What I've learned over the years...

[fourteener]

I thought it might be fun and helpful for new and old to post some good advice we've all learned over the years. Maybe some horticultural advice, design advice...whatever has really helped you out. You don't have to give all your advice!!

Horticulture advice: Roots matter most. Healthy roots, healthy shoots.
You have to learn how to get foliage back toward the trunk, extension is the enemy of good trees.

Design advice: Your trunk is the basis for your tree. It has to be interesting for some reason. Twisted, thick, chunky bark, smooth/elegant, gentle curves, etc... Foliage is used to dress up the already cool trunk, not to hide it. If your trunk isn't interesting, your tree probably won't be either.

General Advice: Find your local nursery and get to know someone who knows plants really well. You will get pests and diseases, they will know what it is and how to fix it fast. Part of their business life is to deal with these issues in their nursery.

What other advice have you found helpful??

 

[lordy]

Here are a few things that helped me over the years:

1) Many trees dont love full sun all the time. Learn what the needs are for each kind of tree you have.

2) Improper watering frequency can kill your trees. Use the short chopstick jammed in the soil to gauge how much water is in the pot and dont water unless it is well on the way to being dry.

3) Be patient and realize this pastime is one of years of development, not a couple of months. You're in this for the long term.

 

[Dav4]

99% of the time, a bonsai will be initially styled from a much larger tree.

Similarly, you should strive to make the smallest tree out of the material you're working with.

Also, Terry hinted at this but I thought I'd repeat it in my own way: Identify the ONE truly special feature of your tree, then base the subsequent styling to highlight that one feature.

 

[Poink88]

- Observe and "listen" to your trees...they have a way to tell you when they are ready to be worked on. Work around their schedule, not yours.

- Use common sense...not because someone said it, makes it true. In the same token, listen to experienced folks more (but always with a grain of salt still). Be diligent.

- Some folks have been doing/using same things for ages, while it works, it may not be the best. While you can do worse trying something else...you may also do better.

- What is true for one person may not be true to you. What works for one tree specie may not work on another.

- Continue learning, have courage to experiment and try/do new things...even if it is uncomfortable doing.

- Know the proper traits a tree must have to make a good bonsai...your efforts will be better spent on good varieties.

- Local trees will make your bonsai experience much more pleasurable.

- Plants are meant to live outside. You can make them survive indoors but will require a lot of know how and effort.

- This hobby doesn't have to be expensive...though having the funds certainly help a lot.

- Use sharp tools, your trees will thank you for it (would you rather be operated on w/ a sharp scalpel or a dull cleaver?).

- Look at lots of high end bonsai...learn from them. Observe what makes them different or attractive. Observe proportions. The devil is in the details.

- I agree with 14er...concentrate on the trunk and nebari, the rest can be changed (relatively) faster. These two usually defines the future of the tree as a bonsai.

- Keep it fun.

 

[Vance Wood]

I thought it might be fun and helpful for new and old to post some good advice we've all learned over the years. Maybe some horticultural advice, design advice...whatever has really helped you out. You don't have to give all your advice!!

Horticulture advice: Roots matter most. Healthy roots, healthy shoots.
You have to learn how to get foliage back toward the trunk, extension is the enemy of good trees.

Design advice: Your trunk is the basis for your tree. It has to be interesting for some reason. Twisted, thick, chunky bark, smooth/elegant, gentle curves, etc... Foliage is used to dress up the already cool trunk, not to hide it. If your trunk isn't interesting, your tree probably won't be either.

General Advice: Find your local nursery and get to know someone who knows plants really well. You will get pests and diseases, they will know what it is and how to fix it fast. Part of their business life is to deal with these issues in their nursery.

What other advice have you found helpful??

Never play pool with someone whose first name is the same as a state.

Never play poker with someone whose first name is the same as a city.

Never pass up the opportunity to walk through a nursery even if all those who you admire would not be caught dead in a nursery.

Learn how to put together a decent soil mix that works for you. If what you have is not working find help.

Never borrow money from someone with a nick name in quotes inserted between his first and last name.

Look at the possibilities someone may suggest even if they seem ridiculous. I didn't say follow them though. That's why God gave you a brain to figure things out for your self.

Don't think of yourself as being above anyone else; you will soon find out how quickly life can put you in your place.

If you think you know it all, it's time to quite or it's time to start adding your knowledge to the litany of information we know as bonsai.

This is the point where those who can be said to poses genius fail and fade away. When they get to a point where their natural talent has led them with ease they get discouraged when things become difficult and no longer come easy.

What some people poses in talent others have to acquire through hard work. Those who acquire through hard work will eventually pass by those who explored the natural limits of their talent and never learned the lesson of working hard.

 

[Jester217300]

Theoretical knowledge and applied experience will always be different. Never stop learning.

 

[jaholmes]

As someone with only ~2 years of experience in the hobby and an appetite to learn, I find this very helpful. THANK YOU all!

 

[M. Frary]

Patience.
When first starting out don't buy exotic or material that's hard to work with. Get trees that are easy and work your way up to harder more complicated subjects.

 

[Nybonsai12]

-Join a club.
-Material grown for specifically for bonsai by respected sellers will likely save you time in the long run. Don't be afraid to spend.
- Remember that everybody kills trees.
-Don't be a dick.

 

[cmeg1]

Do not throw away all the mail order seedlings you order.Put in the ground.You can have some air layering fun in the future on a nice array of different varieties you have compiled.Or any stock you felt the need to purge.

 

[GrimLore]

When your Wife who has been doing Bonsai far longer then you plants pansies in the containers that have your largest(4 to 8 foot) trees do not get upset Just agree they look nice and "Gently" remind her those trees are going to be in Bonsai pots in a few years...

*sigh*

Grimmy

 

[Bonsai Nut]

One of my favorite horticultural sayings for planting trees:

The first year they sleep.
The second year they creep.
The third year they leap!

Patience is the first and most important skill to develop when practicing bonsai. Nothing good involving bonsai happens fast. Fast things are usually bad.

 

[ericN]

Don't complicate indoor growing. Simple set-up = Less problems.

Eric

 

[jeanluc83]

Get the best material you can afford.

Never stop learning.

 

[Paradox]

Patience

Sometimes trees just need to grow.
Dont be in too much of a rush to start cutting. You might regret it later.

 

[carobone]

Good thread. I learn to take periodic pictures of all my trees and review from time to time to see their progress or areas where you can improve on the next tree. Never stop learning. Be humble

 

[twisted trees]

I've learned to never ask about bonsai soil on BNut.

 

[coh]

I've learned to never ask about bonsai soil on BNut.

That's OK, there's always someone else to take on that role! About every 2 weeks, it seems.

One thing I've learned is to be careful about how you store your trees during the winter. Don't forget to water (lost two fairly large trees last winter due to letting them get too dry), and keep an eye out for rodents. If you've got a large rodent population, burying the trees outside under mulch may not be the best idea. Storing them indoors (garage, barn, whatever) off the floor has worked best for me. Traps, poison baits, and various deterrents (such as those ultrasonic plug in devices, and mothballs) are not 100% effective...I've seen mice walk right over those ultrasonic devices as if they didn't even exist.

 

[fviljoen963]

Get as much trees of as many different species as possible. Work them but not too much, know when to let them be.
Start with stock that is almost finished in the trunk building dep
Grow/dig/ layer your own stuff for the longer run, dont waste time when you dont need to.
Try do bonsai on the cheap (aquiring stock) until you can keep them alive/ and more experienced bonsai people also see good/great potential in what you found
this also helps save you alot of money for that better quality tool/ pre-bonsai

Try to get stuff with nice trunks/ or that are vlose to having nice trunks. You dont always have to waste time growing it- what you are looking for is out there. I guarantee it.

Become obsessive with aquiring knowledge, and experience. ASK otger bonsai people, and then do your own thing.

 

[Vin]

I've learned that on this site there are 7,367 correct opinions but in my house there is only one; my wife's