My first attempts at Bonsai

[gstyle]

Over this weekend I have had my very first attempts at creating some bonsai.

I bought three plants from my local garden centre, and inspired by watching many many Peter Chan videos, I set to work.

Rather unfortunately I forgot to take before pictures of the first two plants, so I only have after shots of those two.

This is the first plant - after picture only - Rhododendron Impeditum. As this was my very first attempt at anything like this I was rather pleased with myself, but from a bonsai perspective I am sure there are lots of faults.



The second plant - after picture only - Azalea Japonica 'Hino Crimson', was a different story. I think I made a mess of this! I couldn't work out the front, I did not really see a good trunk, and the branches were quite leggy. So I ended up chopping quite a bit. And then some. And well, basically I was left with this:



On to the third - Rhododendron 'Arctic Tern' - before picture:



So I felt this started off well. Then as I was playing with some of the branches to work out if they should be wired I broke off one of the main branches. You can see the gash in the after picture. Once this happened I was stuck with what to do. In the end I slanted the tree:



I guess we all have to start somewhere.

Would appreciate any feedback!

 

[Juanmi]

Hello there!

Welcome to the forum. I enjoy watching the Peter Chan videos too. He has a lot of experience and he seems like a really nice guy.

I hope all of your trees survive. If they do, maybe you should let them grow freely to thicken their trunks.

And even if you can find a lot of content (and of really food quality) on the internet I would suggest to buy a book to learn about bonsai. There is a lot of stuff to learn about.

Hope you enjoy this new hobby.

Cheers

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I can highly recommend taking a dive in bonsai soils. They're quite different than what you're using.
It might help to get you going forward.

 

[Shibui]

@gstyle I offer my congratulations on your first efforts. Way better than some I have seen offered here and elsewhere.
You have chosen a plant group that can be fussy to work with. Azaleas grow really well if conditions are to their liking but if not they just slowly decline. Hope these do well but if there are problems remember it may not be what you have done that causes the decline.

The second plant - after picture only - Azalea Japonica 'Hino Crimson', was a different story. I think I made a mess of this! I couldn't work out the front, I did not really see a good trunk, and the branches were quite leggy. So I ended up chopping quite a bit. And then some. And well, basically I was left with this:

I do not think this is such a disaster. Azaleas can bud all over bare branches so cutting long branches hard is an accepted way of dealing with them. Well done on being brave enough to do so. The reason you can't identify a front is that there is so little to work with - no good roots as nebari, no real trunk, too many main branches and no upper structure. As it grows back you may find some things developing that can help you make choices. In the meantime just enjoy the tree as is and learn from the responses to the pruning you have done. Eventually I think cutting off all except one of those branches will actually give you the trunk you are looking at but it is far to early yet to decide which one to keep.

So I felt this started off well. Then as I was playing with some of the branches to work out if they should be wired I broke off one of the main branches. You can see the gash in the after picture. Once this happened I was stuck with what to do. In the end I slanted the tree:

You have also discovered one of the features of azalea by accident. Branches are very brittle! All of us who work with this group have been frustrated by this feature and many branches lay broken after early azalea wiring attempts. In actual fact I think the accident has left you with a better tree. It now has a defined trunk line and a single branch at the first fork. Single branches are desirable. If more branches grow from a single place on a tree the trunk quickly swells at that spot and we get reverse taper in the trunk/branch which does not look good. One of the basic rules for developing good bonsai is to only have one branch at any level on a trunk and only have a single sub branch as you develop ramification on branches. Eventually you will need to work through the other trees and prune to follow this guideline but please leave them alone for now. After styling work and repotting it is best to let the trees recover before subjecting them to more insults. Waiting and patience is a big part of bonsai. I actually like the final result you have come up with for this one.

One thing I can offer is that it is generally accepted that azaleas do better when larger cuts are sealed after pruning. Not sure if you can get hold of bonsai sealing paste but I see some of the growers over there use wood glue to seal cuts.

 

[penumbra]

I truly wish you the best on your journey. But be aware that all three of your choices are not good choices for a beginner.
And your soil looks like muck.
There is so much free information out there that you have somehow avoided.
Small steps.......

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Welcome aboard! You took the first step, getting your hands dirty. That’s important!

There’s plenty of information about azaleas on this site that will help your. Also check out this link to help get you started.

cheers,
DSD sends

 

[Potawatomi13]

Well.....good luck. Since personal first attempt at Rhododendron/Azalea resulted in quick death for unsuspecting plant from personal ignorance do not expect any better result from ham handed attempts to "bonsai" innocent Rhododendrons. Bonsai pot and butchery when FIRST needed lesson is PATIENCE and how to keep plants alive in pot culture is/are very last thing these plants need. Keeping alive and developing bigger trunks are first things needed. Sorry if sounding too harsh. Have seen WAY too many newcomers on here jump in with 4 feet and attempt to become Bonsai practitioner nearly overnight. Does NOT work that way! Find local club and mentor with experience to help successful future attempts. Do not give up because of my short patience today.

 

[StarGazer]

I can highly recommend taking a dive in bonsai soils. They're quite different than what you're using.
It might help to get you going forward.

I agree, as a next step in your bonsai learning progression work on understanding the role of soil and root systems for successful maintenance and growth of bonsai trees. From the pictures it seems that your trees would benefit of soils with better drainage. A well draining soil will foster a healthy root system and help prevent root rot.

 

[Graft]

Welcome to Bnuts,

As others have said. A good start you have there, although not the easiest of species. For the Azalea you have done exactly the right thing. But I would suggest you look up "Kanuma" soil. It is acidic and very good for ericaceous plants. And I would let them grow to thicken the trunks etc. I made the "mistake" of styling an Elm before it had any structure and although it is still alive I have decided to let it do it's own thing for a few years, I hope this will reward me with a better starting point.

 

[gstyle]

Thanks for all the comments. Will certainly do some more research.

About the soil - i was using a generic 'bonsai soil' purchased from the garden centre. Also, I had watered the plants just before taking the pictures, but I take the critical point about drainage,

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Oops!....and here’s the link. https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/evergreen-azalea-basics-including-satsuki.40/

DSDS sends

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Here’s a couple examples for you of first potting, minimal pruning jobs.

Rukizon (Japanese Kazan) and Chinzan



Some of this years first potted satsuki bedded down in a cold frame, with a bunch of root worked maples in the background and other satsuki growing out.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[gstyle]

Here’s a couple examples for you of first potting, minimal pruning jobs.

Rukizon (Japanese Kazan) and Chinzan

View attachment 366126

Some of this years first potted satsuki bedded down in a cold frame, with a bunch of root worked maples in the background and other satsuki growing out.
View attachment 366125
cheers
DSD sends

Very nice too - I like that blue pot (and the tree in it)!

You mentioned minimal pruning - was that simply because the plants did not need much pruning to achieve the desired shape ? Or is minimal pruning part of your ethos? Did I over prune?

For the Rukizon and Chinzan, were these grown from seed or repotted stock from a nursary?

Are you using pure Kanuma soil?

Now these are potted is it just a waiting game before attempting any further work on these?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Thanks,

So that photo was set up to show you both correct size and a normal pot and a training pot. Azalea like to have cool roots, so bonsai pot works well in hot climates. We don’t have a hot climate here so I often use a training pot to start with.

One of my thoughts is to keep plants as healthy as possible. So everytime I do any major work on a tree I like to see how it responds first before the next event. I’d rather take the time to do it right. Granted there are always exceptions in Bonsai. In fact, often the answer to a bonsai question is “It depends”

My contest Kikisui I tried to grow out in the ground and style it on site. All worked well until a rabbit came along this winter and pruned the plant! So I stuffed it into a gallon container for the winter and stashed it in a cold frame until last week. Its structure was looking so odd when repot time came I root washed, repotted and pruned it severely. Dunno if the tree will survive, but I did the best under the circumstances. Also 3 of the azalea we repotted needed trunk splitting so we did that at the same time as repotting too.

So did you overprune? Likely not, but if you didn’t cut paste your tree is at risk after all the cutting done.

I use a variety of mixes. All kanuma based. Having a high CEC, well draining soil is key for me for most of my trees. (Others think otherwise.)

Last year I tested 80% kanuma, 20% clipped sphagnum moss. I found this mix to work well. Also it’s for folks that aren’t able to water as much, or drier climate.

This year all the azalea reports used 90%Kanuma 10% small pumice. It is an experiment to see if the Satsukis roots grow better in that mix... and to see how much watering that mix takes. Since I’m going to repot yearly, depending - of course, it will be fairly easy to switch to higher kanuma concentrations later on.

I will be waiting at least a month to do more work on most of the reports. It depends, case by case!

Cheers
DSD sends