Hi all!
I've been fascinated by Bonsai for a long time and finally feel like it's time to "put up or shut up" and start a couple of my own trees this spring. A piece of advice I've seen more than once has been to find other people to learn from, and since there doesn't seem to be a society in my area (Western MT) I thought I should register here.
I'm mostly interested in outdoor conifers that are native to the region, so I want to try a rocky mountain juniper and ponderosa pine - I'm aware of the legginess issue with pondies but I like them too much not to try. Maybe also varieties of white or whitebark pine and Western Redcedar. Also maybe sagebrush if that's a thing.
I'm in a 5b climate zone here. What should I expect? What are your thoughts on my tree selection? What are the advantages of finding wild specimens to harvest or working with nursery stock? How much can i expect to spend on this hobby on the first year, assuming I start with 2-4 trees? What questions do I not even know to be asking right now?
I've been fascinated by Bonsai for a long time and finally feel like it's time to "put up or shut up" and start a couple of my own trees this spring. A piece of advice I've seen more than once has been to find other people to learn from, and since there doesn't seem to be a society in my area (Western MT) I thought I should register here.
I'm mostly interested in outdoor conifers that are native to the region, so I want to try a rocky mountain juniper and ponderosa pine - I'm aware of the legginess issue with pondies but I like them too much not to try. Maybe also varieties of white or whitebark pine and Western Redcedar. Also maybe sagebrush if that's a thing.
I'm in a 5b climate zone here. What should I expect? What are your thoughts on my tree selection? What are the advantages of finding wild specimens to harvest or working with nursery stock? How much can i expect to spend on this hobby on the first year, assuming I start with 2-4 trees? What questions do I not even know to be asking right now?