What are your bonsai goals for 2024?

[Deleted member 47471]

Nose above water - checked.
Oooo oo ooo I see a good tree.
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Time for a new pair of and a I reckon

 

[Cajunrider]

Time for a new pair of and a I reckon

I have half a dozen of new boots that I barely wear. My company buys me a new pair every year and I wear boots for at least 2 years before I get rid of them.
I haven't used a brief case for decades. I go everywhere from office to the swamp and even onto cruise ships with my trusty backpack.

 

[RobGA]

I have half a dozen of new boots that I barely wear. My company buys me a new pair every year and I wear boots for at least 2 years before I get rid of them.
I haven't used a brief case for decades. I go everywhere from office to the swamp and even onto cruise ships with my trusty backpack.

I thought that was a gator leather bag. Thinking the poster was saying you could gather trees and make your own bag.

 

[Carol 83]

I thought that was a gator leather bag. Thinking the poster was saying you could gather trees and make your own bag.

@Cajunrider probably could.

 

[Cajunrider]

@Cajunrider probably could.

I could but tanning leather is rough on me. Plus I can only make passable tool bag. No fancy leather purse or brief case possible from me.

 

[Lorax7]

Plant some trees in the ground on tiles to grow out trunks and develop nebari; repot some trees; air layer a few trees; get some root over rock/statue plantings started; get a forest planting started; maybe do some grafting; maybe do a first styling of my Ponderosa yamadori, if it shows a level of growth that indicates it’s well habituated to container growing and ready to rock ‘n roll; make a pilgrimage to Green Witch Gardens (a.k.a. The Flower Market); figure out how to get the garden hose unstuck from the spigot (I was unable to separate them this fall)

Accomplished:
- repot some trees
- start some forest plantings
- do some grafting
- start a root over rock

Still to do:
- start a root over statue
- start some air layers
- plant some trees in the ground on tiles
- pilgrimage to Green Witch Gardens
- get the garden hose unstuck from the spigot
- style the Ponderosa yamadori

 

[snowman04]

Did this one last weekend:

- pilgrimage to Green Witch Gardens

It is worth the journey. They had a pot sale last week and they have a nice collection of developed trees...

 

[Cajunrider]

With so many big milestones in life for next year, I just hope to keep my nostrils above water.

So much for that goal. It appears I dove in deeper. I now have more trees, some of which have great potential. I now have some ideas how I like to style my trees but still a very very long long way to go in this regard.

 

[Cajunrider]

I thought that was a gator leather bag. Thinking the poster was saying you could gather trees and make your own bag.

Oh I got that. I've gotten pretty good and gathering trees in the swamp. I also have gone as far as doing proper skinning and salting gator hide. Making gator leather is not hard but turning them into beautiful stuff is beyond my current skill level and I don't want another hobby.

Wait!
I already answered that post. Dang it! I am getting senile.

 

[Cajunrider]

Working on my life goal. My grandbaby brought this lima bean that he grew home from the daycare/nursery school. When asked about it, he said he was growing his big tree. BTW, he claimed Franco as his big tree.

 

[Owlman]

1. Get more native Pines in my collection
2. Get this springs Yamadori through the season
3. Get better at wiring

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

Buy more mature and better quality trees and Japanese quality pots.
I also want to expand my collection of books about bonsai pot because I want to get starting to study them.

 

[namnhi]

Working on my life goal. My grandbaby brought this lima bean that he grew home from the daycare/nursery school. When asked about it, he said he was growing his big tree. BTW, he claimed Franco as his big tree.
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Loved it! You got company once moved to PA. I know you will take it easy on him if he breaks a branch that you have been training for years.

 

[Grunge_Bonsai]

For me, it’s lime sulphur application on my lightning strike ERC, growing out my 3 year Japanese Black Pines (and acquiring more of them), and finding a place for my Alberta Spruce (rookie mistake getting this dwarf species).

Decandling mid-summer, pruning late summer. Potting up my white azalea cuttings in the Fall.

Beyond that, most of my work is DONE.

But I only have 12 trees. So that does make a difference.

The Eastern Red Cedar here is one I thought would not survive what I did to it. Now I am finding a path forward!

 

[MaciekA]

“Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.”

Welp, I just saw the long term outlook for anomalous heat for the lower 48 for this summer, and unfortunately looks like I jinxed it for everyone.

New additional 2024 goal: A couple backup watering wands.

 

[ShadyStump]

1: Build some proper benches for my trees.
Last one was pretty junkie and collapsed, and I need everything off the ground or else my dog eats it. Having that bench while it lasted also had a positive psychological effect on how I interacted with trees. I need that back if I'm ever going to treat them better than houseplants.

2: Establish an actual care routine.
For me and my trees. "Life gets in the way," has been an excuse for far too long. Time to stop being a passive secondary character in my own story.

3: Take The Leap
I've said elsewhere here, but I'm going to keep saying it until I can't forget it. In stead of a New Year's resolution I'm doing a general theme for the year, and that's it. Stop making so many excuses for NOT doing things I've always wanted to try, and find some excuses for doing them. That includes trees.
Feel free to rub my nose in this one whenever.

Since this has popped up again, I'm updating.

I've mentioned before that my father's health and mobility have been on a rather precipitous decline in recent years. He's made a point this spring of getting the family to work on catching up projects and repairs to his house and property, which is important to him because he anticipates that I'll inherit it sooner rather than later.
This has out all my bonsai goals into a new light.
Need to have trees worthy of the backyard garden he built over a period of 20 years before that happens. It's no show winner, but it is beautiful, and all my trees will live there with me; and I WILL NOT have shitty trees around insulting my father's gift.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Spend a bit more for good trees. Before 2 months ago, the most I had spent in 9 years was $20 on a tree. 2 months ago I spent $200 for two nice junipers. A month ago, I spent $200 for a REALLY nice mikawa hatsubusa maple. Money well spent. I'd rather spend it on my hobby that let some seldom-seen relatives spend it after I'm gone.