New to Bonsai and I have a few questions I need clarified.

[rockm]

Well I have really vigorous holly tree in my front yard and I kind of like the look of holly. So I thought that would be nice to try and bonsai. I also really like the look of boxwood, I found a really nice wild boxwood I wanted to collect I think it may be a couple of years old it. What are your thoughts on boxwood?

Boxwood is an excellent bonsai subject. However, it doesn't grow "wild" in the U.S. It is native to Europe. You may have discovered a landscaping plant.

I would warn again against using collected material now. You're tripling your learning curve, as just getting collected stock not to die requires a learning curve too. Collected trees have issues that need attention from the moment you start cutting their roots to get them out. You will likely lose the first five or six you dig up. Just the way it goes. Working with already-containerized trees is a much more efficient (and less labor intensive) way to learn....

 

[BigBen]

Welcome aboard Jered, enjoy your stay.
There are some fantastic folks here, and they're always ready to help.
I learn several new goodies each and every day, while perusing these forums.

Best of luck!

 

[ajm55555]

Nigel Saunders is Happy as shit!

Enjoying his trees.

They live.

And he does shit people say can't be done.

People first.

Bonsai as they wish.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

I completely agree Sorce! I like Nigel. As long as someone has healthy trees, if you like his style and what he says, keep watching him for inspiration!

 

[twisted trees]

Well I have really vigorous holly tree in my front yard and I kind of like the look of holly. So I thought that would be nice to try and bonsai. I also really like the look of boxwood, I found a really nice wild boxwood I wanted to collect I think it may be a couple of years old it. What are your thoughts on boxwood?

Ok, it's an uncommon species for bonsai. Boxwood are easy because of its small compact foliage but slow growing.

You might do best with nursery stock pre_bonsai for the more immediate satisfaction and higher quality material.

 

[Jered]

Boxwood is an excellent bonsai subject. However, it doesn't grow "wild" in the U.S. It is native to Europe. You may have discovered a landscaping plant.

I would warn again against using collected material now. You're tripling your learning curve, as just getting collected stock not to die requires a learning curve too. Collected trees have issues that need attention from the moment you start cutting their roots to get them out. You will likely lose the first five or six you dig up. Just the way it goes. Working with already-containerized trees is a much more efficient (and less labor intensive) way to learn....

ok cool I did not know that it was difficult to pot "wild" plants. I guess I will try to get some nursery stock. Is there a good place to order it online? Since it is fall I couldn't really find anything in stock around here in Georgia

 

[rockm]

ok cool I did not know that it was difficult to pot "wild" plants. I guess I will try to get some nursery stock. Is there a good place to order it online? Since it is fall I couldn't really find anything in stock around here in Georgia

There are a number of places online, some are awful, some are terrific. Best place to look, however, is your local nursery. You could probably find decent stuff at Plant City if you go there for Adair's demo...

This is probably the worst time to look for stock and to make bonsai from it. Bonsai, at least most decent bonsai in the Northern Hemisphere, are made from temperate climate trees. Those trees are currently entering dormancy. Severe root reduction and pruning now can kill them as we head into winter.

If you order temperate zone trees online, you are going to have to put it outside for the winter and pretty much leave it alone until spring.

 

[M. Frary]

Sorry for all the questions at once I just really want to start off right.

That's quite alright.
I'm with Rock. He's spot on,on every count.
Before I made a move I would take Adair up on his offer. Corner him and pick his brain. He knows.
I collect trees from the wild as do a few other people here. To me it isnt a large undertaking but I learned proper digging working at a tree farm/nursery for a few years. Ive dug hundreds. My success rate isn't 100%. Never will be.
The thing about collecting trees for bonsai is there is a period of just aftercare. From a year to three depending on species and the amount of roots that remain on the tree after collection.
So if you collect a tree you want a great trunk that makes it worth the effort and wait. I go by hundreds of trees when out scouting for collectible stumps until I find the right one. Also notice I don't use the term yamadori. I collect stumps. Yamadori is a term for something else entirely. Trees that have been growing in harsh conditions where the whole thing is used. I cut 90 % of the trees I collect off and regrow from there.
Growing from seed or cuttings is great but you are waiting for the tree to grow so you can cut it down and then start reviewing it so you can cut it down again.
Regular nursery stock,stock from a bonsai nursery are the best places for beginners to begin. It's already acclimated to container growing. And will have ample roots to work with.
You need to figure out what will work in your area. Stick with trees that can grow in your zone. Then think about trees you admire and make choices from there.
Elms are a great tree to start with. Junipers are another.
Both are pretty tough. Both can take abuse. Both make for wonderful bonsai.
I would like to add. Pines are popular. You'll see a lot here and on the internet. They aren't as easy to do as some are. I don't think they're for beginners.

 

[twisted trees]

ok cool I did not know that it was difficult to pot "wild" plants. I guess I will try to get some nursery stock. Is there a good place to order it online? Since it is fall I couldn't really find anything in stock around here in Georgia

Brussels is the largest bonsai distributor in the country, located in Tennessee.

Keep an eye on eBay as well.

 

[Adair M]

Brussels is the largest bonsai distributor in the country, located in Tennessee.

Keep an eye on eBay as well.

Plant City Bonsai in Clermont specializes in prebonsai. Where in Ga do you live?

Edit: sorry, Allen, I know you live in New York. My reply was meant for @Jered.

Actually, Brussels is in Mississippi. In Olive Branch. But it’s real close to Memphis, which is in Tennessee. I swear it’s the most humid place on earth! Lol!!!

 

[Jered]

Plant City Bonsai in Clermont specializes in prebonsai. Where in Ga do you live?

Edit: sorry, Allen, I know you live in New York. My reply was meant for @Jered.

Actually, Brussels is in Mississippi. In Olive Branch. But it’s real close to Memphis, which is in Tennessee. I swear it’s the most humid place on earth! Lol!!!

Hey Adair, I saw your posts about the demo, I really wish I could make it but I have plans this weekend. I am actually in Covington, GA which is about 35 minutes south east of Atlanta. Could I just google bonsai workshops for upcoming events? Yes Mississippi is about as humid as a southwest asian jungle lol. BTW thank you for the invite to the workshop, I wish I could have made it.

I will have to look into Plant City, I know the Monastery of the Holy Sprit in Conyers which is about 15 minutes away from me has a bonsai nursery, have you ever checked them out before?I haven't been there in years and thought about checking them out in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Carol 83]

I swear it’s the most humid place on earth

Ever been to Southern IL in July?

 

[Adair M]

Hey Adair, I saw your posts about the demo, I really wish I could make it but I have plans this weekend. I am actually in Covington, GA which is about 35 minutes south east of Atlanta. Could I just google bonsai workshops for upcoming events? Yes Mississippi is about as humid as a southwest asian jungle lol. BTW thank you for the invite to the workshop, I wish I could have made it.

I will have to look into Plant City, I know the Monastery of the Holy Sprit in Conyers which is about 15 minutes away from me has a bonsai nursery, have you ever checked them out before?I haven't been there in years and thought about checking them out in the next couple of weeks.

Oh yes, I’ve been there. Not in several years, however. Rodney Clemons helps them with their bonsai. Since I haven’t been there recently, I don’t know what they have available.

You can go to www.plantcitybonsai.com to see their upcoming events. And get on their email list. I teach 3 or 4 classes a year. And I’m trying to have Tyler Sherrard become a regular teacher there, too. Tyler is a former apprentice to Shinji Suzuki in Japan, and worked on one of Shinji’s client’s trees that won the Kokofu-ten Prize in Japan!

You asked about boxwood. The Monastary is where the Kingsville boxwood as bonsai started. It grows extremely slowly, has tiny leaves, and has decent bark. They bore me to death. You style them once, and you don’t have to touch it again for a decade! Lol!!

 

[rockm]

"The Monastary is where the Kingsville boxwood as bonsai started."

Technically not completely true--Maryland and the National Arboretum played a huge role in Kingsville boxwood bonsai. ;-) Kingsville nursery in Kingsville Md is where the cultivar was originally found and propagated from in the early 1900s.

Arb Dir. John Creech and Yuji Yushimura made one of those original cultivar plants into one of the first U.S. made bonsai at the arb. in 1973--predating the Japanese bicentennial gift trees.
https://capitalbonsai.wordpress.com/tag/yuji-yoshimura/

 

[Jered]

Oh yes, I’ve been there. Not in several years, however. Rodney Clemons helps them with their bonsai. Since I haven’t been there recently, I don’t know what they have available.

You can go to www.plantcitybonsai.com to see their upcoming events. And get on their email list. I teach 3 or 4 classes a year. And I’m trying to have Tyler Sherrard become a regular teacher there, too. Tyler is a former apprentice to Shinji Suzuki in Japan, and worked on one of Shinji’s client’s trees that won the Kokofu-ten Prize in Japan!

You asked about boxwood. The Monastary is where the Kingsville boxwood as bonsai started. It grows extremely slowly, has tiny leaves, and has decent bark. They bore me to death. You style them once, and you don’t have to touch it again for a decade! Lol!!

WOW! That is some slow growth lol. I will definitely have to check some of the events out I recently found a place called evergreen nursery which is about 20 miles from my house, I saw that they have good prices on pre-bonsai junipers around the 5-15 dollar mark. Have you ever heard of them? Evergreenplantnursery.com

 

[Adair M]

"The Monastary is where the Kingsville boxwood as bonsai started."

Technically not completely true--Maryland and the National Arboretum played a huge role in Kingsville boxwood bonsai. ;-) Kingsville nursery in Kingsville Md is where the cultivar was originally found and propagated from in the early 1900s.

Arb Dir. John Creech and Yuji Yushimura made one of those original cultivar plants into one of the first U.S. made bonsai at the arb. in 1973--predating the Japanese bicentennial gift trees.
https://capitalbonsai.wordpress.com/tag/yuji-yoshimura/

Interesting...

Father Paul at the Monastery was already famous for his Kingsville bonsai when I first visited the Monastary in 1970 and 71. He had one that he took cuttings from that he had owned for at least 20 years.

 

[Adair M]

WOW! That is some slow growth lol. I will definitely have to check some of the events out I recently found a place called evergreen nursery which is about 20 miles from my house, I saw that they have good prices on pre-bonsai junipers around the 5-15 dollar mark. Have you ever heard of them? Evergreenplantnursery.com

I looked at the nursery link. It appears they have very young trees. Generally speaking, the fastest way to create bonsai is not by taking young trees and growing them out, it’s taking older trees with an interesting trunk and cutting it back. Then grow new branches.

 

[rockm]

Interesting...

Father Paul at the Monastery was already famous for his Kingsville bonsai when I first visited the Monastary in 1970 and 71. He had one that he took cuttings from that he had owned for at least 20 years.

then he got his plants from someone up here if they are true Kingsville-and apparently "Kingsville" is being misused as the plant's name. From several posts online (such as the one linked below from the Bonsai Study Group)--I understand the name of this cultivar is officially "B. microphylla 'Compacta'" The original cultivar was discovered on a Korean boxwood in 1912 by William Appleby who lived near Baltimore MD. Apparently, he propagated it until he died in 1923. Henry Hohman bought ten of those plants (Father Paul may have also if his age matches up) and began propagating them in Kingsville. MD for the nursery trade in 1937 (which is more likely where the Monestery got them, I'd bet) . First bonsai made from it was in the early 1960's. The cultivar was also planned for use in a new garden at the White House the year Kennedy was shot, since Hohman supplied some plants for the Rose Garden and East Garden there
/
http://torontobonsai.org/archive/Journal/Journal.2004/mar.2004/kingsville.boxwood.htm
https://books.google.com/books?id=X...v=onepage&q=Hohman Kingsville boxwood&f=false

 

[twisted trees]

Hey Adair, I saw your posts about the demo, I really wish I could make it but I have plans this weekend. I am actually in Covington, GA which is about 35 minutes south east of Atlanta. Could I just google bonsai workshops for upcoming events? Yes Mississippi is about as humid as a southwest asian jungle lol. BTW thank you for the invite to the workshop, I wish I could have made it.

I will have to look into Plant City, I know the Monastery of the Holy Sprit in Conyers which is about 15 minutes away from me has a bonsai nursery, have you ever checked them out before?I haven't been there in years and thought about checking them out in the next couple of weeks.

Wherever you go, haggle over prices. It's fun.

 

[Adair M]

then he got his plants from someone up here if they are true Kingsville-and apparently "Kingsville" is being misused as the plant's name. From several posts online (such as the one linked below from the Bonsai Study Group)--I understand the name of this cultivar is officially "B. microphylla 'Compacta'" The original cultivar was discovered on a Korean boxwood in 1912 by William Appleby who lived near Baltimore MD. Apparently, he propagated it until he died in 1923. Henry Hohman bought ten of those plants (Father Paul may have also if his age matches up) and began propagating them in Kingsville. MD for the nursery trade in 1937 (which is more likely where the Monestery got them, I'd bet) . First bonsai made from it was in the early 1960's. The cultivar was also planned for use in a new garden at the White House the year Kennedy was shot, since Hohman supplied some plants for the Rose Garden and East Garden there
/
http://torontobonsai.org/archive/Journal/Journal.2004/mar.2004/kingsville.boxwood.htm
https://books.google.com/books?id=Xf3WCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216&lpg=PA216&dq=Hohman+Kingsville+boxwood&source=bl&ots=-kJHlc_Au9&sig=fO6LxjUK2iQI7S8k7Vp3glQfO3o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjti-qS1cPXAhUJ0iYKHYqqDCE4ChDoAQglMAA#v=onepage&q=Hohman Kingsville boxwood&f=false

Yes, he did say he got his from up north. He wasn’t a native of Georgia. So, his source was the same as you are talking about. I don’t know how old he was, but he seemed old to me back in the early 70’s. (I was 16 or 17 when I met him, so any adult seemed old to me!). But he did tell me he had started making bonsai out of Kingsville boxwood at least 20 years prior, and there was a mother tree, all the others were taken as cuttings from that one bush, and since they grew so slowly, there was a very limited number of them.

I’m sure Rodney can give us a more accurate history.

 

[GailC]

I'm relatively new to bonsai, just starting in the spring of last year. I like to hit the nurseries in the spring as soon as they are open and ask about their unsellable or winter damaged trees. Sometime I get stuff for free, often its garbage but I have a ugly lumpy, apple stump that I just love that was free.