Bonsai is hard...

[qwerty Bonsai]

Started almost exactly 2 years ago, when I bought several nursery stock (boxwood and juniper), with the intention to turn them into "bonsai" after watching many youtube videos. lol

Two years later, I have many plants all over the place, and money spent starts to add up, yet I still don't own anything that can be considered as bonsai.

More frustratingly, I keep losing plants that showed potential and I liked. For example, this one, before and now.

To the fellow b-nuts, what is your main frustration, and how do you overcome that?

Thanks

 

[Paradox]

Bonsai takes time, patience and many years to master. There is no fast way to a bonsai tree unless you pay for someone else's time and patience.
Trees work on the order of years, many years, not in months or weeks.

Try to determine why the trees you had died and learn not to do that again.
Dont get discouraged, we all kill trees. Try again.

 

[Carol 83]

Try to determine why the trees you had died and learn not to do that again.
Dont get discouraged, we all kill trees. Try again.

Very well said. My biggest frustration is not doing the research when I first started out and just jumped into the hobby. Thanks to all the information here and some trial and error, I think I have increased my success rate greatly and am much more thoughtful about any additions to my collection.

 

[kale]

I killed a few plants early on simply by neglecting to wire them into their pots. Once I started doing that I finally got a little momentum.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Bonsai is as much an exercise in 'learning to learn' as it is horticulture. It requires an adoration of cause and effect, observation and action. Knowing when to sit back and enjoy the view, and knowing when you need to hike a little higher.

So when I lose a tree, I have become thankful that I have an opportunity to learn something about my faults.

 

[ShadyStump]

To the fellow b-nuts, what is your main frustration, and how do you overcome that?

That I routinely catch myself wondering what I could carve this tree into when I kill it.
Ya know, so I don't feel so bad about wasting my time on it.

And not throwing myself into it sooner. At this rate, I'll be retired before I get to enjoy it.
Still worth it!

 

[Potawatomi13]

Repotting! Bah humbug! Frustrating in extremes. Vastly preferring bigger trees makes this JOB one of labors of Hercules personally. All else but blights,bugs is gentlest of breezes in comparison.

 

[thomas22]

I turned the corner around 3 years after starting bonsai. I was watching a lot of bad bonsai videos that steered me wrong. Keep with it and things will turn around. Stick with trees that do well in your area.

 

[erich_raudebaugh]

I had to start over because I lost my trees in a fire, all except 2 anyway. So I don't regret not starting sooner. At least I have 30 years of experience behind me, and I've made all the beginner's mistakes. Those are almost unavoidable.

I'm sometimes frustrated that I can't afford better material, but I try not to spend too much per year. The other frustration is a lack of space at my house. At least I have space I guess... it seems a little strange to move or get a better house based on bonsai but that's what I'm thinking about now.

 

[leatherback]

Nothing frustrates me.
I have no endgoal. I do it to see them develop. Se every day is a joy.

(well.. ok I get frustrated with birds digging in my pots; No solution)

 

[Mikecheck123]

what is your main frustration, and how do you overcome that?

Killing trees is bad only if you don't learn anything from it. My most valuable experiences came from killing beloved trees. Those are the ones you remember.

 

[jaco94]

There are many varieties of trees and some are easier than others.

I believe that we should not waste too much time with the species which do not like our environment .
After a few years and after having lost some of them , a "natural selection" has taken place , now I limit myself to a small number of resistant trees, which are satisfied with my cultivation method and what I can offer them.

There are so many varieties of trees, you have to find the right ones .

 

[just.wing.it]

Welcome.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I’m with Jelle.

I really enjoy plants.. so little that I do WITH them CAN be frustrating!

I LOVE... GROWING PLANTS.

 

[Ryceman3]

Bonsai isn’t hard.
GOOD bonsai on the other hand...

 

[Bad_Bonsai]

I'm three years in. First year I went all in, and killed about, 80~90% of my trees. BUT, year 2 came around and, only like 60% of my trees died.
This year, the snow melted and I was delighted to see, I had only lost 10%. (2 of which, were Homedepot mallsai junipers I bought only for the Pots.)

As your titles suggests, bonsai is definitely 'hard' and loosing trees really sucks, especially if its something you haphazardly collected from the mountaintops while at a spa retreat. (Cough)

In my limited experience, it helps to view bonsai as an exercise in patience. Bonsai is rebuilding my attention span. Hahaha

 

[BigBen]

I agree with what has been stated in the above posts.
After getting into the hobby of Bonsai many years ago, then stopping to concentrate on my hockey career and family, then my "normal" career in HVAC, I got back into Bonsai a few years ago.
I finally built my greenhouse (85% completed), and have been accumulating trees of various stages like everyone else. Now at 62 years YOUNG and preparing for retirement in about a year (as long as work doesn't piss me off sooner! LOL...), I'll be able to devote more time to the hobby.

I've also realized that I may never even obtain my goal of having a "REAL" Bonsai, but I sure as hell am enjoying my journey, AND most of the folks here sure do make it that much more enjoyable!!!

Enjoy the journey, learn from your mistakes and enjoy the learning process and your trees.
Sure there are "rules" to Bonsai and I respect that. But I've also learned, do what YOU like.
To me, it's an enjoyable labor of love.

Enjoy,
Ben

 

[penumbra]

There is bonsai, and then there is your bonsai.

 

[Dav4]

I was just having a conversation yesterday with a good friend who was lamenting the loss of a very nice shohin JBP that underwent an aggressive but absolutely necessary half bare root repot (performed by one of the most well known/talked about JBP experts/bonsai professionals in the USA). As I said to him yesterday, "yup, living things die sometimes". Ultimately, our bonsai subjects are as fragile as any other living thing and can fail through no fault of our own. Without a doubt, experience will improve your success, but even the most experienced among us- myself included- still suffer losses on occasion. It's part of the game.

Some of the nicer trees I've lost.

So, a recent thread here got me thinking about some of the better trees that have unfortunately died under my care. As I pointed out in that thread, it's inevitable to have some losses in this hobby, and the longer you're in the hobby and the more trees you have and work, the greater the...

www.bonsainut.com

The game

It was 80 F yesterday and, based on the extended forecast, spring seems to be here to stay. I was out in the garden this morning and decided to take some pictures since everything is popping right now. It was a hard winter for my collection. The oak tree that fell last December flat out...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Cadillactaste]

I think there are rules to species, when working one, to understand the timeline to a growing year...we only do one major insult per year. Understanding where you went wrong, will be the only way to correct and move forward.

Bonsai isn't a quick dash...it's a long stroll that is a beautiful journey. Everyone kills a tree. It's evaluating what practices we applied...then learn we may have done it at the wrong time...or did to much at once. Learn to assess what a healthy tree should look like. Weak ones are not worked. They are given time to regain energy.