Sn0W

Shohin
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So Today I picked up these bargains. I posted yesterday about a Japanese Red Pine and went back today to pick it up. Started speaking to the manager again and ended up leaving with a lot more. I realise that I didn't put anything in the pictures for scale, but the JRP is a monster and the Cryptomeria is pretty big too. Thinking I'll trunk chop / air layer the Cryptomeria as there is a bit of reverse taper part way up that I'd like to remove. The Eastern White Pine had been damaged and looks like it's been leaking sap for a while from 2 wounds so I'm not sure how well that will survive. Overall a pretty good haul though!
 

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Sn0W

Shohin
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And the Cryptomeria Japonica
 

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Victorim

Omono
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Nice variety to have a play with and see first hand reactions to works you do on them. I'm all for lots of material to get your feet wet.

Two tips for you:

For a head start look for trunks your happy with and can see the tree around it, and any usable branching / foliage is a bonus.

And have a good dig in the pots and find your surface roots. Could be a anything going on under there that will make or break a tree. When I leave a garden center I'm filthy :)

Last note.. have you looked into eastern white pine? Second tree I bought was an EWP.. it's now in a very large garden pot, to be grown as a normal tree (still going to bud select it, can't help it)

All the best.
 

BigBen

Shohin
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VERY nice & assorted haul!
Looking forward to some progress photos.
 

Sn0W

Shohin
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Thanks, I feel the same way about having a lot of material. One of the first tips I read regarding bonsai was to get a lot of trees as I'll likely end up killing / not liking some of them. I thought getting a variety of species will let me see what I like and to gauge the various difficulties in keeping them alive.

I thought about the trunks, the only one I wasn't sure about was the Berberis but I thought I might try either broom or trying to bend it for windswept. Finding roots in the pot is something I definitely need to work on.

I didn't know anything about it before I got it, but it didn't really cost anything due to the bleeding / damage so I might just plant it and grow it on and see what happens. Now I've read a little about them I can see that the needles and the tree in general aren't really suitable for bonsai.

As for the Japanese Red Pine, I think I like the tree too much to do anything with it currently when I don't really know what I'm doing. Thinking I'll leave it as is until I have a better understanding of how to deal with it.
 

Ingvill

Shohin
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Wow, you had a great shopping trip!
I've bought a couple "play around with" trees this past week, just to give myself a little bit of experience with the basics, while waiting on spring and new arrivals of "more proper" material in the shop.
Enjoy your big haul and make sure to keep us updated on your progress :)
 

Vance Wood

Lord Mugo
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Thanks, I feel the same way about having a lot of material. One of the first tips I read regarding bonsai was to get a lot of trees as I'll likely end up killing / not liking some of them. I thought getting a variety of species will let me see what I like and to gauge the various difficulties in keeping them alive.

I thought about the trunks, the only one I wasn't sure about was the Berberis but I thought I might try either broom or trying to bend it for windswept. Finding roots in the pot is something I definitely need to work on.

I didn't know anything about it before I got it, but it didn't really cost anything due to the bleeding / damage so I might just plant it and grow it on and see what happens. Now I've read a little about them I can see that the needles and the tree in general aren't really suitable for bonsai.

As for the Japanese Red Pine, I think I like the tree too much to do anything with it currently when I don't really know what I'm doing. Thinking I'll leave it as is until I have a better understanding of how to deal with it.
There are two approaches to learning bonsai on your own; get a lot of material and spend the next twenty years trying to figure out why you are going no where, or realize that you need to learn how to identify decent material and maximize your time and effort. Don't buy into that you are going to kill a lot of trees in the beginning any way so start with any old thing you can get your hands on. You wrote: As for the Japanese Red Pine, I think I like the tree too much to do anything with it currently when I don't really know what I'm doing. This is actually the best tree in the lot so,--- what are you going to do about learning what to do with it? This knowledge and experience wont just happen by magic, you will have to seek it out. Most important you are going to have to learn how to select material with available potential, and not just the hope that potential will develop with time. Don't wast time you don't have to wast and don't blow resources that could have been pointed in better directions. Sorry for the rant but I see a lot of potential frustration because I have been there.
 
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