" trunk diameter, 24" height, and healthy roots that fill a ~5 gallon...

I recently dug up this bush from my yard. It was planted by the former homeowner in clay-heavy soil and several winters of ice storms had made a mess of this quince. I think it’s a Chaenomeles japonica because the flowers are red, the leaves are thin, it has large thorns, and the bark is...

April 2012 Collected as a seedling in Portland, OR. May 2013 Basic wire training. April 2014 It continues to be my most productive seedling. I upgraded it from a 1 to 2 gallon pot; to the left is a white birch volunteer. June 2014 One of the growth tips would get a fungal infection...