StoneArcher
Seedling
Greetings,
As the title suggests, I am new to bonsai. In fact, I have not done a thing yet; other than scour the internet on writings. I have read through the FAQ; despite the posts suggesting that no one would read them anyway... I did read through all the links in the FAQ (both of them) Wikipedia and the Evergreen Gardenworks one. Which I actually read both before finding this community.
I would like to say thanks to everyone who has posted here! I have read quite a lot of great advice.
Alright I am just going to pull the trigger: What I am looking for is: What is the fastest growing plant that I can hack on? I know... I know... Roll eyes here... Ok, I am not just grabbing bonsai because I think that it looks neat, or its easy or I am bored or something like that. I actually don't even plan on working on anything permanent for quite some time. I just want to get a bit of practice at pruning, training, etc.
A bit of a backlog: I grew up on a small tree farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I've always loved trees and nature. I have grown trees for speed, for quality, on plantation and natural growth. I am by no means an authority on any of it. Like I said; it was a small farm. I now live in an apartment in the Green Bay area, so space is limited. I have plenty of plants, my largest are Umbrella Plant (schefflera arboricola) ~5' high, two Kumquat trees ~ 3 - 4' high each. The rest are common house plants; spider plants, various others, etc..
I am thinking of bonsai with the Umbrella plant. Not yet though. I did however hack back all the main branches recently, only because it was getting lop-sided and growing out too far. In my reading I read that a common beginner plant is actually the Umbrella plant, so that's my reasoning for that specimen. I don't want to kill it though, since it is actually my daughter's tree (she also is a part of every decision in that tree.). I am trying to propagate most of the clippings for future use. The trunk is about 1.5 inches in diameter, if memory serves. I also read that I could have actually fully defoliated the tree, so I could cut the trunk to about two feet to promote thicker trunk. I fear that I pruned the tree much like a tree farmer would... I left a few branches off the main branches with leaves on them. Thinking that a branch has to have a leaf on it to survive. I did cut two branches to about four or five inches long leafless to see what would happen though.
The style of bonsai that I like the most are informal upright and formal upright. Forest style is probably my favorite scene. I actually bought the Kumquat trees because they looked like mini full grown trees.
I was thinking about a lilac or a tag alder or some other fast growing native species that is not necessarily a tree, but a woody bush. Just to learn some technique or unlearn any tree pruning from my past. I want to plant a maple or crab apple or something for now, knowing that it will take a few years to even be ready to see any clippers. But in the meantime cut my teeth on something somewhat sacrificial. Knowing full well that the quick grower will never hold its salt in the bonsai world; but will provide me some tactical feedback to branch selection, pinching, wiring, root work, etc..
Ok, I probably wrote enough. I sincerely hope that I did not offend anyone or the art of bonsai when asking what a quick grower would be. Please know full well that I am taking my time, and i know full well that this is a lifelong journey. I make wine, so I am familiar with the "no immediate gratification" style of hobby.
Thank you.
As the title suggests, I am new to bonsai. In fact, I have not done a thing yet; other than scour the internet on writings. I have read through the FAQ; despite the posts suggesting that no one would read them anyway... I did read through all the links in the FAQ (both of them) Wikipedia and the Evergreen Gardenworks one. Which I actually read both before finding this community.
I would like to say thanks to everyone who has posted here! I have read quite a lot of great advice.
Alright I am just going to pull the trigger: What I am looking for is: What is the fastest growing plant that I can hack on? I know... I know... Roll eyes here... Ok, I am not just grabbing bonsai because I think that it looks neat, or its easy or I am bored or something like that. I actually don't even plan on working on anything permanent for quite some time. I just want to get a bit of practice at pruning, training, etc.
A bit of a backlog: I grew up on a small tree farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I've always loved trees and nature. I have grown trees for speed, for quality, on plantation and natural growth. I am by no means an authority on any of it. Like I said; it was a small farm. I now live in an apartment in the Green Bay area, so space is limited. I have plenty of plants, my largest are Umbrella Plant (schefflera arboricola) ~5' high, two Kumquat trees ~ 3 - 4' high each. The rest are common house plants; spider plants, various others, etc..
I am thinking of bonsai with the Umbrella plant. Not yet though. I did however hack back all the main branches recently, only because it was getting lop-sided and growing out too far. In my reading I read that a common beginner plant is actually the Umbrella plant, so that's my reasoning for that specimen. I don't want to kill it though, since it is actually my daughter's tree (she also is a part of every decision in that tree.). I am trying to propagate most of the clippings for future use. The trunk is about 1.5 inches in diameter, if memory serves. I also read that I could have actually fully defoliated the tree, so I could cut the trunk to about two feet to promote thicker trunk. I fear that I pruned the tree much like a tree farmer would... I left a few branches off the main branches with leaves on them. Thinking that a branch has to have a leaf on it to survive. I did cut two branches to about four or five inches long leafless to see what would happen though.
The style of bonsai that I like the most are informal upright and formal upright. Forest style is probably my favorite scene. I actually bought the Kumquat trees because they looked like mini full grown trees.
I was thinking about a lilac or a tag alder or some other fast growing native species that is not necessarily a tree, but a woody bush. Just to learn some technique or unlearn any tree pruning from my past. I want to plant a maple or crab apple or something for now, knowing that it will take a few years to even be ready to see any clippers. But in the meantime cut my teeth on something somewhat sacrificial. Knowing full well that the quick grower will never hold its salt in the bonsai world; but will provide me some tactical feedback to branch selection, pinching, wiring, root work, etc..
Ok, I probably wrote enough. I sincerely hope that I did not offend anyone or the art of bonsai when asking what a quick grower would be. Please know full well that I am taking my time, and i know full well that this is a lifelong journey. I make wine, so I am familiar with the "no immediate gratification" style of hobby.
Thank you.