I learned a little about gardening with my grandmother. Her front yard in suburban Atlanta was a garden, not grass. And in the summer I helped her, tilling and fert and mulching. She had strawberries, blueberries, and a bunch of veggies.
Years later, one day my wife and I saw a bit about bonsai on tv and I said Id like to try it. Then one day we were waiting on the side of the road by road repair. She saw a little guava tree growing from under the road, stunted and with a cool long curved trunk. So I pulled it out of the ground. Guava trees are like weeds here, so I thought it would live. And for a few months it looked cool in the only bonsai pot I could find, then of course died. I tried a few more guavas and whatever I found, made some cuttings, and it all croaked too. We moved and next to the house was a field with some big trunks grown as posts, and in the crotch of one them I saw a strangler fig with roots I loved. It popped out with all the roots like it wanted to go with me. My wife agreed, it could be a bonsai. But it got stuck in a pot that hung from the wall and forgotten, planted in wood chips with some soil tossed in. It got watered enough to stay alive and nothing more. Then we got wifi and I read some basics and watched videos. Then we split up, freeing up all my time. But wede been gardening too, and Id learned a lot. So a little over a year ago I decided to bonsai my fig, which was cascading from its pot. I read until I thought I had a clue, and cut it way back. I ended up with 3 branches all coming from the end of the trunk. Then I put it in my bonsai pot. And I kept reading and learning. So one day I defoliated it almost all the way and cut off the tips, and chased the branches back til I had little branches lower on the trunk and chopped it a little. And in reading one day I found the nuthouse. The tree is still alive and growing, along with a lot more plants and trees for the yard and/or bonsai or to eat and other useful medicinal plants. I also am addicted to aquaponics, which is awesome for veggies and maybe bonsai stock. Mine are doing well at least. So in the last year Ive come a long way, and my trees are developing. Ive gotten more selective about what I drag home, from learning here and wherever else. Im the only gringo where I live, and one of the only ones with bonsai. So I learn on the web, amd experiance. Thats my story and Im stickin' to it.