Bonsai -- Show and Tell

[incognito]

Any recommendations for what brand cat litter I could use as a growing

Medium??

[Change]

You can buy bonsai mixes

I like to mix a little compost - Sand - Pebbles - Verm threw the bonsai mix to make it more interesting.

[incognito]

I really wanna use kitty litter it's what all the pros use from what I read only problem is they are all u.k brands, need to know a good Aussie clay based brand.

How do u think a kigelia pinnata (sausage tree) would go in bonsai? Are bonsai pots as expensive as they appear on eBay ? Where is a good Aussie based bonsai online store ??

[2meke]

i think that straight kitty litter might dry out too fast in aus man. try it on something but i wouldn't go re-potting all your trees in it.

i read on a loph blog that some kitty litters are good in their mix too. i'm trying one that is made from zeolite. it seems quite good. similar in apearence to lime. i've read that it holds heaps of water and nutes.

heres some ligustrum ovalifolium / hedge privet i rescued from the council over winter. these things are perfect for bonsai. they're extremely hardy and vigorous and you can reduce the leaf size a shit load

i find the 2nd one pretty ugly at this stage but will see how it looks with a few branches and some carving.

Edited December 14, 2012 by 2meke

[qualia]

i remember reading in a bonsai book many moons ago that bashing the trunk with a hammer can bruise it and cause the trunk to thicken better. seems particularly cruel to me but any thoughts? or is this an old wives tale?

[Stillman]

Again not real Bonsai but I love them, and havae a shit tonne I intend to keep in small pots.

A crisum x A obesum. Didin't punch the colour in these photos either, they are a really sharp when they first open and slowly fade over a couple days.

and give it another year and it will have a pretty cool shape its probably only 20cm tall at present.

[myco]

[bogfrog]

Today i gave all of our bonsai a good soak and cleaned any dirt off their pots that had built up over time.

To my dismay, i have managed to somehow misplace my favourite bonsai :(/>

The last place i saw it was at my front door and i have a sneaking suspicion that a devious passer-by has nabbed it!

Have had some really good growth lately, lots of tipping has kept them in tidy shape and they seem well adjusted to my lazy watering schedule.

I have been potting up natives that have self sown in my garden to supply my future bonsai exploits and scoring cermanic containers from opshops. Usually they dont have drainage holes but i cut them with diamond-tip drill tips.

[bogfrog]

Hey all,

How are everyone's bonsai trees doing?

My deciduous trees have leaves again, and one of my cherries is already coated in flowerbuds!

I may aswell add some pics,

Celery pine:

Larch:

Spruce (i think?):

Pink flowered cherry:

White flowered cherry:

Unknown favourite (any ideas?):

Edited September 12, 2013 by Ceres

[coolname]

here is the first bonsai that i made. its a bouganvillea that is around 5 years old

Edited September 17, 2013 by coolname

[coolname]

and again

[coolname]

another one i made about 4 years ago its a swamp cypress

[coolname]

my umbrella tree that needs a good trim

Edited September 17, 2013 by coolname

[coolname]

green island fig

[coolname]

im not sure what this one is but thought it would look good as a bonsai

[bogfrog]

Little english yew i'm gonna train up:

[DeadStar]

How is everyones bonsai going?

This spring ive started a few native bonsai projects. I brought some tube stock and started wiring and bending. In a few years they should be ready for a bonsai pot.

the pictures are of a river she oak and a black she oak. I have 20 others wired into different shapes

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

adjusting well to being back inside

and one freshly pruned

and outdoors a few

Edited October 11, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[DiscoStu]

i just got an old ficus from my parents, it'd be around 40-50 years old i guess. it's in really poor condition aside from the repotting the branches are long and thin with only a few leaves at the top, any ideas how to restore it to nice foliage?

edit: here it is;

okely dokely, after 2 years here's where we're at, i need to start training the branches now to cover up the gaps but we're getting there

front side

back side

top view

edit: going for a shape like this kind of

Edited January 23, 2015 by DiscoStu

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

[DiscoStu]

is that real life snow? and did you put that poor plant out in the cold just to get a snap

what brand of tree is it?

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

what brand of tree is it?

I feel like you just tried to play a trick on us....

[Alice]

is that real life snow?

Haha, I was thinking the same thing. Snow is awesome.

I forget that for almost half the planet, snow is normal.

[_Cursive]

Not mine, but a close friend's

Photos courtesy of myself.

Pohutakawa



Japanese Black Pine - 50 years old



Japanese Black Pine - 40 Years old



Japanese Maple - 25 years old



Heavy Bamboo



Scots pine - Pinus Sylvestris - 40 years old



Oak



Olive - Oleaeuropaea - 20 years old



Chinese Elm - 20 years old



Hibiscus - 25 years old

[_Cursive]

New Zealand native forest



Unknown



Pohutakawa - 50 years old



Japanese maple forest - 15 years old



Jasmin sp. - 35 years old



Ficus Benjamin - Weeping fig - 20 years old



Japanese Maple "Butterflies" - 35 years old





And now the GRAND MASTER!


Japanese black pine - Pinus thunbergiin 60 years old. H63cm X W60cm X L62cm.