pruning

Hello everyone! I'm brand new to the site and to the world of bonsai. Although I have been reading and trying to learn like a maniac! I received a chinese elm a few days ago and I've been focused on geting it acclimated and getting used to the watering routine. The tree came in a really heavy...

Hello all, I just bought some new nursery stock the other night. Came home with a Blue Star Juniper, Sabina Juniper and a Dwarf Hinoki Cypress. I'll be reading up on these species and figuring out their proper care, but one thing i would like to do is thin them out a bit just so i can get a...

Just picked up this fella from Rosade bonsai nursery this weekend (happy birthday to me!). I'm still *very* new to junipers, so I'm trying to absorb all the advice I can. I made a little spinaround video so you can see the whole tree. This is currently the front of the tree: I kind of feel...

I have this healthy Japanese Red Pine cascade, but I don't quite like the way the apex outgrew the botton. Asked some people around, and some say I should chop it to the lowest pair of candles, but.. others say I should not lose all this growth and wire the apex branch (bend the hell out of it)...

Hi, I bought this Crab a few weeks ago at Noelanders, but in all honesty I have not worked with crabapple's before... I'm kinda of clueless here on how to progress with this tree or come up with a working plan for it. I did repot it about a week ago into a slightly larger pot because it was...

So I have a blue spruce I am attempting to turn into a bonsai, and it currently has its first flush of new growth. I have read that I should be pinching off this new growth, and others say to leave it be. I have attached some picture of it, the new growth is about an inch and a half long now...

I found this bougainvillea yesterday at a nursery, tucked away under a bench and hidden from view behind several plants. It’s now in a 10” pot and as can be seen the trunk is 8” at the base. In time, with patience, pruning, etc. I hope to develop a triangular shaped canopy over the main trunk...

I was able to pick this bougainvillea up yesterday. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to find it tucked away at a nursery under a bench, buried behind several trees. It’s now in a 10” pot and as can be seen the trunk is a massive 8” at the base. In time, with patience, pruning, etc. I hope to...

How hard can you prune these guys? I recently was gifted with one. "Jenna" I'm guessing from the flowers. 3 inch caliper trunk, very open shape, with all the buds out on the ends of the current branches. I have seen these styled and really like the look (yeah, I know leaves don't reduce for...

So my brother-in-law gave me this bonsai because he claimed it was too far gone to fix. I KNOW it isn't but I also know that I don't know how to fix it. I figured this was the best place to ask since I have absolutely zero experience in this stuff. Three questions for the experts: 1. Is it a...

Hi all, This is my first post on this forum, though I expect to be much more active with the amount of questions I'm sure to have. Anyway, this is my first Bonsai, purchased from a seller for a clean $15. He said it was a "California Golden Cypress", though I think that may just be a misnomer...

I'm new to bonsai and new to this site. I've been purchasing nursery stock plants as pre-bonsai locally but have been having a hard time finding anything suitable or of significant enough size to do anything with. I'm being patient and trying to grow out some of these plants. Recently I found...

Hey, everyone, I'm a little worried about my little bonsai, I took it to the local plant nursery and talked to the bonsai guy there and had him help me prune it so it wouldn't die and to get his idea on a few things. After that I put it back in the pot with some more potting soil, to give it...

I got my first bonsai tree about three weeks ago. I don't think it was well taken care of before so I wanted to make sure I am doing things right. There are small blemishes on many of the leaves. I read that is due to lack of water but I wanted to confirm that is true. In regards to pruning, do...

Hello all, I have a Shimpaku Juniper (Pics above) that I acquired from a local Bonsai nursery in January. I repotted it in late winter and it has responded with very vigorous growth (The leaders you see extending have grown 2 inches since March). I have a few questions with this tree...

Hello! I am new to Bonsai, and i just bought this juniper! It came with this pot, and i know i have to re pot it because of the sticking-out baby roots. After that, i'll wait a month to fertilize it with 10:10:10 solution because of the summer coming. It is about 3 years old, do you guys...

During fall-winter 2016 I collected roughly 100-150 live oak acorns from a friends property located a short drive from the sierra national forest. I have been unable to determine the exact species of oak but so far the closest match is the Coast Live oak. Leaves have sharp pointed tips and the...

Hello, Having done some pruning of 3 chinese elms this weekend, there are a few things that come up and I wanted to ask about. Its 1 thing to have read a lot about pruning, styling, etc etc, but its another to do it yourself and I find myself not knowing which to keep and prune. For starters...

Hello, I am currently looking to pots, which won't look good, just for training and allowing a tree to grow whilst doing some work on it, such as chop and grow or getting it back to health. I feel that the root work, to fit it in to a nice bonsai pot can come after all of that. I found mostly...

Or.. not so much ;) haha I've been looking around the web for a few weeks researching the how's and what's of my jade I got last summer. It wasn't happy in the room with a western window, and dropped quite a few of its leaves. And the remaining ones were starting to go soft. So, I moved it to...

I'd like your thoughts and tips on how to improve the general shape of this young tree. What would you cut, leave grow, shorten, etc... Thank you! :-)

Bought this yew at the box store, not a good time to do work on them I think,but wanted to practice. Got inspired from Rob C.'s 5 year progression on one of his yews. Took alot of foliage off to see what's doing. Made a jin, and tried to see the tree with in. And that's what I came up...

I went out yesterday and bought this juniper and did a little pruning on it but I didn't want to get too carried away without asking for some advice... After

I purchased an english boxwood from homedepot today. I figured it would be a good chance to practice some pruning and wiring techniques and I won't be too upset if I end up killing it or it looks terrible, but you have to start somewhere. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Repot...

Went to home depot today and bought a alberta spruce. It cost about $9. I began to prune and thin it out a bit but not sure where to go from here. I figured it would be a good chance to practice some pruning and wiring techniques and I won't be too upset if I end up killing it or it looks...