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Hello! I have been waiting to begin my bonsai hobby for a few decades (ever since I saw Karate Kid III; I am now 40). I expected to begin from scratch, seeking out a pre-bonsai or very young plant, potting it myself, training it slowly, and all the rest. My wonderful wife surprised me with a bonsai (juniper) and starter kit from Eastern Leaf. The plant must be around 3-5 years old (or more) and is already somewhat trained (it stands about 12" out of the pot and has a substantial curve shape already.

For someone who has been waiting to get into bonsai for a long time (30 years), what would be the wisest or most advisable option: 1) do what I wanted for ages, and begin from scratch; 2) keep the youngish tree and learn on it.

Your help is appreciated!
Andy

A bonsai is developed durig centuries and different stage has it's own tecniqes and challenges. However the time spent on the tree besides watering is not that big per year. To become a hobby one needs more than one tree. My advice is to do both and to get a few more trees in different developmen stages. Grow a few in the ground for the future and a few more developed trees in pots.

A bench of 3 meters in 3 levels dont take up much space and can house some 10-20 trees. That is minimum to make it a hobby and learn all stages. Most hobbyists that have less just over work their trees, slowing down the development and quite often kill the trees.

But be picky when you shoose your materials. Only shoose the trees that is wow to you. In 5 years you will start to wonder why they appealed to you anyway.

Welcome to this Forum, Andy.
First, learn how to take care of Junipers. Obvious things, like they will die if indoors, they need to be watered when the soil starts to feel dry, they can?t be pruned more than necessary as they need some foliar mass to survive, they are very flexible and can be easily bent, you repot it in the first sign of new growth, in the Spring.
But, as Topfrog has said, you need more than one to make a hobby out of bonsai.
15/20 trees at first is a good number; you will not get bored, and diversity of species is fun, they all behave differently from each other.
Good luck!

Agree with topfrog and Clicio.

I guess you are in the northern hemisphere and thus in the middle of summer. Don't do anything right now other than water and fertilize. Spend the next eight months reading up on how to keep the trees alive, soil mix, styling, etc. Find a bonsai group near you, join it, and ask the other members for advice. Look at the tree from time to time and think about what branches to prune off, what to bend, what the front of the tree is, what pot to put it in, and anything else you can think of.

Have fun.

Thank you all for your replies so far. That's all very sound advice.

I am still interested in your opinion of the very very first way to begin. For example, you agree that more trees is a healthier hobby; however, I must assume you do not also mean that a person would go out and buy 15-20 trees at once. Is that right?

My question is ultimately less general, more particular.

For someone who has wanted to begin to bonsai for many decades and experience all it has to offer (from sapling to elder), ought he to: 1) begin with an already planted and somewhat mature tree; 2) begin with a pre-bonsai which he can pot and grow and train and prune, learning over time?

Actually what happens is that you get a tree, then another, and then decide to make a nice bench for them. You discover room for more trees, and get another couple.

The bench is crowded, so you make another. You need more trees. You build a greenhouse.

Eventually you buy the neighbor's yard.

1!

andyeaton wrote:

Thank you all for your replies so far. That's all very sound advice.

I am still interested in your opinion of the very very first way to begin. For example, you agree that more trees is a healthier hobby; however, I must assume you do not also mean that a person would go out and buy 15-20 trees at once. Is that right?

My question is ultimately less general, more particular.

For someone who has wanted to begin to bonsai for many decades and experience all it has to offer (from sapling to elder), ought he to: 1) begin with an already planted and somewhat mature tree; 2) begin with a pre-bonsai which he can pot and grow and train and prune, learning over time?

Begin with good material even if you kill it somehow.

One does not exclude the other.

If you were to visit my garden you would find 150-200 pots. 1/3 of them dedicated to cuttings, seedling, and in general trees that are <5 years old. You would find maybe another third big trunks with very little in terms of bonsai to them. And you would find 1/3 where you would say, wow, nice tree.

To get a big trunked bonsai, you need to get a big trunk. For some species, e.g, junipers, this may take 30+ years. So most people buy a trunk. Then spend 15 years turning it into bonsai.

Growing bonsai does not mean you have to start from seed or cutting. In fact, it is the slowest route into bonsai. I would get a decent prebonsai, and work on that, and on the side, grow some young stuff out. Each phase of growing bonsai requires different skills and approaches. So learn them in parallel on different trees and you will grow your own cuttings out into better bonsai.

There is no shame in buying well-developed trees if the intent is to have a nice bonsai at home. For me, the journey is what I am in it for. So the further along a tree is, the bigger the chance it will be sold..

3 year development:



3 year development



3 year development: