Is this tree good for start

[Rangaweera]

hi All,
I can get the following tree for bonsai. I'm very new to this.

My question are;
is that a good base for the bonsai tree?
if this is good, what Type of cuttings you all recommended for this tree?

 

[Eckhoffw]

hi All,
I can get the following tree for bonsai. I'm very new to this.

My question are;
is that a good base for the bonsai tree?
if this is good, what Type of cuttings you all recommended for this tree?

View attachment 460179

Is that a Fukien tea tree?
Either way I’ll say no.
Taperless stump is not great. Another chop to top branch would improve it.
If It is a Fukien tree, I would be more concerned about keeping it alive than making cuttings.
I’d pass…. Unless I saw it discarded in the skip. I may still pass.

 

[AshleyMammal]

For an award winning bonsai, no, but for valuable lessons in how to keep alive, feed, prune, chop, wire, yes - assuming it’s free!

When I first got into bonsai I got absolutely every bit of material available to me.

 

[Eckhoffw]

^^^ very good point. When I first got into the hobby, I was digging up anything in the alley I could practice on. So even though I would pass, may be a great tree to learn some things.
Still curious as to what it is. ?

 

[Rangaweera]

Thanks all. Thanks for your Valuable inputs

 

[Ininaatigoons]

Put it in a grow pot or box at an angle with leader on the right a little back and to the left. Chop the left branch and stump. Leave a half inch to the stump and carve out once it's entirely dried/died back. Wire the remaining leader to put some movement in. Let the main leader grow until it's at least half as thick as the main trunk. Wire the 1st branch in a way that you can hide the future scar. Let the lowest branch on the leader grow to become 1st branch. Chop the Leader another 1/3rd up the tree for second branch and new leader after attaining desired thickness. Then 1/3 after second branch repeat for back branch. Then repeat as you start to ramify the top.
If it is Fukien Tea... It's a difficult species for most.
It could be camera angle, but it does look like reverse taper. This can be fixed by spreading the roots to flare outwardly and following the methods described above.

 

[BobbyLane]

My first bonsai was a Carmona. I showed Peter chan a picture of it at his nursery and he bellowed in laughter, he said 'if you can keep it alive longer than 6 months, you're doing good'
Of course it didnt last 3 months
I'll revisit this thread in 6 months to see if youre still here

 

[AJL]

Whats your location?
It looks similar to Escallonia

 

[AJL]

Whats your location?
The plant looks similar to Escallonia

 

[Rangaweera]

Whats your location?
It looks similar to Escallonia

I'm from New Zealand

 

[dbonsaiw]

My question are;
is that a good base for the bonsai tree?
if this is good, what Type of cuttings you all recommended for this tree?

I would say yes and no. It's not a great tree if one is attempting to develop a first class bonsai. But us newbies shouldn't be under the mistaken impression that our purchasing of a tree that can be developed into an award winning tree will actually be done so by us at this stage in our development. Point is that even when I felt I had devoured copious amounts of bonsai literature, I didn't really understand anything until I started actually trying to care for and work on my trees. Needless to say, I butchered my trees in the learning process, but I actually learned a lot. After two years of this craziness, I'm only now starting to look for "better" material.

Bonsai is a really long process and taking the extra year or so to learn from mistakes will pay off in the future as you will know better what you are doing and be better able to actually care for and develop your trees. The advice given on this site by the experts will make that much more sense once you have actually laid hands on trees. It shouldn't be viewed as a wasted year. Buy cheap crap and play with soils to better understand drainage and the like. Wire things in awkward positions, prune etc. And then see what the effects of these actions are a year from now.