need new trunks yes I am serious

[nuttiest]

suggestions on what to do with deadwood, bury crap nebari, whatever. So many things stripped too much during my deadwood phase which is thankfully almost over.
First is simpson stopper deadwood uninteristing but cool roll. Third is juniper getting reverse taper on a rolled area
Second is dwarf holly ruined by my old habit of keeping interesting wrapping roots that die later. and several years of root rot that is now gone.
Ideas?

 

[Eckhoffw]

1st, 3rd, 2nd? I love it.
Damn. You’ve done a # on these.
embellishment is the answer.

 

[0soyoung]

Throw them away and get a new hobby.

 

[nuttiest]

i meant to clarify

Throw them away and get a new hobby.

oh, burnrn. I am going to critique your stuff now

 

[Eckhoffw]

i meant to clarify

oh, burnrn. I am going to critique your stuff now

Do you have any photos of the whole trees posted?

 

[nuttiest]

not yet I wanted to see if anyone had ideas about the trunks first

 

[nuttiest]

Throw them away and get a new hobby.

One day one of them will work out, if not just for halloween spooky old tree. with attached bat cave.

 

[Eckhoffw]

One day one of them will work out, if not just for halloween spooky old tree. with attached bat cave.

If your enjoying yourself, that’s all that matters. Right?

 

[nuttiest]

burying at least the holly in some pumice to try and get new roots up top, likely wiill use hormones.

 

[KikurageOtomo]

It sounds like you're struggling with some of the fundamentals of keeping the trees in favorable conditions. My personal suggestion would be furthering your knowledge of basic bonsai practices and abstaining from some of the more intense styling and carving until you've established a core body of knowledge for keeping them happy and healthy.

 

[nuttiest]

It sounds like you're struggling with some of the fundamentals of keeping the trees in favorable conditions. My personal suggestion would be furthering your knowledge of basic bonsai practices and abstaining from some of the more intense styling and carving until you've established a core body of knowledge for keeping them happy and healthy.

Yes i have some good skills and knowledge, but not using good practices due to overwhelming stock. I put things in 'back lot' if I don't want to look at it for a year. Can't stop looking for new projects when I already have plenty. I don't know if it's bad, at the art center I go to, people start many clay projects then smash many too.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Time heals most wounds. Let grow, wait, see how time changes these. Grow pot or box to hasten trunk expansion.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Part of the challenge about using organic soil mixes is that it breaks down over time. You find the soil level in your pot dropping, and roots becoming exposed over time. The period of time between necessary repots shortens.

To fix all three of these trees, the first thing you should focus on is a repot into better soil. Cover your roots - assuming you don't want exposed roots in your finished tree - and get them as healthy as possible. Let the tree grow strong, and you may find these problems "solve themselves" because the tree compensates for them as it grows and they start to look natural.

 

[nuttiest]

Time heals most wounds. Let grow, wait, see how time changes these. Grow pot or box to hasten trunk expansion.

Nailed it would like to start getting my 'house' in order

 

[nuttiest]

Part of the challenge about using organic soil mixes is that it breaks down over time. You find the soil level in your pot dropping, and roots becoming exposed over time. The period of time between necessary repots shortens.

To fix all three of these trees, the first thing you should focus on is a repot into better soil. Cover your roots - assuming you don't want exposed roots in your finished tree - and get them as healthy as possible. Let the tree grow strong, and you may find these problems "solve themselves" because the tree compensates for them as it grows and they start to look natural.

I just switched to pumice. Avoiding bonsai soil was one of the biggest mistakes I made over the years. Started with the sickliest plants first, they practically bare rooted themselves while repotting they were so sick, and already have fat white roots like I've never seen here.
I still can't understand how little rocks hold water but they do a better job keeping it at the top than the pine bark.

 

[nuttiest]

Do you have any photos of the whole trees posted?

The holly will be worth working, the juniper needed long tray and the other is a candidate for carving a face with dremel.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I still can't understand how little rocks hold water but they do a better job keeping it at the top than the pine bark.

I believe akadama (clay) and similar materials (bark too), absorb and hold water. Also, pumice and other porous rocks might hold water in their pores. This is how you get both water and air to the roots.

 

[nuttiest]

I find it visually easier to see if it needs water too, and it goes straight down... not in, around a mud puck, or to a side drain, just down.
I thought I would be using more water but it is turning out to be less!

 

[nuttiest]

2023 update -
The juniper almost died recently so I put it in a long pot to heal. Part of the area I disliked is getting some character.
Holly - going to solve reverse taper by drilling hole and make it look like fused trunks at the top.
Stopper - The back of the trunk is not so bad if I lose the small root.