名媛直播

No need for sarcasm. I was just trying to figure out whether you have any idea what you would look for in box-store material. Sorry if you felt that was condescending or something

leatherback wrote:
No need for sarcasm. I was just trying to figure out whether you have any idea what you would look for in box-store material. Sorry if you felt that was condescending or something

I'm not, I promise, but if you feel I was I apologize. I was just trying to be as brutally honest as I can about my level. I know all too well my shortcomings. I can't deny it. I don't identify the traits well unlike you. I envy you in that regard.

But what I can do is make something look like it is a respectable bonsai. Even though there may be a lot that doesn't follow rules and ideas. My Nandina a good example. Ok it doesn't make a bonsai but I can make it look pretty. I know I can.

I will do something tomorrow with it and will send a pic. I would love to show you what it will look like despite it not being a bonsai.

OK, then we are talking alongside eachother.

The plant I was showing is OK, but certainly not exceptional or anything. It is just a trunk with long branchees and 10 years of work ahead of it. Which resulted in me concluding you were being sarcastic. I do not have a large badge of accomplishment in bonsai either. Anyhoe..

When you go to a garden centre, you need to find plants with an interesting trunkline, and decent roots. Furthermore, the tree has some branches in places that you can choose from, and the trunk is nicely tapered. Basically.. You are looking for a plant where you can cut down to a barebone-bonsai, which does not require 10 years of ongrowing to get a decent trunk and roots.

leatherback wrote: OK, then we are talking alongside eachother.

The plant I was showing is OK, but certainly not exceptional or anything. It is just a trunk with long branchees and 10 years of work ahead of it. Which resulted in me concluding you were being sarcastic. I do not have a large badge of accomplishment in bonsai either. Anyhoe..

When you go to a garden centre, you need to find plants with an interesting trunkline, and decent roots. Furthermore, the tree has some branches in places that you can choose from, and the trunk is nicely tapered. Basically.. You are looking for a plant where you can cut down to a barebone-bonsai, which does not require 10 years of ongrowing to get a decent trunk and roots.

It was your tree you think I was being sarcastic about. I see. No, I really do think it is wonderful. To me who has never and will never achieve anything on that scale I do think you have already got something that looks lovely. You must understand how it looks through the eyes of someone on my level with my history of mistakes. The best I can hope for (and even then I am falling short by some miles) is something like the pic I have found on the internet of a Pyroycantha. That is how I would love to get a bonsai. I would be very pleased with something that. I can't imagine what your pine will be like after 10 years. You have done so much to it. It must have took hours of work to get it like that. I refer to the bottom pic of course. I love the thickness of the trunk. I love the flow of not only the trunk but the branches also and the way the needles shoot off from them. The 'Jin' (??) really I think set's it off. Gives it a raw nature. I think Jin looks really impressive. Well done.


Regarding what to look for, I will bear that in mind. I think though I will stick to something easy (did I just say that?!) like a Pyrocantha or Cotoneaster.

The Bamboo btw I think may be dead. There is a lot of brown marks on the leaves. I have thinned it out and took away the central trunk but I think it is gone. Good thing in a way. If as you say it doesn't make a good bonsai then a very big disappointment to me is gone.

Sorry, not making fun of you you but, whahahaha..

The work I did on the cedar (Cedrus Deodaara) in the earlier picture is about 45 minutes. Nothing more. I selected a plant where the basis was already there. That is wehat I meant earlier. If you buy the 'wrong' plant, you can work for years before you have anything. If you buy the 'right' plant, you may have to look for a year, but then you have something to start with that looks halfway decent.

The main problem I see with people buying plants, especially in the beginning. Do not worry about getting a BIG plant. I often look in the 2-3m tall section of plants for 名媛直播 material. Especially deciduous plants pop buds easily when cut back at the right time of year, if healthy. The firethorn uyou are showing is very young (And granted, I have 2 that could be exact copies in my garden). Small bonsai are harder than larger bonsai, as there is less to work with, and they have less resilience (Dry out quickly, a few bugs are a plague, shallow small pots get hot very quickly etcetc).

Note: I only re-started doing bonsai in early 2011, I think. (Should check my pictures ). This was one of my first plants, which I killed within 2 years by doing too much to it. By now I have accumulated a number of nice plants, the first 15 or so could be called bonsai by now, but I am not ready for using that term on them yet. Only headstart I got was by being a biologist, and avid gardener, growing plants in all sizes, types and shapes from age 6 or 7. So over 30 years gardening experience. The art side of 名媛直播 is my challenge. 'Just' growing & timing of pruning comes naturally by now, and I can for local plant species predict quite well what they can handle and what not (Clear exception: Pines; I have killed some 5 pines in 3 years, and pine 6 is dying in my yard right now).

名媛直播Mackem wrote: You have done so much to it. It must have took hours of work to get it like that. I refer to the bottom pic of course. I love the thickness of the trunk. I love the flow of not only the trunk but the branches also and the way the needles shoot off from them. The 'Jin' (??) really I think set's it off. Gives it a raw nature. I think Jin looks really impressive. Well done.

That really shows how different we look at 名媛直播.
What I see:
- This has not taken hours (I read LB's reply, it was 45 min).
- The tree has some taper, but could use more
- The branches need work, better positioning and ramification
- No visible nebari
- The Jin is too large and disproportionate. It creates a conflict with the right branch drooping down, and the jin pointing up. Also, it crosses the 2nd branch.

I know this will not shock or surprise LB - as that's not the point and that's not what we're looking for: we look for potential. Branches can be trained, the jin, as it is so big, still has lots of options for future carving, etc...
This could become a nice tree in the future.

Auk wrote: I know this will not shock or surprise LB - as that's not the point and that's not what we're looking for: we look for potential. Branches can be trained, the jin, as it is so big, still has lots of options for future carving, etc...
This could become a nice tree in the future.

If it lives..
I did a report this spring, and this species hates repotting with a vengance.. It is dropping all needles right now (Yet two bud have opened since repotting, so I might be fine).

As Auk sais: it is a decent starter. Not in any way great. But not ridiculous either. To be honest.. I bought it because it was 70% off, not too bad and I wanted a cedar, which I had not come across yet in any decent shape..

Auk wrote: That really shows how different we look at 名媛直播.
What I see:
- This has not taken hours (I read LB's reply, it was 45 min).
- The tree has some taper, but could use more
- The branches need work, better positioning and ramification
- No visible nebari
- The Jin is too large and disproportionate. It creates a conflict with the right branch drooping down, and the jin pointing up. Also, it crosses the 2nd branch.

I know this will not shock or surprise LB - as that's not the point and that's not what we're looking for: we look for potential. Branches can be trained, the jin, as it is so big, still has lots of options for future carving, etc...
This could become a nice tree in the future.

Experience also plays a part I think. Enthusiasts who are used to the tree developed by Leatherback think and feel differently about it than enthusiasts like me who have never seen it's like before and struggle to keep even the smallest of trees in the most basic of ways and struggle to even find a good basic entry level tree. Experienced enthusiasts see almost as no big deal as they probably deal with that size and kind frequently. But people like me just see the grandeur. The scale.

名媛直播Mackem wrote: Experienced enthusiasts see almost as no big deal as they probably deal with that size and kind frequently.

Make no mistake: I'm no bonsai master. I do not deal with that size and kind frequently - I wish I did, but for me too it's not so easy to find good material - at least not at a price I can afford.

There's a reason why I don't post pictures often: I don't have much that's really worthwhile, just a lot of seedlings and young trees that can't even be called pre-bonsai yet. I do have a few that I dare to call bonsai, but they're not of great quality. I have one tree that seems to be getting quite good. I've been told by a known bonsai grower and teacher that it's (almost) ready for exhibition, I got compliments for it from another well known name, but there's nothing that puts you with your feet back on the ground then visiting a bonsai-exhibition... I can still only dream of ever having a tree as impressive as the trees I've seen there.

Auk could not be any more correct. I am certainly no experienced enthusiast, so I do general gardening as well to pass the time of waiting for my trees to grow.

As auk is saying, it takes a long time to create fully qualified bonsai, Especially when you compare the time it takes to develop a tree and the life you are given, it is quiet annoying IMO...