Bonsai -- Show and Tell

[Change]

Last year i was lucky enough to see a 40 year old oak bonsai in the classifieds, I took the rest of the day off work to get it straight away before anyone else had the same idea.

Now that spring has starting to kick in you can see its first shoots.... exciting times, i plan on doing a re pot - root trim in the next few weeks.

These are my Figs,

Both came from Bunnings, The one on the left Ive had for two years it was my first ever bonsai, Its not looking the best at the moment, it was hit pretty hard by a frost and lost all its leaves a month ago, i thought it was going to die but thankfully its re sprouted some new leafs. The one on the right Ive possessed for a year.

This is my Juniper, she is the latest edition to the collection, ive had her for 6 months, she came from a local nursery.

Hope youve enjoyed

Now its your turn

Show me your Bonsais

[myco]

i dont have a huge collection

i've only really gotten more serious into it in the last couple of yrs so my collection isnt big

i've only got one shot i took about a month ago

this is a roughly 15 yr old pine it was collected as a small sapling from under a couple of big pines

it was then potted for a while then i planted it on a mates property where it stayed for around 10 yrs

it was constantly chewed back by kangaroos wich kept it very small

i decided to dig it up about a yr ago and have slowly pruned back alot of the main branches and begun to shape it

im starting to get an idea of wat im going to do with it now its still looking a bit ragedy but its slowly coming together

the finished product will look very different but this is it so far

[Alice]

Very nice, just yesterday I did my first pruning of the season

I'll try and get some pics up in a couple of weeks as the new growth pops out. Interestingly my chinese elm put out new growth in the 1st week of Aug this year! Whereas the maples are just starting to break buds now.

Myco, what's the approx diametre of the lower main trunk? How do you find the pine responds to those clamps? I haven't tried them yet, was thinking of getting some.

[qualia]

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;

Edited August 30, 2012 by qualia

[myco]

thanks alice

the trunk is roughly 2 - 2.5 inches across

the clamps are quite good i got some a while ago and found them so usefull i ended up buying about 10 more wich i just got in the mail a few days ago

the pine seems to be taking it fine at the moment i just tighten them up once every week or 2 and the tree has taken it fine

not even any damage to the bark

you can get em on ebay for like 5 bucks each

theres 2 different sizes you can get those ones are the smaller ones

the bigger ones you can adjust the hooks on them aswell

unfortunately the hooks on them arent that big so for thicker trunks they dont work very well

im going to try and bend the hooks out on one of them and see if i can get it around the lower part of the trunk

id like to improve the taper at the bottom between the 2 lower branches on the right

it will take a long time to do but should be well worth the wait should make a big improvement to the overal look

i plan on shaping and turning alot of the branches at the top into deadwood eventually

same with the lower 2 branches coming from the back i think i may even remove the one on the right

thats my rough idea of where its going at the moment

Edited August 30, 2012 by myco

[incognito]

Bunch of plant torturing sickos I say ;) each bonsai is screaming "please just kill me now!"

Jokes eh. Sleep well. You beasts.

[bogfrog]

Here is my fiscus, brought it from bunnings almost a year ago:

Not really a bonsai, but warty and suits his pot:

Gingko Bibliola, doesnt look like much at the moment,

but i have only had it for about a year and a half and haven't started bullying it with wire and clippers yet:

Manuka:

Lancewood: not really a bonsai, but i'll keep him small

And then there are my other trees, which i purchased earlier in the year from a bonsai show.

I must admit, i got a little carried away buying trees at the show, my mum gave me some money to spend on trees as my 21st present.

My partner and i seemed like the only young people at the show, and we came back 3 times over the weekend to gawk at the exhibition and purchase more trees.

Behaving like a school-girl, giddy with excitement, i never bothered to ask how old the trees were, but they look like they are all atleast 5-10years.

Heres my Totara

Celery pine:

Juniper sp.:

Flowering Cherry:

and my all time favourite, chamaecyparis sp.:

[myco]

some great stuff in here im surprised this thread didnt take off a bit more

heres a couple of pics of some junipers i got from bunnings a few weeks ago

i just some time over the last few days to get them potted up, pruned back and start shaping

gotta get some metho on those damn label leftovers there fuck i hate when they use that shitty glue on those stickers

very annoying

[incognito]

I see on eBay they have the quote "worlds tallest tree" seeds for sale for bonsai enthusiasts.

[myco]

That would probly be sequoia sempervirens

The Californian redwood I've got some seed here haven't tried germinating yet

[Change]

I finished my spring time re pot, next step is getting some wire onto these badboys

[myco]

Love that juniper in the second pic

Looks like it could use a bit of a cleanup but I love the shape

[WoodDragon]

 

Some nice ones.

[Change]

[bogfrog]

Whats this one?

Almost looks like a bonsai rhododendron.

[Alice]

Looks like an oak of some sort, very nice DreamTime Bliss.

[Change]

Opps i should have explained.

Its the same oak thats in my first post only now its grown its leaves back.

[bogfrog]

Very nice, my bad, sorry I cant see much detail on my phone.

Its awesome to see how quickly new leaves sprout up!

I just gave mine a tiny prune, it will be interesting to shape a plant over your lifetime. A pretty special thing to be able to pass onto your children.. Just have to raise them as green-fingered children!

Edit: typo

Edited September 21, 2012 by bogfrog

[Change]

Thanks

I got excited about spring today so i went to the local nursery and purchased myself two new bonsai's.

Then i had a go at wiring for the first time, i started with a normal metal wire, about 3mm thick, it was way to hard to bend around the trunk so i changed to some 2mm copper wire. It worked heaps better now i need to get some more so i can finish the job.

[qualia]

does anyone here have any of those "bonsai tool kits", basically just miniature everything (pruners, rakes etc), i see them in books quite often but never have seen one in real life.

[Alice]

I have two of these rolls, one is the full JR master set (expensive at ~$600, but purchased to last a lifetime), the second is a variety of other tool I find work well, including pliers, root pick, chopsticks, some extra shears of various sizes etc.

Stainless may not hold an edge as keenly as regular carbon steel, but in practice I can notice no difference. SS is just so much easier to clean up than regular steel, as long as you wipe off after every session and sharpen regularly.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Alice

[qualia]

i love those miniature rakes

[2meke]

Pretty common but I still like it. Juniper procumbens. I've used a crap load of wire on this one and it still needs heaps more.

Cryptomeria after a hair cut.

Coprosma.

Croposma.

Edited September 25, 2012 by 2meke

[Nemisty]

Member Zero on here has some stunning ones, think they're mostly rare pines. Too scared to get into doing bonsai it looks far too addictive for me.

[myco]

absolutely loving that cascade style one 2meke

i just started to shape my first cascade style a couple of weeks ago

i bought this cheapo bonsai tool set from ebay

its actually for the priceits alot better qaulity than i thought it would be

im pretty happy with it

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-34pc-Bonsai-Tool-Kit-Set-Carbon-Steel-Gardening-Tools-Wire-Case-/190697341098?pt=AU_Plants_Seeds_Bulbs&hash=item2c667280aa