How about we bonsai, why not?

Man that's a brilliant.

 

Here's a great little vid showing some superb examples of Bonsai. Check the age of some of those trees!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mKdPZXzLXI#t=296[/ame]

 

Been experimenting with terrariums.

I really should have used activated charcoal and sterilised soil though (fungus gnat larvae).

10 points to huffle puff if you can spot my smallest tamarind seedling.

 

Awesome! I wouldn't worry about the gnat larvae, they just kind of come around and then eventually disappear. I got into terrarium keeping for a while too, with poison frogs.



…everything died after three months… Gonna try again soon!

 

I try to not inundate the board with bonsai images, but I can't help it, things have been going really well. I've learned a ton this past year and I set up both a workshop and garden.



Things have been blooming for me



Changed some ficus:





Learned how to do heavy bends:





Grafts all over the place:





Got some new yamadori:



Really figured out how to grow pine roots (THAT'S ONE YEAR OF GROWTH!):



And a full bench shot:





Well, sort of, together you can see them.

 

Impressive.

I'm under orders from my wife "no more trees until the garden is finished".

 

Haha, my fiancée is really tolerant. I had two students come and do some work for me on Friday, but it meant that I put two ten hour plus days into the garden this weekend. I'm still in the whirlwind flurry of Spring - a little less than seven big repots to go. Then we get to the defoliating and the wiring and the pruning and egads. :[

 

Beautiful collection you have there, philosoraptor.

 

Hey thanks man. Every day is something different. Bonsai professionals have started complimenting me on my trees on Facebook, makes me feel pretty happy

http://imgur.com/a/Ye5xp

This is what I'm working on today. San Jose junipers grow interesting, mimic yamadori (wilderness grown) shimpaku junipers with gnarly live veins and twisting deadwood. The foliage is ugly, but you can graft them with shimpaku. In fact I prefer it because the San Jose foliage has given me a horrific, recurring rash on my forearms. I really love the color of kishu foliage, a variety of shimpaku, but none of the grafts I made this year took. Oh well. Next year I will use an approach graft, a much more secure, successful graft that takes longer to accomplish. Oh well. Patience is the name of the game. Depending upon the orientation of the trunk, this tree could take several dozen positions. The tree will be a very traditional, Japanese tree, due to the youth of the deadwood and strength of the roots. :]

 

*me anticipates bonzai cat pictures*

 

Ah! Just the person I'm looking for!

I'd like your input/advice on what to look for when purchasing a Bonsai tree when you have the time, of course.

My youngest daughter has a green thumb and one of her very favorite plants is a Bonsai; her Birthday is coming up in October and that is one thing she has asked for. I've purchased her 4 over the last two years but they seem to die within 3 to 6 months (give or take) of owning them. She cares for it exactly the way the directions say so I can't say that she's neglecting them, yet, they still continue to wilt and die. It has crossed my mind that I could potentially be buying them at the wrong type of store? (Similar to Home Depot) - is that possible???

 

No worries, I love jabbering about bonsai! First off, where do you live? The sorts of bonsai that are going to do well will be tied to your location. In general purchasing them from box stores like Home Depot is not going to be your best bet. Usually these will be poorly rooted cuttings that would need to grow in the ground for years before they become something you can work with. They're also generally in horrific soil that doesn't allow the roots to breathe.

What can be more fun is finding a little five gallon juniper and butchering it until it starts to look like a bonsai :3

These are not mine:





or



and



What I'd recommend is getting her a nice big juniper (maybe a ficus and a trident maple too!) like this, then take her to a bonsai nursery or bonsai club meeting and have her take a lesson with someone. Until you get a bit deeper into it, it can be hard to see the tree in the bush.

 

I was in Ikea the other day...they sell bonsai there...why are you messing around with this when you can just buy one from Ikea along with some nice napkins and some cheap shelving?

 

Although to be fair I've seen some talented artists take those trees to decent places.



Don't expect to be able to do it outside of Florida though.

 

So what type of bonsai would you sell to somebody in Florida so that you can buy a MAP membership?


(xD)

 

I've got a little ficus I'm going to send you, it was a branch from this tree:

 

The picture isn't showing -_-

 

Disregard, the picture is showing now xD

 

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it

I can see why people love these types of trees, they're so delicate looking and can imagine that it would be a therapeutic and relaxing hobby for the creative/artistic type individuals.

Going by the size and shape of the leaves, it looks like the last Bonsai tree she had was a ficus.

I did some research just now (which I should have done 2 years ago) and found a lovely Bonsai Nursery (we currently live in the UK), a few hours away from our house that I could take her to so she could pick a juniper, trident maple or another ficus out for herself.

Incase you're interested in having a look at the nursery, here's the link to their website:

Shop categories http://www.herons.co.uk/MobileSubCat.php?MainCatID=232

 

My jaw is dropping, herons looks fantastic!

I'm pretty bummed that we have such intense importation laws in the United States, it makes it completely impossible to get nice Japanese imports like those, but, on the flip side, it's making Americans look at their own yamadori (wild) trees a lot closer.

edit: EEEP looked at the prices, they're pretty steep.