Prunus nipponica Brilliant

[Linn01]

Found this one at the discount corner and could not resist.
I am convinced it was whispering 'take me home, I do have a graft but if I am not useful as bonsai material I can still find a place somewhere in your garden'.

So my questions are:
- bonsai material?
- when to work on it?
- what steps to consider first?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Gosh, beauty is in the eye of the beholder when you are new to bonsai. At this stage one needs material to practice on imho, so it’s-a fine piece to do so.

We could quibble alot about it’s form, but you can learn to fix that.

Looks to me like it needs a bit of pruning in spring and potentially an air layer. Spend some time to think this out. Study the species, online in books and here and figure out where to start first. I’d select the basic shape, the cut to that idea, cut paste and move on.

Then study up on air layering and that will take care of the graft and get things down a bit lower.

Your next step would be to ensure your nebari is well formed.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[KikurageOtomo]

- bonsai material?
Realistically, given enough time and dedication almost any material with attributes suited for bonsai can be made into one. Some just have a much longer path laid out than others.
- when to work on it?
When the buds begin to break early spring is an appropriate time to repot or prune generally. Though If you aren't sure about the health of the plant or when it was last repotted I would wait at least until next fall (if not the following spring) to do the first repot.
- what steps to consider first?
As DSD suggested, some selective pruning to begin deciding on a silhouette for the tree before it starts to leaf out and obfuscate the profile would be a good idea. Air layering above the graft will set you back in nebari development but it's likely your only prospect of fixing the bulbous reverse taper and mismatched bark. Keep in mind drastic action such as this might be better left for a subsequent grow seasons if you're at all unsure about the fortitude of the tree at the time being.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Yep! …and that would be a two year plan