Boxwood I think it’s wrong..?

[BrazilianMoistWood]

I was feeling down in the dumps today so I treated myself to a boxwood that was on sale. $15 on for $12 before tax. Figured what the heck, it’s only $12 and might cheer me up. The root ball on it was huge and all knotted up, took atleast an hour to sort though then said heck it and started trimming what I thought needed trimmed… anyways got it fitting in the pot and tried to expose some nebari to help choose my front. Now it’s in and I cleaned up and defoliated down lower to expose the trunk (wink wink). Looking at it, I feel there is something else I could do to make it look better. I trimmed up the top to get more of a canopy with full green leaves without slices through them (I think it was pruned with a hedge trimmer at the nursery). I seems pretty balanced imo but something doesn’t feel right.. any suggestions??

1 is front, then spinning 90* clockwise
This is the front I chose then spinning 90* clockwisE


I could wire to give it a broader shape, what do you think? First tree I’ve styled from scratch

 

[Shibui]

You may be expecting a bit much from a $15 tree. It is very rare for such a young plant to become instant show quality bonsai and you have done a good job with what you have. Now comes the longer term growing and tweaking the shapes as it develops. The process can take many years.
My first impression is that your tree is more of a shrub with multiple long, thin branches all growing from the base of the trunk. We do make multi trunk bonsai but usually expect the trunks to have more substance than these. Most bonsai have a single trunk like a tree. Branches start around 1/3 of the height rather than right at ground level but before you rush in to chop them all off please consider what the future could be.
Removing all the low trunks now will leave you with a pretty skinny trunk and it is likely to remain so for many years. If you choose to leave those low trunk/branches on they will definitely make the trunk grow fatter quicker and in 3-5 years you could remove them and have a much better trunk.

You need to decide what you want: A small, skinny almost bonsai now and not much difference for the next 10 years or so OR a funny looking shrubby plant in a pot for a few years which will accelerate the growing process to give you a better tree in a few years. Both are acceptable alternatives so it is up to you to decide how to proceed.

 

[sorce]

What "feels" wrong to me, is that it looks more like an advertisement for 2Pac's new Bonsai Garden with all the W's it's throwing up than a Tree.

I think it's better to remove the left, right or center leg of those W's now (next, at the appropriate time), because even though boxwood grows slow, the wounds from extended bulges take even longer to heal, and never end up with a transition as visually pleasing as if cut off earlier.

Truth though, I think no matter what you do, you'll end up "stack-ranking" this thing off your shelves before it gets better than what you will end up finding someday, for free or close to $15.

So I'd treat it like a $15 death sentence for education. Welcome to Death Row!

(Tupac is underrated!)

Sorce

 

[sorce]

This thread made me post this.

Own up to the Facts Philosophy.

I realized this morning that most of my method is based in this philosophy and that there are a few certain begginer stages that are inevitable, that when owned up to, will advance beginners collections quite fast. 3 beginner facts a beginner must own up to. 1. You will never stop looking for...

www.bonsainut.com

Sorce

 

[Forsoothe!]

The very best that I have ever been able to do is take a new tree to ~show quality~ is 5 years. That ~show quality~ is moving target, as @sorce alludes to. A better process and philosophy is to buy species and subjects you are attracted to and work on them with a quality target rather than a time target. The time target is almost always going to involve short-cuts and result in short-comings. The quality target almost always evolves into higher standards, and your skill evolves with that higher standard. Some people buy finished bonsai because of time constraints or other areas of interest that prevent them from doing it themselves. That is no different than buying the Mona Lisa because you like art but are a little short of skills and have more money than time. There is a place for these people in art, and we need them. For others, we work on bonsai because we enjoy the art and working on trees and for us, watching the tree evolve into great art is our reward, but the thrill of the hunt is what we crave.

 

[BrazilianMoistWood]

You may be expecting a bit much from a $15 tree. It is very rare for such a young plant to become instant show quality

I went into this tree just as soMething to play with, I wasn’t really trying for show quality or anything. I wanted to try styling a tree from scratch that hasn’t had any training at all and didn’t want to pay $50 for something I’m most likely going to kill because of the time of year. It Just doesn’t really feel like a bonsai at all besides the “pot” (Chinese food takeout dish I drilled some holes in). I know it’s a bush but if I cut the lower branches it leaves the top with a weird shape, i suppose it could be fixed with some
Wiring

Truth though, I think no matter what you do, you'll end up "stack-ranking" this thing off your shelves before it gets better than what you will end up finding someday, for free or close to $15.

So I'd treat it like a $15 death sentence for education. Welcome to Death Row!

Yeah I’m not a huge fan of boxwood but wanted to try. I know people have mixed opinions on boxwood but it was cheap. I don’t plan on keeping it long just wanted to play around haha

A better process and philosophy is to buy species and subjects you are attracted to and work on them with a quality target rather than a time target

Yeah I like the Brazilian rain trees the most and am currently trying to take cuttings, only one successful so far of many so I’m going to keep trying that method and taking an air layer off my main tree. Hard species to find around here, always watching kijiji for another to hopefully cross pollinate and get some seeds.

 

[Shibui]

Maybe I have used the wrong words. By 'show quality' I probably meant 'looks like a bonsai'.
Trees rarely go straight from commercial mass produced to 'Bonsai' in one session. I usually take the process one step at a time. You have taken the first step and what you have done is good, probably as good as could be done with the material. Now comes the waiting for the tree to respond. Then will come further pruning and shaping maybe with wire, maybe not.

I find boxwood to be great for bonsai but maybe not for someone who is in a hurry as they are quite slow to grow and develop. Much better (quicker) to start with a bigger, older one and cut back to a bonsai.
The best boxwood bonsai come from trees rescued from gardens. Not sure how many gardeners plant box hedges in Ottawa but I'm always looking out for garden makeovers or building renovations to see what I can rescue. Take a look around your area and see what may be available in the gardens. Trees do not come any cheaper than free, even if it does take an hour or so to dig them out.

 

[Forsoothe!]

^^^This, and me too, "Maybe I have used the wrong words. By 'show quality' I probably meant 'looks like a bonsai'."

The quality level for me at twenty years of bonsai is not the same as for a newbee. The trees I take to show today have been in-process for more like 10 or 15 years, or longer, as expected of me. There is the rare exception, and we all love to be able to spit in the eye of stick-in-the-muds, like this tree less than 8 months from nursery to show...

The exception is of course due to wonderful flowers covering the architecture that is lacking. As any poker player will tell you, I'd rather be lucky than good.