Newbie needing insight into Bonsai

[Michael P]

You've gotten very good advice! Two things I'd like to repeat:

1. There is a lot of seasonal downtime with bonsai, so it is easy to take a break several times a year.
2. Silentrunning's comment about starting with species that can be grown in the landscape in your area is very good advice. Not only will these species be easier to care for, but you really can plant them in the ground, either as permanent landscape trees, or to develop for a few years before you put them back in a pot for training.

Many of us with busy lives and other interests go through periods when we can't give every tree a high level of styling. But as long as you keep that tree alive and healthy, you can come back to it later with fresh eyes and perhaps see some potential that you didn't see before.

 

[stevek]

a lot of times in life busy sneaks around the corner and slaps us silly weather we want it or not but if you want to stay busy and by that means interested which I take from your intro....you make yourself busy in bonsai. join that club you talked about, don't sit, immerse yourself in it, functions, classes, workshops, pick a mentor you get the most out of. then there's a lot of bonsai nurseries around you, you're single, take some trips, see, learn, get excited, you don't have to buy everything or anything. just to suggest in tenn. is bjorn bjorham opening up in sept. make the trip....busy interested. life is about the journey of exploration of the senses. and no I don't go for all that syco , feely good stuff, just real life. I got into bonsai for the little trees, not all the Asian lifestyle, seedling growing, I barely know the common names of my trees let alone the botanical, just let me make a little tree from something to enjoy the journey and view when i'm done, im to old for the other stuff. and I've been interested since 1987. sk .

 

[Potawatomi13]

Willing to learn/be patient and humble?

 

[Fonz]

And be prepared to read "bonsai means tree in pot" a lot... Like in every bonsai book you open

 

[grouper52]

Wow! Such a response! (I feel so embraced!)

Sorry, man. I'm a board certified Shrink, but I'm retired now and can't help you out. Besides, the prognosis is poor for this sort of thing: Odds are you'll soon tire of this hobby/interest/search-for-meaning/etc, just as you have with all the others before, and as you will with all the others after. Sorry you caught me on an evening when I'm not interested in sugar coating reality, but there it is.

 

[M. Frary]

reality

Is not all its cracked up to be.

 

[Lonefrog]

@grouper52
I'm very ok with who I am. I will not have any need of your services doctor. Enjoy your retirement.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Bonsai is a commitment. I tell people it's like taking care of a sick puppy..................forever. You have to be willing and able to spend the time...............especially watering. Years of labor can be cancelled by one day missed watering. It's not like potted plants that kind of wilt after a couple of days without watering. Normally, if a bonsai wilts, it's probably just about gone. Actually, keeping them alive is the biggest hurdle.

 

[Lonefrog]

@Joe Dupre'
That is a sobering thought indeed but encouraging in another way to me. I was concerned that bonsai as a whole might provide too little activity for my energy level but I am fast coming to realize that this is far from true.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Lonefrog, if you are really high energy, buy about 50 trees. THAT will keep you busy. Ha! For me, about 35 - 40 trees in different stages of developement is about right. Some need regular trimming, some need styling or wiring. They all need fertilizer every couple of weeks or so. I usually go out and check the trees 2-3 times a day. I pull the tiny weeds before they really take hold. I'll look for bugs. There's always a wayward branch that was missed that needs trimming. I tidy up the soil surface and maybe add some moss here and there. Plenty enough to keep me busy.

 

[Michael P]

Sorry, man. I'm a board certified Shrink, but I'm retired now and can't help you out. Besides, the prognosis is poor for this sort of thing: Odds are you'll soon tire of this hobby/interest/search-for-meaning/etc, just as you have with all the others before, and as you will with all the others after. Sorry you caught me on an evening when I'm not interested in sugar coating reality, but there it is.

So what if you lose interest? Give the trees away or sell them, and go on to something else. But you will never know unless you try.

For a practical tip on keeping trees alive, grow them in somewhat bigger pots than the bonsai canons dictate. I have to do this because my climate is extreme and highly variable. The trees will be more resilient. If I had my trees in very small/aesthetically correct pots, they would all be dead before noon on a typical August day. because I can't water them three times every day.

 

[j evans]

Just don't invest so much that you take the fun out of it. You as all of us have, will have trees die. It happens. Good luck.