More trees

[Bonsai White Belt]

So my afra, Ps came in. But I want to get something that looks good and/or looks good now. Trident maple???Chinese elm???Juniper??? Zone 6a. Thoughts??

 

[sorce]

Thoughts??

Growth should look good now!



Sorce

 

[AcerAddict]

You're now in what many refer to as the "crazed tree-buying phase" part of bonsai, where newbies go nuts buying or digging up every tree and shrub they can get their hands on. One of two things will happen now. You'll either 1) exit this phase with your wallet still in-tact because you decided to be happy with what you already have, or 2) you'll end up with dozens of trees, and not know what to do with any of them.

As someone who exited the crazy tree-buying phase not too long ago, my advice is to focus on keeping alive and growing what you currently have. Otherwise, you'll end up like me, staring at 20+ pots of material every day and not be able to do anything with any of them because fall is right around the corner.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

You're now in what many refer to as the "crazed tree-buying phase" part of bonsai, where newbies go nuts buying or digging up every tree and shrub they can get their hands on. One of two things will happen now. You'll either 1) exit this phase with your wallet still in-tact because you decided to be happy with what you already have, or 2) you'll end up with dozens of trees, and not know what to do with any of them.

As someone who exited the crazy tree-buying phase not too long ago, my advice is to focus on keeping alive and growing what you currently have. Otherwise, you'll end up like me, staring at 20+ pots of material every day and not be able to do anything with any of them because fall is right around the corner.

Or 3) good to go and ready to get some more while the others recover from working on them.

Having a lot of material isn't always a bad thing.
A large part of doing bonsai is staring at your trees and not doing anything but watering and wondering. You just wait until winter! All of us get bored. ;-)

 

[Potawatomi13]

There are NO instant Bonsai! If wanting same must buy "finished" (spelled expensive) tree. Do you have ALREADY ability/skill to keep such tree alive? Question must be asked of self unless desiring to kill trees. Developing Bonsai takes generally minimum of 5 years or so depending on size/species of tree.

 

[Potawatomi13]

So my afra, Ps came in. But I want to get something that looks good and/or looks good now. Trident maple???Chinese elm???Juniper??? Zone 6a. Thoughts??

Patience grasshopper. Not happening "NOW".

 

[Bonsai White Belt]

So my afra, Ps came in. But I want to get something that looks good and/or looks good now. Trident maple???Chinese elm???Juniper??? Zone 6a. Thoughts??

I meant can work on or looks good. Lol but ok ill sit on my hands.

 

[Rivian]

There are affordable conifers that can become very bonsai like in 1 session of cutting and wiring
Its a slower progression with deciduous

 

[JesusFreak]

I like to grow from seed and experiment with cuttings while I wait. Typically less expensive and fixes my boredom

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

Buy a Juniper procumbens nana for $10.00 and go crazy with it if you want to work on something now and maybe it is still alive next spring.

There is nothing wrong with buying alot of (cheap) trees when you are starting with bonsai, you need to learn and practice on something.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

All the comments above are good. @Bonsai White Belt - you are in New York state. Winter is a serious affair, depending on your experience you need to learn the horticulture first.

As originally developed by the Japanese and the Chinese (as Penjing) bonsai was always done with locally native trees. Wintering of trees generally involved just setting pots on the ground and mulching in or providing some wind protection. Obviously your Portulacaria afra is not a locally native tree and needs to be indoors for winter. Most of us have "indoor for winter, outdoor for summer trees" in addition to our outdoor year round trees. The autumn sales at landscape nurseries are good for picking up outdoor trees relatively cheap. But resist the temptation to bring outdoor trees indoors for the winter. Trees like Hinoki cypress, Chinese elm, and even trident maple are fully winter hardy through most of New York state. Trident is a little tender, they benefit from more protection than the previous two.

In the outdoor tree category, Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) is my favorite for immediately looking tree like. Juniper also can quickly look tree like. All commonly available juniper species in USA are winter hardy through all of New York state. Pines take work and time and are not "instant bonsai" but best time to begin learning pines is right away as you get into the hobby. Pines are technically more difficult to bonsai. There is a cultivar of white cedar 'Pimco' (Thuja occidentalis 'Pimco') that is a super dwarf, needs little or no pruning to look tree like. Most elm species work well for bonsai and generally develop quickly. They don't look like much initially, but 5 years or less they can look great. As I said earlier, the above are outdoor trees, need a cold winter rest to grow normally. Flowering crab apple (Malus species and hybrids) are absolutely great for deciduous winter hardy bonsai.

For "indoors for winter bonsai", you can't beat various varieties of Ficus. Choose Ficus with small leaves, like Ficus microphylla, Ficus retusa, and the Willow leaf Ficus. If you have a cool room, that gets cooler than 65 F on winter nights but stays above freezing, the "florist's azalea" and satsuki type azaleas are great flowering trees. They will develop nice trunks even as potted trees. Grewia is a genus of sub-tropical & tropical shrubs that have lovely flowers and work well as bonsai. If you can summer trees outdoors and bring them in for winter, the Pomegranate makes a nice "Indoor Bonsai". Pomegranates need a frost in autumn for best development, so keep them out until temperatures threaten to drop below +25 F. Then bring them in for the winter.

As mentioned above, there are no instant bonsai if starting from landscape nursery material. If willing to spend significant money, one can purchase well developed trees, though these can run into the thousands or more in price. Most of us do not consider the shopping mall bonsai (often called "mallsai") to be anything other than landscape nursery material. They are not really trained for any length of time. Usually they are nursery material that is removed from nursery pots, slapped into a one dollar ornamental pot, pruned a little and a single piece of wire is added to make it look "officially bonsai". These "instant bonsai" have had less than 15 minutes of training, and are not really anything other than "pre-bonsai" at best.

Get over to International Bonsai, I believe this nursery is not too far from you. Here you can see "real bonsai" and they host classes where you can get hands on tutoring.

Everything bonsai, trees, supplies, care, instruction, pictures, events, magazine & free information

Your respected and trusted source- bonsai trees, supplies, events, and free information. Internation

www.internationalbonsai.com

 

[AcerAddict]

Having a lot of material isn't always a bad thing.

I agree! I never said having lots of material was bad. I love having all the stuff I do. Variety is the spice of life! I meant that right now, as fall approaches (especially for OP, who is in NY), there isn't going to be much to do in the coming months, so they may want to throttle back the material purchases. Then, ramp up buying again in March/April so you can mess around and learn on the new goods. Of course, if they go with indoor bonsai, then the weather is no limitation at all.

A large part of doing bonsai is staring at your trees and not doing anything but watering and wondering. You just wait until winter! All of us get bored. ;-)

I bought trees at the beginning of fall last year, including some that had already started dropping leaves. I ended up VERY bored with my plants over winter because I only had deciduous stuff at the time and it was all dormant. Next spring though, I'm gonna be swamped with all the repotting, trimming and air layering I have to do. Can't wait!

The autumn sales at landscape nurseries are good for picking up outdoor trees relatively cheap.

One of my local nurseries has EVERYTHING at 25% off this week. It's a perfect time to go look for some diamonds in the rough.

 

[Bonsai White Belt]

All the comments above are good. @Bonsai White Belt - you are in New York state. Winter is a serious affair, depending on your experience you need to learn the horticulture first.

As originally developed by the Japanese and the Chinese (as Penjing) bonsai was always done with locally native trees. Wintering of trees generally involved just setting pots on the ground and mulching in or providing some wind protection. Obviously your Portulacaria afra is not a locally native tree and needs to be indoors for winter. Most of us have "indoor for winter, outdoor for summer trees" in addition to our outdoor year round trees. The autumn sales at landscape nurseries are good for picking up outdoor trees relatively cheap. But resist the temptation to bring outdoor trees indoors for the winter. Trees like Hinoki cypress, Chinese elm, and even trident maple are fully winter hardy through most of New York state. Trident is a little tender, they benefit from more protection than the previous two.

In the outdoor tree category, Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) is my favorite for immediately looking tree like. Juniper also can quickly look tree like. All commonly available juniper species in USA are winter hardy through all of New York state. Pines take work and time and are not "instant bonsai" but best time to begin learning pines is right away as you get into the hobby. Pines are technically more difficult to bonsai. There is a cultivar of white cedar 'Pimco' (Thuja occidentalis 'Pimco') that is a super dwarf, needs little or no pruning to look tree like. Most elm species work well for bonsai and generally develop quickly. They don't look like much initially, but 5 years or less they can look great. As I said earlier, the above are outdoor trees, need a cold winter rest to grow normally. Flowering crab apple (Malus species and hybrids) are absolutely great for deciduous winter hardy bonsai.

For "indoors for winter bonsai", you can't beat various varieties of Ficus. Choose Ficus with small leaves, like Ficus microphylla, Ficus retusa, and the Willow leaf Ficus. If you have a cool room, that gets cooler than 65 F on winter nights but stays above freezing, the "florist's azalea" and satsuki type azaleas are great flowering trees. They will develop nice trunks even as potted trees. Grewia is a genus of sub-tropical & tropical shrubs that have lovely flowers and work well as bonsai. If you can summer trees outdoors and bring them in for winter, the Pomegranate makes a nice "Indoor Bonsai". Pomegranates need a frost in autumn for best development, so keep them out until temperatures threaten to drop below +25 F. Then bring them in for the winter.

As mentioned above, there are no instant bonsai if starting from landscape nursery material. If willing to spend significant money, one can purchase well developed trees, though these can run into the thousands or more in price. Most of us do not consider the shopping mall bonsai (often called "mallsai") to be anything other than landscape nursery material. They are not really trained for any length of time. Usually they are nursery material that is removed from nursery pots, slapped into a one dollar ornamental pot, pruned a little and a single piece of wire is added to make it look "officially bonsai". These "instant bonsai" have had less than 15 minutes of training, and are not really anything other than "pre-bonsai" at best.

Get over to International Bonsai, I believe this nursery is not too far from you. Here you can see "real bonsai" and they host classes where you can get hands on tutoring.

Everything bonsai, trees, supplies, care, instruction, pictures, events, magazine & free information

Your respected and trusted source- bonsai trees, supplies, events, and free information. Internation

www.internationalbonsai.com

Thanks for taking the time!!

 

[Bonsai White Belt]

All the comments above are good. @Bonsai White Belt - you are in New York state. Winter is a serious affair, depending on your experience you need to learn the horticulture first.

As originally developed by the Japanese and the Chinese (as Penjing) bonsai was always done with locally native trees. Wintering of trees generally involved just setting pots on the ground and mulching in or providing some wind protection. Obviously your Portulacaria afra is not a locally native tree and needs to be indoors for winter. Most of us have "indoor for winter, outdoor for summer trees" in addition to our outdoor year round trees. The autumn sales at landscape nurseries are good for picking up outdoor trees relatively cheap. But resist the temptation to bring outdoor trees indoors for the winter. Trees like Hinoki cypress, Chinese elm, and even trident maple are fully winter hardy through most of New York state. Trident is a little tender, they benefit from more protection than the previous two.

In the outdoor tree category, Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) is my favorite for immediately looking tree like. Juniper also can quickly look tree like. All commonly available juniper species in USA are winter hardy through all of New York state. Pines take work and time and are not "instant bonsai" but best time to begin learning pines is right away as you get into the hobby. Pines are technically more difficult to bonsai. There is a cultivar of white cedar 'Pimco' (Thuja occidentalis 'Pimco') that is a super dwarf, needs little or no pruning to look tree like. Most elm species work well for bonsai and generally develop quickly. They don't look like much initially, but 5 years or less they can look great. As I said earlier, the above are outdoor trees, need a cold winter rest to grow normally. Flowering crab apple (Malus species and hybrids) are absolutely great for deciduous winter hardy bonsai.

For "indoors for winter bonsai", you can't beat various varieties of Ficus. Choose Ficus with small leaves, like Ficus microphylla, Ficus retusa, and the Willow leaf Ficus. If you have a cool room, that gets cooler than 65 F on winter nights but stays above freezing, the "florist's azalea" and satsuki type azaleas are great flowering trees. They will develop nice trunks even as potted trees. Grewia is a genus of sub-tropical & tropical shrubs that have lovely flowers and work well as bonsai. If you can summer trees outdoors and bring them in for winter, the Pomegranate makes a nice "Indoor Bonsai". Pomegranates need a frost in autumn for best development, so keep them out until temperatures threaten to drop below +25 F. Then bring them in for the winter.

As mentioned above, there are no instant bonsai if starting from landscape nursery material. If willing to spend significant money, one can purchase well developed trees, though these can run into the thousands or more in price. Most of us do not consider the shopping mall bonsai (often called "mallsai") to be anything other than landscape nursery material. They are not really trained for any length of time. Usually they are nursery material that is removed from nursery pots, slapped into a one dollar ornamental pot, pruned a little and a single piece of wire is added to make it look "officially bonsai". These "instant bonsai" have had less than 15 minutes of training, and are not really anything other than "pre-bonsai" at best.

Get over to International Bonsai, I believe this nursery is not too far from you. Here you can see "real bonsai" and they host classes where you can get hands on tutoring.

Everything bonsai, trees, supplies, care, instruction, pictures, events, magazine & free information

Your respected and trusted source- bonsai trees, supplies, events, and free information. Internation

www.internationalbonsai.com

Trident maple is definitely something i want to try my hands at eventually

 

[Mapleminx]

I like to grow from seed and experiment with cuttings while I wait. Typically less expensive and fixes my boredom

I agree this is fun, but don’t you find yourself drowning in young seedlings or is that just me?

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

If you are looking for affordable stock, check out Pitoon on here. He has some amazing deals on Maples and Pines. I purchased some to pot and some to put in the ground without breaking the bank.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Junipers and Chinese elm.

Broadly available, easy to care for, and you can get relatively fast results if you know what you're doing.

 

[Bonsai White Belt]

Junipers and Chinese elm.

Broadly available, easy to care for, and you can get relatively fast results if you know what you're doing.

well, I don't know what I am doing lol. The amount of time going into researching and trying to learn first what I like then what to do with it and how to care for it. Is like paralysis by analysis at this point. So Trident, chinese elm or a juniper. I know there are different types, is there specifically hardy one for zone 6a in NY?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

All junipers and all varieties (cultivars) of Chinese elm will be hardy in 6a. I have not personally grown Trident maple, I usually went with Japanese maple, so I can not vouch for Trident maple hardiness. Perhaps someone else will know if Trident maple will tolerate 6a just set on the ground and mulched around the pot for the winter.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

To prepare a tree to tolerate the cold of winter, beginning about now, it is important the tree be outdoors especially at night. The progressively colder nights are what trigger the metabolic changes the tree makes to tolerate winter. As little as one or two nights indoors, in a warm house will undo much of the changes made in preparation for winter. During the winter, never bring a tree indoors for more than a few hours at a time, or cold hardiness will lessen.