Went to home depot today and bought a alberta spruce. It cost about $9. I began to prune and thin it out a bit but not sure where to go from here. I figured it would be a good chance to practice some pruning and wiring techniques and I won't be too upset if I end up killing it or it looks terrible, but you have to start somewhere. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Repot, styling, wiring, fertilizing... anything! Thanks!
Eric Group
Masterpiece
Wire the branches down, and leave the wire on for about 38 years... These guys do not respond well to training typically.
Yes that is was I have read. Appreciate the advice. Real helpful. Just started getting into this about a couple weeks ago so im not expecting to have a masterpiece overnight.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Mr. Neggy!
You're not supposed to wire them in summer I've read....
Wait till fall.
Sorce
If you want to learn about wiring, a good place to start is Colin Lewis's tutorial on Www.craftsy.com.
It's free, but you do have to register. Once in, search for "bonsai".
It's free, but you do have to register. Once in, search for "bonsai".
Eric Group
Masterpiece
Your snarkiness is not lost on me. My light hearted dismissive joshing IS real helpful if you take it the right way. You DO need to wire the branches down on a tree like this and DAS are NOT particularly great material especially for beginners. You will learn more working with a tree like "Procumbens Nana" Juniper- which should be cheap and plentiful and may actually produce a very nice Bonsai realistically quick.
Check out a few deciduous species as well. Crape Myrtle is another good one that is easy to find and relatively cheap that makes a nice Bonsai.
I don't want to tell you that it is wasting your time to work on a tree like this or the Juniper you posted, but they are not easy trees to make a good tree out of... "Masterpiece" or no, we al, want to make something that looks nice and looks like a Bonsai, right? So go for the trees that will get there for you... The crafty demo Adair mentioned is pretty good, you can find lots of good stuff on blogs for free as well.
@Brian Van Fleet @johng @William N. Valavanis have very good blogs with different info in each. Also look up Bonsai tonight, Bonsai Eijit and bonsai bark... If you want to look at some really nice trees with great progressions, go check out @Walter Pall his website is extensive and he has great photos! All that should get you well on your way to understanding what bonsai is about and what a nice tree looks like... When you are ready to get deeper, go check out bonsai art of Japan videos on YouTube. By the time you finish all that, you will be ready to teach your own demos!
If you a re truly interested in getting into this, please don't waste years on inferior material like I did. It is fine to practice for a while on stuff you get cheap, but I recommend getting a few decent trees and get ones that are pretty easy to work on, as you develop you can get better stuff.
Good luck buddy! I hope we see you around here and you show us some progressions as you develop!
Check out what I worked on tonight. After a little more research I decided to spend a few extra bucks for a decent tree.Your snarkiness is not lost on me. My light hearted dismissive joshing IS real helpful if you take it the right way. You DO need to wire the branches down on a tree like this and DAS are NOT particularly great material especially for beginners. You will learn more working with a tree like "Procumbens Nana" Juniper- which should be cheap and plentiful and may actually produce a very nice Bonsai realistically quick.
Check out a few deciduous species as well. Crape Myrtle is another good one that is easy to find and relatively cheap that makes a nice Bonsai.
I don't want to tell you that it is wasting your time to work on a tree like this or the Juniper you posted, but they are not easy trees to make a good tree out of... "Masterpiece" or no, we al, want to make something that looks nice and looks like a Bonsai, right? So go for the trees that will get there for you... The crafty demo Adair mentioned is pretty good, you can find lots of good stuff on blogs for free as well.
@Brian Van Fleet @johng @William N. Valavanis have very good blogs with different info in each. Also look up Bonsai tonight, Bonsai Eijit and bonsai bark... If you want to look at some really nice trees with great progressions, go check out @Walter Pall his website is extensive and he has great photos! All that should get you well on your way to understanding what bonsai is about and what a nice tree looks like... When you are ready to get deeper, go check out bonsai art of Japan videos on YouTube. By the time you finish all that, you will be ready to teach your own demos!
If you a re truly interested in getting into this, please don't waste years on inferior material like I did. It is fine to practice for a while on stuff you get cheap, but I recommend getting a few decent trees and get ones that are pretty easy to work on, as you develop you can get better stuff.
Good luck buddy! I hope we see you around here and you show us some progressions as you develop!
I went to an actual nursury this time and I picked out what I thought had potential to be a nice juniper. It took every bit of patience not to just go to town on this before getting some feedback lol
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sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I was joshing Eric for being Mr. Neggy.
That info is dead on.
You got this new one to a good place for now....
Do a lot of staring at it...
With thoughts of taking that arch out.
Just don't do anything till you read all that stuff Eric posted of!
Good stuff !
That, and this tree!
Sorce
That info is dead on.
You got this new one to a good place for now....
Do a lot of staring at it...
With thoughts of taking that arch out.
Just don't do anything till you read all that stuff Eric posted of!
Good stuff !
That, and this tree!
Sorce
