Lifetime Tree Death Count

[Q-Bonsai]

What is your total death count (rough estimate will work)? Were they finished, nursery stock, etc? How many of them just randomly died and didn't give you an opportunity to learn why they died?

Total deaths: 25ish, mostly nursery stock while I tried to push the limits to see what I can go before they die.
Random deaths: 1- well developed water jasmine. Never came back in the spring.

Knock on wood, never lost a tree I really liked.

 

[Gene Deci]

Never kept track but there were four that hurt too much to forget.

 

[HumbleTrees]

16, and there is a good chance it will be at 20 by summer.
I have killed more than I've kept alive...

 

[Poink88]

I am hovering just below 10% (17 total I believe). What I did not expect is that I have almost same mortality percentage between store bought and collected.

I plan on lowering that percentage and I think I will. Rookie mistake is buying trees that cannot handle our heat. Those were doomed the day I bought them and what irks me is that they were bought locally (winter time). Vendors should know better than bringing those in.

The rest (another rookie mistake)...doing more drastic root and other work than I should.

 

[goosetown]

Was keeping a 100% track record with a very small number of trees (and very easy ones - all shimps, not trying to do too much to them) until this past "Fall"/"Winter" (Southern California) when three succumbed to spider mites that showed up while I was on a long vacation. They've continued to be brutal, but I think I have a handle on them now as per the rest of my trees.

Two more (one that I believe I over-repotted and another that I think I learned too late how to water properly) are looking touch-and-go right now but are so far hanging in there. We'll see. But I'm still a newbie and it's all part of the learning process.

 

[michaelj]

Established stuff that I was really hope to keep alive:

All of them, the first time around (1988-1999 ish)

3 this time around (2012-present) that I can think of

I have had a bunch of cuttings and transplanted salvage material fail. I also dug up over 100 elm seedlings and intentionally put down about 20 of them that were not thriving.

 

[linlaoboo]

Maybe 5, i tend to forget and they were mostly training material. Although I have a finished elm that didn't come out of dormancy as of now. sucks.

 

[bonsaibp]

Hundreds- for every reason imaginable and then some from free seedling to 5 figure trees!
At lot less of the latter thankfully. Learned a long time ago to not get emotionally attached to my trees even before the nursery. I think I learned something from everyone of them- sometimes the same thing more than once!

 

[jkd2572]

I have lost plenty of trying material. Some training material I just get tired of some times and just throw away even though it's alive. Did that today actually. Only lost one specimen thus far, and never figured out why it died. My only guess was that it got v. Wilt disease that maples can get.

 

[lordy]

Hundreds- for every reason imaginable and then some from free seedling to 5 figure trees!
At lot less of the latter thankfully. Learned a long time ago to not get emotionally attached to my trees even before the nursery. I think I learned something from everyone of them- sometimes the same thing more than once!

OUCH! Bob, sorry to hear this.
I've been growing bonsai for maybe 20 years. I am certain that I have not lost one every year, so I will guess the number is 12 to 15. Most recent was an azalea that never came out of dormancy. I hate when I have no idea what took a tree from me. I always feel responsible for their demise. Sometimes I am attatched, and it does hurt. Especially when the previous owner was a good friend, and they have passed away. I feel like they are looking down on me and shaking their head as if I screwed up. I dont know what went wrong...Sorry Jim...

 

[discusmike]

3 nice potted trees that really hurt, a lot of material lost during training especially seedlings.

 

[fourteener]

I have a back yard fire pit. I have been busy in the past. I still use it once in awhile. I used to fail cause I didn't know what I was doing. Now I fail with new plants, cause I push the envelope.

You can ski on the bunny slope all day and proclaim you never fell. Or you can venture up to the double diamond named "Satan's Crotch" and learn something!!

 

[Eric Group]

Never kept track but there were four that hurt too much to forget.

Yep, some hurt more than others! I don't have any clue on a total.. Does this count trees that were chewed up by my roommate's dog or the ones killed by the hobos who went in my yard and dumped the trees out of the pots so they could steal the pots? How about the squirrels that chew my trees up? I had a Maple that didn't wake up this year because one of those like bastards chewed on him all winter, but the tree also had his pot break during a hard freeze and was repotted out of season (had no choice)- does that count too? Because those were kind of out of my control!

I have been a gardener most of my life and currently grow everything from Bonsai to landscape trees, flowers, fruits and vegetables in my yard... I can't count the number of trees/ plants/ flowers I have killed. A "master gardener" once told my Mother: "you don't really know a plant until you have killed it at least 7 times"!

 

[Wee]

I'm batting about 300 so far....

Collected 3 large junipers back last July.....2 dead 1 doing very well.

Collected 4 large yaupon holly last Oct....1 dead 3 doing well.

Bought 5 different nursery plants and all but one have died. The dog taking a liking to the plastic pots 3 of them were in didn't help much and the cold 5 deg nights got the other two.

Got a small Juniper for Christmas and it's not looking to well, I think the cold got it too.

Brian

 

[Poink88]

Now I fail with new plants, cause I push the envelope.

You can ski on the bunny slope all day and proclaim you never fell. Or you can venture up to the double diamond named "Satan's Crotch" and learn something!!

I like it!

I basically do the same.

 

[davetree]

I have a back yard fire pit. I have been busy in the past. I still use it once in awhile. I used to fail cause I didn't know what I was doing. Now I fail with new plants, cause I push the envelope.

You can ski on the bunny slope all day and proclaim you never fell. Or you can venture up to the double diamond named "Satan's Crotch" and learn something!!

I have a fire pit for my mistakes as well. I give them the Viking funeral. Usually while toasting them with a favorite beverage.

 

[M. Frary]

That's what I'm calling my fire pit from now on. Awesome. Tossed lots down the devil's crotch myself. Probably over 50 and I would like to think I'm slowing down on the the killing. But sometimes things happen that are out of our control. And other times the deaths occur from my pushing too much.

 

[PaulH]

Who counts? I only concentrate on the living ones.
One of my early teachers said, "make it a bonsai or kill it now".

 

[jkd2572]

Like I said I throw away living material that I realize on a whim I think has no potential. Only so much room. I have about 72 foot of benches. Nothing goes on the ground. Sometimes putting some out of their misery is right. Only my opinion.

 

[Cypress]

Like I said I throw away living material that I realize on a whim I think has no potential. Only so much room. I have about 72 foot of benches. Nothing goes on the ground. Sometimes putting some out of their misery is right. Only my opinion.

LOL, this is kind of hilarious... just wondering, you ever try giving them away to people just for landscaping etc?

Also, want to say this thread is making me feel better about my first full year in bonsai haha. Makes me not feel so bad about what I've lost so far. I lost a couple pieces of nursery stock last summer, my first bonsai summer. One was mainly because I was way too gung-ho about learning pruning and repotting techniques. Now it appears I've lost a few nursery trees over the winter, really cant say for sure. One juni and a hinoki cypress the foliage was just completely dried out as of a couple weeks ago. Though most my junis are still looking good.