"Gee, bonsai are cool....maybe that is something I should pursue!" said the Big Dummy

[Metalgrootvader]

My last lunch hour was checking old (but sadly dead dead dead) shrubs pulled out of the local cemetery by our city's public works. I realized I had time to go to the local nursery so I walked around and took pix of the tags so I could research.
Got back to work and told several people about what I am looking for..


This is just silly. I haven't even started yet!

 

[coh]

And so it begins...let us know when you reach the 100 potted tree threshold!

 

[Metalgrootvader]

And so it begins...let us know when you reach the 100 potted tree threshold!

don't say such things....

 

[whfarro]

don't say such things....

Crack is less addicting... as stated here often...welcome to crazy.

 

[Metalgrootvader]

So it looks like I will be buying a nice array of plants/species and seeing which I like. Not sure if this is the way most of you did it....but my ADHD says it's a great idea.

 

[sorce]

buying

Make that "researching" till spring, and it's highly likely you'll save yourself $, ass pains, and frustration.

And you will also have a better collection faster!

Sorce

 

[j evans]

Every year I have trouble getting the trees into my "allotted" wintering space. This year I told the wife that some of the less desirable stuff needed to go when it came time to put the trees to bed but........... I managed to cram them together, put two in boxes out front and found a spot to plant three in the front yard landscaping and so it grows. It seems that once the you get the bug it just continues to feed on itself. Here's to you trying to keep yourself under control.

 

[watchndsky]

youve got it bad when you go to lunch with your friends, stop in mid conversation because you see a tree on the side of the road that inspires/reminds of something you have/want at home - and everyone in the car is so used to it that they know exactly whats going through your head.

and yeh the wintering space is something i struggle with too - my goal is to have a 24ft structure in place by next winter.

 

[Dav4]

Get back to me when you're spending your Saturday nights drinking bourbon while surfing internet auction sites and bidding on antique Chinese pots...

 

[barrosinc]

You next year:

 

[Nwaite]

2 years ago I had a small window sill of house plants now.... and 8 by 4' book case covered two old heaters half the windows 2 old doors I made I'm to tables on the side of our home . Back porch.... and the ones I still have in the ground around my yard.

Good luck to you and you family putting up with you.

Oh ya and I talk my wife in to letting my store some in her "get away room" so there not getting to dry with the wood stove going... hahaaaa

 

[aml1014]

Try working at a nursery, we just got about 5 hundred plants in today and I'm having an anxiety attack about what to get lmao. Becareful of this hobby I had about 80 trees by this time last year, now I lose track at 300 and get pissed off so I don't bother counting anymore just enjoy

 

[Vin]

So it looks like I will be buying a nice array of plants/species and seeing which I like. Not sure if this is the way most of you did it....but my ADHD says it's a great idea.

Hey, at least you,,, Oh. look at that tree (sorry for the ADHD moment). At least you didn't come on here after you had 100 plus trees in your back yard and start asking questions. I whittled my way down to about 150 trees but then that damn Stickroot dude starts posting a bunch of cool trees for sale and gets me all worked up again

 

[Metalgrootvader]

Went back to nursery, thought about getting a ficus then I saw a juniper I had to have....new thread in the aptly named juniper forum!

 

[Adair M]

"And another one bites the dust..."

Not saying you're gonna kill the tree. No, it's the song by Queen.

You're hooked now!

 

[Metalgrootvader]

"And another one bites the dust..."

Not saying you're gonna kill the tree. No, it's the song by Queen.

You're hooked now!

Maybe......lol

 

[cockroach]

I go to nurseries often. Here they have some amazing deals and its all too often too hard to resist. The way I stop myself is I take enough money in cash for the $1 ice-cream at the door and walk around without a wallet or any means to pay for it.

When I need supplies for soil or wiring, I know the cost before I go there and draw slightly more in case they are having a sale.

This has allowed me to stay at 30 trees for over 5 years now. The fact that my garden is very small does help resist certain experimental urges.

 

[music~maker]

Once you start looking for material at nurseries, you're all done. Before I started doing this, I was able to keep my tree count pretty low.

These days I tend to do the nursery rounds in the spring and fall (I've found some fantastic deals in September/October), and it's hard not to come home with at least a few things each time.

It adds up quick, and searching through 3-400 plants to find the one or two gems is for me what drives the addiction. Thrill of the chase, so to speak.

Some people probably get the same thrill from playing slot machines. ;-)

It's useful to get lots of different species to practice on so that one day when you find that awesome specimen, you already have some clue how to work it.

 

[Robert E Holt]

I started in early summer, so I haven't actually done much work on the 30+ trees I've collected yet. Waiting till spring. Oh, and I'm headed back to Florida next week, so I'm already planning what to get when I go back to Dragon Bonsai. This time we're taking the wife's van....

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Get back to me when you're spending your Saturday nights drinking bourbon while surfing internet auction sites and bidding on antique Chinese pots...

Dangerous! Greatly raises the bidding threshold! I had to quit one or the other...