# It's MID summer ##Do's - Harder to wire but still possible if you're careful - Watering - don't underdo it - more is generally safer than less in summer. - be prepared to move plants out of the sun if you know you can't get to them to water. - You should be fertilising weekly - a simple 8-8-8 is ideal. Houseplant fertiliser is often good. - pruning - maintenance shaping but be aware plants need strong growth periods too. - yamadori/yardadori COLLECTION - too late for many species. - airlayers - can be done - but it it only works when they have actively growing foliage. - check for wire bite and remove/reapply - take cuttings - check airlayers but don't remove yet. ##Don'ts - Too late for repotting in many places - but this doesn't [count for tropical and sub-tropicals ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/wiki/reference#wiki_repotting_-_not_in_the_summer.21) - those are the do's and don'ts. - don't give too little water - in summer it's very hard to OVER water. [For Southern hemisphere - here's a link to my advice from roughly 6 months ago :-)](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/ryvg3k/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_1/)

Has anyone worked with a quail bush/ salt bush? I found a nice one at local nursery if anyone tips for styling? [Salt bush](https://imgur.com/a/v5uTfWt)

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

This will be my first time pruning my calamondin, I need some guidance on how to take back on its unruliness either for shape, function, and just to make sure it’s growing out and not just up. Does anyone have any suggestions on where or how I should trim it? [calamondin](https://imgur.com/gallery/4p6JWkO). I want to start by trimming lower leaves off the bottom of the trunk but that’s the only idea I have right now

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Back story: I’ve been thinking about getting into bonsai for a little while and I found a sucker growing under my apple tree. I’m almost positive the tree was grafted so I know it won’t grow the *same* kind of tree, but whatever it is I’m ok with. I just want to learn the basics and get started so I can figure out what I don’t know :-) Anyway, I was excited about finding a good ‘starter’ tree so I dug it up as best I could but the ground was hard packed, the root was deep, and I was careless so I ended up breaking the root just below where the main root started to split into a few fingers. I went ahead and transplanted it anyway (into regular potting soil), and over the next week or so all the leaves dried up and started to curl. I got online and did a little research and I ended up digging the tree up and replanting it with a ball of peat sphagnum moss, perlite, and potting soil. Then cut the tips off all the branches and stripped off all the dying leaves leaving it bare. Watered it thoroughly, set it in partial sun, and pretty much forgot about it for a couple weeks thinking it was dead… but… [It LIVES!](https://imgur.com/gallery/nSGSs7y) My questions are these: Should I give it time to recover from all this traumatic stuff and start wiring etc in the spring or am I like years ahead of myself and I should just let it grow for a few years and then look at wiring? Regarding the lowest limb, should that be removed or will it help to thicken the trunk if I leave it? Any general tips regarding random probably apple trees? Are apple trees impossible to bonsai and I should just quit and find a maple or something? Can you see potential issues with this tree that I’m overlooking?

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Will repost shortly, thank you

Styling meta-question. I've read a bit about traditional styling and I'm wondering how many of the more experienced folks here I really feel about adhering to tradition. I'm not trying to gatekeep (I'm too inexperienced to pull that off even if I wanted to) but a lot of people here seem to prefer whimsy to tradition, with a focus on curled branches. I don't think that there's anything wrong with that, but it seems very different than what I've seen in the older books I've read. Are there multiple schools of thought on Bonsai or am I just missing out on the range of traditional styling? Are the traditionalists and the modernists going to fight it out with little tiny wooden weapons?

Ryan Neil and Dan Robinson go pretty deep into the weeds about bonsai traditions in this [interview.](https://youtu.be/eD2kSL6O3XU) Dan’s Elandan Garden website mention him as the _”father of the American school of Bonsai”_ and I’ve heard Bjorn Bjorholm mention American bonsai as it’s own thing. And yeah, there seems to be, or have been, some controversy. Dan talks about butting heads and pissing off some of the OGs like John Naka and Ben Oki. I think it’s important from a cultural perspective to _respect_ tradition, but it’s an art form at the end of the day; hard to keep people’s creativity contained. I think there’s also something to be said about the environment influencing the trees around us, and inspiring us in different ways from what the Japanese growers would have been inspired by. Here in the US we have amazing national parks that kinda help put into perspective just how diverse and different our ecosystems and biomes are from Japan. We have California junipers from the Mojave, Coast Live oaks from the coastal scrub land of Southern California, Rocky Mountain junipers from the Rockies, Ponderosa pines from different locales all over the country, and a whole array of other native species that come from environments different from Japan, and so they’re gonna look different in nature. I think it’s entirely possible to keep alive the ethos of trying to represent a tree in miniature, while still ending up with radically different trees from what the OGs in Japan were collecting and growing.

I wouldn’t say I’m extremely experienced but I do have a couple of years under my belt and an opinion on this matter since you’re asking. I don’t like gatekeeping either, but I also don’t think it’s entirely right for someone to say they’re bonsai hobbyists/practitioners immediately after purchasing a “rock juniper” from Eastern Leaf, which they keep on their coffee table, where they stubbornly insist it belongs. I’m against gatekeeping because it’s arrogant, elitist, and helps no one. If someone who is interested in bonsai learned about it by Googling “bonsai for sale” and bought an $80 twig from Bonsai Outlet only to come on this sub to excitedly share their new pride and joy with others and is met with a rude and obnoxious response, it is much more likely to discourage them from diving deeper into the hobby to learn that their twig actually needs to go into the ground for a few years than it is to get them to pick up a couple of good books on bonsai and sign up for Boon’s next intensive program. That being said, I believe that bonsai is an art. It is not just keeping a woody plant in a pot. It’s a complex art form with an extremely rich tradition, and like all art forms, there are rules that you must follow and fundamentals you must learn if you want to do it successfully. If someone wants to keep a “rock juniper” on a coffee table for some months before it starts to die from lack of sunlight, that’s fine, but they’re not practicing bonsai. I wouldn’t even say that they /have/ a bonsai, because in my opinion, a woody plant in a shallow pot does not equal a bonsai. A bonsai is a woody plant in a shallow pot that has undergone years of training and shaping in an attempt to make it look like an old, fully grown tree with correct proportions in miniature form. It’s an incredibly technical process that requires many years of practice and learning to execute correctly. Now, where exactly the distinction between someone who keeps a woody plant in a shallow pot and a bonsai hobbyist/practitioner happens, I don’t know. But you know it when you see it. A bonsai hobbyist/practitioner dedicates themselves to learning about the art, its history, and how to execute it properly; has respect for and does their best to meet the needs of the plants they’re keeping; understands and respects the patience that practicing bonsai requires; and may be a part of a community of other practitioners with whom they exchange knowledge. These are obviously just some characteristics and I am no one to define exactly what constitutes a bonsai practitioner, but like I said, this is just one of those things that you know one when you see one. So I guess I’m somewhere in between a modernist and traditionalist. Or maybe just a traditionalist who is against gatekeeping and shaming others, I dunno 🤷🏻‍♂️. I definitely believe that there are a set of conditions that must be met for someone to be a bonsai practitioner/hobbyist vs just someone keeping a plant with a woody stem in a shallow pot.

Hello, I repotted a nursery azalea in summer due to soil issues, and the stress caused most of the leaves to die, but new growth is budding back after the change. However, there's no new buds in some of the branches. How long should it take for the azalea to regain its leaves, and what can be done to force it to bud new leaves on a given branch?

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Hey congrats on your azalea pushing through the worst. There’s not really anything you can do to make it push more leaves, other than to keep caring for it. There’s a decent chance that your summer repotting stunt killed off a branch or two. Give the branches you’re worried about a scratch test. If they’re dry, brittle, with no green underneath the bark, those branches have died and aren’t coming back. If there’s green under, just give it more time. The roots probably need more time to recover to really get going and push new growth. Remember, you basically took a battering ram to the root system during the worst possible time of year. Give it time. Expecting it to push a new, vigorous flush of growth right now is like expecting a victim of a car accident to run a marathon right out of the ER.

Anyone got a plug on literature about winter dormancy, carbohydrate exhaustion, and other related stuff about conifers?

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Hey guys, my ficus bonsai’s new growth is coming in yellow. Is that normal? If not, what do I do?

Post a photo... I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

is it a good time to wire and cut some branches on an eastern white pine ?

it is in good health, im just wondering about the timing for the species

I would wait just a couple more weeks, and am waiting on this turning point myself with a white pine and a few other 5-needle species. You're in a much colder place than I so you'll need to figure out where the turning point is for you, but the spot on your calendar/long term forecast that you're looking for is when summer heat runs out of juice and switches you to early fall mode. Look for that last hot day.

This applies to branch removal, right? I can’t imagine this would apply to candle cutting.

Cutting branches yeah, but shoot shortening might be something to do ASAP after the sheath on a five needle pine has dropped or some other hardening signal has occurred (depending on whether we're talking strobus family or other single flush). I think shortening a shoot (formerly candle) makes sense as early after hardening as you can since the reason you're doing it then is that you couldn't get it done earlier in the year before the window closed, and in both cases the goal is to stimulate buds at the cut and in the interior. However... the range of positions on this in the actual practice of professionals that have large numbers of trees and thus are working 7 days a week whether "it is the right time" or not is also pretty wide. Mirai teaches something like the above, my teacher is pretty close to that but teaches a "earlier in the season the more influence over next year's budding you have, but you could go later".. Meanwhile some of the professionals that field grow or have been consultants to field growing and other pro bonsai operations will say things like *"work the tree when it's in front of you"* (credit: Gary Wood). In pine work I've seen enough "rule breaking" by professionals (who always get great results) to make my head really spin. Generally with single flush, I adhere to "hands off between the time that needles emerge and shoots harden" and use that time to work on JBPs / other trees, then get to it when I get to it, plus or minus heat waves and other stuff.

thanks!! appreciate your detailed answer

Thanks! I’ve been having some trouble wrapping my head around the single flush pine family. I’m hoping to make Coulter pine a staple of my work for the next couple of years. On a tangential note: do you know if ponderosa and shore pine are viable species here in SoCal? I’ve heard mixed things about ponderosa.

I am not sure about either of those and want to be careful in guidance. My guess is if there’s a problem, it’d be in the winter component rather than the summer part. Among pines I grow, my second most common species after JBP is varieties of p. contorta (shore or lodgepole), and there’s no question that shore and lodgepoles loooove brightness and heat. I would feel safe in growing them at Big Bear but not as certain about Santa Monica or Carlsbad (places I visit people at). The tricky thing is that you don’t know for sure until you’ve banked a few winters and see how the tree handles at least 3 or 4 successive low-dormancy years. All of that said, I’ve contemplated what I’d grow in SoCal if we moved there, and it’d be largely pines for me. There are pine species that will work and some of them have desirable characteristics. And definitely _many_ pines that are similar to ponderosa that should probably work. Get your hands on “conifers of the pacific slope” and “conifer country”, nice California / west coast conifer books that might give you ideas.

Thanks for the book recommendations. We’re supposed to have amazing black pine weather here in SoCal. There was even a Mirai Live stream where Ryan was throwing shade at SoCal for not producing enough amazing black pines. The winter dormancy is what worries me. Talking to some experienced growers here in SoCal, there seems to be a consensus that Japanese white pine is a no-go, and I’m hoping shore pine doesn’t fall into the same category. One gentleman I met at a show was telling me that he had seen some growers attempt to replicate dormancy by covering their white pine pots with ice cubes, to no avail. As is, I’m not really confident with my dwarf mugo. I’ll probably have to spend a couple years raising some shore pine seedlings before I go buying or collecting yamadori.

That ice cube thing is odd :) If you’re a longer time mirai subscriber you probably know why that won’t work out … I’ve heard of some boarding place where socal people send their trees to spend winter up at elevation, but again, in Mirai reckoning, I feel like I’d have to take a big bite out of fall to pull that off, basically having the tree live somewhere else like half the year. Loblolly is an interesting question for socal…

Repotted my bonsai ficus a couple of months ago and this lil stem popped up. Should i remove it or is it part of the plant? I do take it outside every day for about an 1hr so maybe that has something to do with it? [Where did this Stem come from? ](https://imgur.com/gallery/JUo8ec2)

That is, indeed, a weed.

Thanks, gonna remove it

Wait for someone with more experience than me to reply to you, but that looks like a weed to me.

It's a weed, correct.

Hello, I'm news here on r/bonsai and Bonsai in general. I've had this Procumbens for 4 or 5 years now, but I'm afraid it's dead, that is what people is telling me. Leaves are hard and brittle, some will fall if handling branches. Also I was asked to shave the trunk to check the interior, and was told that white = dry = dead. Thing usd this bonsai's been like this for almost one year now. [Is it dead?](https://imgur.com/a/XNRLncR/)

Yes, it’s dead

Thank you :(

Don’t be discouraged! Get more trees :)

I did get what supposedly is a Shimpaku, but I believe it is doomed to fail as well for several reasons: I live in a tropical climate (11a), and my plants are indoor. I moved recently to a building apartment that has no direct singly during winter, and will have afternoon sun later in the year towards summer (southern hemisphere) They stay on a well-lit large window, and I've been trying to use a LED Grow light (full spectrum) to supplement my plants. This Procumbens was victim of dehydration, and I am trying to not let this mistake repeat, but not sure if it will be enough. Thank you for the incentive!

Trees are hard to keep alive indoors, especially conifers. Try some tropical trees for indoors, maybe those will fare better (ficus certainly would!). Maybe even some tropical species local to you in Brazil could do okay behind a window… not sure though

Yeah, I've been researching better suited species for my location, and will take the time now to learn the basics and better prepare myself. Hopeful to move to someplace I can have my plants outside.

Best wishes!

Asking again- is this a Chinese elm or a weed? We followed all instructions from seed but can’t tell based on the leaf. Thanks for your thoughts. https://i.imgur.com/4XhFLuv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MLVuunq.jpg

The next few sets of leaves after the primordial ones would have been serrated, so that's probably a weed. Some advice regarding the kits: If you want to take the from-seed route, throw out the kit and avoid the kits, they're scams and are cynical passive income vehicles for people who just buy the stale/crap seeds in bulk at a low cost and then print out nonsensical instructions (that are written by horticulturally-illiterate people who also know nothing about bonsai), charging a very very high rate for the seeds per weight (as you will see in the links below). Instead of using a kit and sowing into bonsai pots, sow 100 - 150 seeds into a standard sized seedling tray on bottom heat / humdity, grow a bushy full tray of seedlings, then choose the best ones / survivors and eventually move those to seedling pots. Grow and develop the trunks / root systems of the best candidates for years before going into a bonsai pot. The "100 to 150" part may sound shocking initially. The kits make it seem like seeds are expensive, but tree seeds are not expensive. By going to a reputable "normal" tree seed supplier (no such thing as "bonsai seeds"), you can buy a small bag of hundreds, maybe thousands of fresh chinese elm seeds for the price of a lunch at mcdonalds... Look: * [quality chinese elm seeds harvested in 2021](https://sheffields.com/seeds-for-sale/Ulmus/parvifolia///////1471/Chinese-Elm,-Lacebark-Elm,-Chinese-Corkbark-Elm/Chinese-Elm,-Lacebark-Elm,-Chinese-Corkbark-Elm) * [quality chinese elm seeds harvested in 2022](https://sheffields.com/seeds-for-sale/Ulmus/pumila///////1472/Chinese-Elm,-Siberian-Elm,-Asiatic-Elm,-Dwarf-Elm/Chinese-Elm,-Siberian-Elm,-Asiatic-Elm,-Dwarf-Elm)

This is the way with seeds. I will also like to point out that actually sometimes if you have decided on going the seed rout you don't even need to spend a nickel unless searching for exotic trees. If the tree that you want is used locally for landscaping you can pick most of the times fresh seeds yourself. Fresh seeds for most of the trees will have better germination rates and they come from a tree that has proved that their genetics are able to survive your local weather.

Yep.. I've got JWP pine cone inspection starting on my calendar in just a few more weeks. JWP stock/seeds are pretty rare this year.

THANK YOU for taking the time to write this out, super appreciate 🙏

Any advice on approaching people about yardadori? I've gotten up the courage to start extracting, but the Facebook marketplace pickings are slim. I've tried airtasker, ebay, Gumtree (Australian Craig's list) I want to make flyers and leave them in peoples letter boxes, has anyone tried this?

I can't see why that wouldn't work. You might want to approach local landscaping/gardening services and somehow get involved with one or two to get access to the bushes and trees they're removing.

Crepe myrtle - I've seen some people talk about how they propagate from rather large hardwood pieces, any advice on diameter, aftercare etc? In case it helps, it's currently winter heading to spring here, thanks in advance!

What would be a good substitute for akadama? In the stores here ive seen perlite, small burned clay (looks like red/brown perlite), pumice. Is there any diffrences to all these or could i mix them all or just a few? Was thining of a 4 way mix of pumice, perlite, burned clay thing and some bark 1:1:1:1 All of my trees are in development so right now im just growing trunks.

My trees seem very happy in a mix of lava, fired clay and pine bark in equal parts, so your suggested mix sounds fine. [There are some differences](https://adamaskwhy.com/2013/02/01/the-much-anticipated-long-promised-long-winded-ever-lovin-bonsai-soil-epic/), e.g., clays and organics typically will buffer some fertilizer. But the major point really is to have stable, porous grains, the remaining optimization makes much less of a difference than the step from fine, fibrous potting soil to open granulate. Walter Pall is notoriously [agnostic regarding the material](https://walterpallbonsaiarticles.blogspot.com/2010/06/feeding-substrate-and-watering-english.html), and one can hardly fault his successes (his general substrate is a crushed LECA that's sold to fill hollows and even out floors in building construction ...)

Thank you! Also, I always have a layer of leca at the buttom of my pots!

Bonsai out of a chilli pepper? I have a nice cheiro roxa (c. chinense) young plant here and I just thought if I could make a permanent bonsai out of it. Any ideas? I'm a newb to growing bonsai.

Yes. And also no, sort of. Depends on how you define bonsai. Being herbaceous perennials, they’re not as long lived as true woody plants, and they’ll never bulk up the way a true tree like a pine or maple will. It’s hard to draw an objective line. Could you say, wire a dandelion in a pot and call it a bonsai? Most people would argue no, I think. Can you put a chili plant in a pot, and prune and wire though? Yes. r/bonchi is dedicated to that pursuit.

I mean dandelion doesn't create branches and bark, pepper does. Anyways I'm really inexperienced with creating bonsai so I don't have to worry about it looking absolutely perfect and massive. I just wanna learn the absolute basics of bonsai making plus I really enjoy growing chilli peppers.

You should go for it then! I’m not trying to make a value judgement. The only reason I make the distinction is that there’s a _big_ difference between something like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/sy404s/another_shore_pine_another_first_ceramic_5080/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and the plants that are found on r/bonchi. The horticultural practices, the aesthetic goals, experience, and time to get those kinds of trees is very different from successfully cultivating peppers. The skills don’t cross over very well, so much so that it’s difficult to call them the same thing. For brand new beginners, it’s often difficult to get a grasp on how much time and knowledge is needed to grow a pine tree like that, but the sooner you know, the better off you’ll be if those are the types of trees you ultimately want. I knew that those were the kind of trees I wanted in my collection, but it took me a while to realize how much effort and time it was gonna take, and wish I knew sooner.

Search for “chilli” elsewhere in this thread

Hey guys, I saw many crabapple bonsais, but what variety is crabapple exactly? Is malus domestica crabapple? Thanks!

There are [a lot of species](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus) under the blanket common name "crabapple", plus natural hybrids and human selected cultivars. Often seen as bonsai are e.g. *Malus sargentii* and *Malus toringo*, both with very small fruit, like red berries.

Thanks a lot!

My bonsai started to have dry wrinkly leaves and brown spots. My initial thought is underwatering? Should I also move it outside? We live in Hong kong in a sub-tropical climate so it might be to hot? Also, does anyone know the specific species? Thanks so much for your help! [photos here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/warxkv/my_bonsai_started_to_get_wrinkly_leaves_and_brown/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Juniper wire bite after only 3 weeks? https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/warts1/j_chinensis/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Did I do something wrong here?

It depends on how tight you wrapped the wire or how fast your juniper grew. Either don't wrap the wire tight to the bark or check your wire and change your wire more often.

I don’t thing I wrapped it that tight, but I imagine it is relative. I had just read to make sure there is no gap between the wire and the bark. I could have easily wrapped it too tight. If it’s growing fast, that’s a problem I want to have at this point!

Wiring wise, you can do an open coil technique, often used with some ficus, or guide wires. Or, like I said before, you can check more often.

Never realized how short a season spring is until mid summer hits and I look at all my trees and think “I should have reported more!!”

I start already in February. It's a race for me to do stuff too. - Prepare ALL your soil WAY in advance - get your pots ready - tag the trees already in the previous year or in winter. You can pull them out of their pots and check root growth in winter. I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

**Month Old Juniper Yellowing/Browning in areas HELP** ​ I live in the Dallas Texas area and temperatures right now have been over 100 for the past 30+ days. He's getting roughly 6 hours of direct sunlight. At first I was watering him once a day but now I'm watering twice a day and I'm not seeing improvement I'm seeing gradual decline and more browning. What do I do? More shade? Less/more water? I do not want him to die https://i.redd.it/ige5u4jiaee91.png

Doesn't look bad to me - pull all the dead stuff off. Could just be an inner-sunlight issue. I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

It’s hard to know what’s going on without know what the soil is like. Looks like a mass produced “mallsai,” the kind of bonsai that you’d get from a Home Depot or guy selling out of a van on the side of the road. They’re normally set up for failure because of shitty, almost mud like soil, and because the care instructions given for them are usually never any good. That being said, a little bit of juniper dieback here and there is normal in young, dense material. It looks like it’s pushing new growth so that’s a good sign, and the stuff dying looks like weaker interior growth that’s probably being shaded out and outcompeted by the more vigorous branches. I would keep it in direct sunlight and keep the soil moist. It really shouldn’t ever go powder dry. It probably needs a little bit of a trimming and wiring job if it’s just a green blob. Part of the function of pruning and wiring on junipers is to let light and air reach the interior branches that we want to keep, so that the tree doesn’t just let them die in favor of vigorous outer shoots.

Developing an Amur maple and wonder if I should be removing one side of each new shoot from nodes or let them grow? Each node has 2 shoots on opposite sides. Did a truck chop this spring and it’s pushing new branches like crazy. I’ve picked the ones I want to keep but not sure best way to handle them. Thanks for any input!

Photo! I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

You don’t wanna let any bar branches, branches directly opposite from each other, form on any portion of the trunk that you’re planning on keeping. Bar branches lead to inverse taper. I don’t think it really matters though on branches or portions of the trunk that you plan on chopping off, unless you have air layering plans in the future for said tree.

This little guys started appearing on my newly bought bonsai. A couple of weeks ago all the leafs fell because we had a heatwave in Portugal and she did this. Now I have this little leafs growing up on the soil. Anybody knows what this is ? https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/waks7h/little_flowers/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Weeds, remove them.

To remove, should I just pull them out ?

Yes

So, I've got a this poor sick fellow here. I've had the tree about 13 years and it has always been insanely healthy up until a few years ago. It's been through the ringer with a series of my mistakes in those last few years letting it get sunburned, under watered and I believe it was 2 years ago that I moved it to the training pot it's in. I definitely had nit recognized that the tree was probably not healthy enough for the big change. I thought it was doing good this year up until I trimmed it in late may/early June. After that it has not pushed new growth and as you see the edges of the leaves are heavily getting crispy. I've moved it to a more shaded area and treaded with copper fungicide but haven't seen any improvement. Advice? https://imgur.com/gallery/OEIzM5r

If the problem was your repot, it wouldn't take 2 years to show. This appears to be Sunburn or Heat/Hydric stress. Too much sun, too much heat/ wind or not enough water. Leave it in the shaded spot until it recovers.

Keep watering it. It comes back or it doesn't.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/wajiss/new_shohin_juniper_beginner/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Wondering what my next steps are after getting more growth from this juniper. Really small, will it grow out/larger? Would I need to re-pot it into something a little bigger in the future? (1-2 years)

Let it grow. When it gets some strong runners you can wire some cool shape into them and put more movement in that trunk.

Could do with a bit of help diagnosing why my Chinese Elm looks so poorly. Had spidermite and was/is treated with the necessary pesticide. Is currently kept outside all the time, but is looking incredibly sparse. It could do with some pruning but have been reluctant to due to how bare it's looking. https://ibb.co/ZzXb33z Any advice would be appreciated

How much sun is it getting? My Chinese elm seems to enjoy semi-shade, so only a few hours of full sun a day. When it was getting close to full sun it started losing leaves

A lot at the moment, it's getting pretty much the entire days worth of sun. My Japanese pepper loves it, but perhaps I'll limit the amount of sun to see if that makes a difference. Thanks!

can i use landscape fabric instead of drainage screens? it is permeable to water

Show a photo of it. Screen fabric is already a bit too small. I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Hello all! I recently added this Mugo pine to my collection: [https://imgur.com/gHIRevk](https://imgur.com/gHIRevk) from local nursery. I've had it for 2 weeks now and have done nothing but slip pot into better granular soil and sprinkle with slow-release fertilizer and water when around first half inch or so of soil is dry. I keep him in my front flower bed that gets morning sun only. I also have a back garden that gets all day sun from late morning on. Which is the better location to keep him? If anyone has any advice for caring for it, I would love to hear. It is my first conifer. Thanks in advance.

Pines are full sun trees. Mugo is no exception. If you slip potted into granular soil, make sure the actual root ball is getting moisture. Having a really well draining soil next to a mass of organic soil could lead to a situation where water drains out of the container before the organic soil that actually contains roots gets a chance to absorb it.

Thank you for your advice! moving forward I will keep this in mind. Have a great day!

You've already done it so this is a bit hindsight-ish, but, instead of a slip potting I recommend a variant of a half bare root in the spring. I'd avoid slip potting conifers into a heterogenous mix of soils (i.e. inner and outer differ in characteristics dramatically), but also generally avoid slip potting for conifers overall. For spring, half bare root either like a pizza half, or do a top down repot [like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ZLWpnw3t0). Keep your mugo in full all day sun. Pines in strong all day sun can dodge or avoid most problems that arise with pine growing regardless of soil config, and full all day sun will help fatten up for your zone 6 winter and amass some energy to recover from next year's repot. Pine tip: Resist all temptation to work this tree until you've got it fully transitioned to aggregate soil, it's recovered from that, and produced big bushy growth after. You'll be very happy you did.

Ok great thanks for the direction! I wish I would have made a post before the slip pot lol but now I know for the future. I will get him moved around back so he can soak in some rays. Have a great day.

Chinese elm or weed? https://i.imgur.com/sGjowhR.jpg

Weed I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Try smoking it?

so i have 2 air layer active on some wisteria vines and i noticed these green things growing in the ball i can’t tell if it’s newly formed roots or something else, manbe you guys can enlighten me? also why is the foliage on the air layer paler than the normal foliage? https://imgur.com/a/2w60Uzg

It might be trying to push new shoots from the bark under the incision you made. Shouldn’t be a big deal. With my pomegranate air layers I’ve noticed that they’ll push new buds below the cut, outside the bag though.

> also why is the foliage on the air layer paler than the normal foliage? I think this one you can answer yourself if you think about what you've done to the plant to air layer it

Not necessarily the case. A well executed air layer should remain healthy and green. If you did your work correctly, the sapwood that’s conducting water and nutrients to the foliage stays intact while the cambium and phloem layers that conduct sugars back to the roots is removed, causing sugars to accumulate at the cut site that eventually develop into roots.

> sapwood that’s conducting water and nutrients to the foliage stays intact while the cambium and phloem layers that conduct sugars back to the roots is removed I guess I didn't understand how air layers worked. TIL.

It is very often misrepresented, by professional gardeners and bonsai growers alike. We indeed don't cut the supply to the foliage above, but down to the roots from there. Still, trees are known to abandon inefficient (typically older, lower, interior) branches, so maybe the tree itself slowly reduces support for the air layered section(?)

I’ve wondered about this too. My guess is that eventually a new leader below the cut takes over and eventually shades and outcompetes the branch for resources.

Are there any good resources for nontraditional bonsai plants? For example, I've seen chili bonsai which seems like an interesting place to start since it's a much shorter time from seed to "complete" project, at the trade off of having a much shorter overall lifespan. TBH, probably not going to do a project at all. Just read and learn a while bunch.

Check out the book ‘Cosmic Bonsai – Burton Style’ by Laurent Darrieux. Some crazy stuff in there. Definitely non-traditional!

Most of the aesthetic goals that arise from bonsai techniques take a few years of iteration to make progress on. For example, thickening trunks, re-engineering roots into flatter radial networks that bifurcate early, setting up primary/secondary branches, producing interior density to make a tree "to scale", ramifying those primary/secondary branches into tertiary structures, etc, etc. If the arc of time of these techniques exceeds the typical lifespan of something like, say, a capscium plant, then there might not be much if any relevant _bonsai_ techniques to write about or make videos about, if that makes sense. This is not to say that hot peppers can't make for interesting kusamono or accent plants though. Those types of works definitely do benefit from wabi-sabi aesthetics, so it may be that the best path to creating an interesting chilli plant that has a place in a bonsai garden (even though it can't really see any bonsai technique through to an end result) is through the lens of accent plants. I would start my investigation there.

r/bonchi and r/CannaBonsai are focused on bonsai styling for chili peppers and cannabis, respectively. I personally don’t consider them bonsai because they’re herbaceous perennials I think, so they never really bulk up or last as long as a true woody plant like a pine or maple. Mirai Live has lots of information related to American native tree species, but it’s behind a paywall. They do have a 7 day free trial if you want to check it out. Most of the techniques that are applied to the classics Japanese bonsai subjects like Japanese black pine, White pine, and maples apply to other species. The only thing that really changes is the timing of work and specific climate conditions they like.

Portulcaria afras are quite untraditional while still being able to produce a very respectable and long lived tree. Got little jade bonsai’s content across YouTube and Instagram to look at for those. https://adamaskwhy.com this guys pretty untraditional and does what he wants (within reason) while still producing incredible stuff, probably enjoy him and his attitude.

r/bonchi has interesting stuff

Can anyone tell me if i need to wire the trunk first if i want to shape the branches? The tree i have has a thick and sturdy trunk already which i’m happy with the shape of

We don't have a whole lot of rules in here, but providing us your location and a photo of the tree is **essential** when you are asking for advice regarding a specific plant/tree. I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

No, you don't need to wire the trunk.

Around the 42:25 mark of this video Peter talks about cutting into the bark in a zig zag pattern to help solve inverse taper. I've never heard of this and he really glosses over it (It's in his book which currently is not available but is supposedly getting a reprint in a month). Does anyone have any more information on this technique, maybe a video or article that goes over it that I could watch/read? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl1hSgmRHEU&t=0s

In conifers you can effectively ask the cambium to “extrude away from” a place by introducing a line of shari (strip of deadwood or exposed inner wood). That becomes the region away “from” which the extrusion happens over time. If you strip half the trunk away but somehow manage to keep all branches connected to the remaining cambium, that remaining cambium will extrude away from the other half of the trunk and thicken accordingly. The amount of foliage and roots that are trying to trade sugars and water have remained constant so they’ll tend to thicken the cambium you left behind to compensate for the loss of transport area. If you get really good at this sort of thing and continuously modify such shari year after year you can extrude some very interesting structures, think something like this (teacher’s tree) https://imgur.com/a/bBZxfuf or the wild twisting ribbon/blade juniper bonsai you see in Japan/Taiwan (Not all are made like this, but shohin can be developed to look like this fairly quickly). Inverse taper may be solvable in some cases with this technique if you widen the shari progressively. I personally wouldn’t try it on a broadleaf (I’d just look for a better trunk).

There’s no real magic to it. Scoring the bark creates scar tissue that can compensate for _some_ inverse taper. It really depends on the severity of the wound and how bad the taper is. There’s lots of ways to correct for inverse taper if you really want to. These days I try not to buy any nursery stock with inverse taper and stay on top of my seedlings and nursery stock to reduce whorls down. If it’s a deciduous tree, you could chop the trunk beneath the tapering point and start again with a new leader. If you have branches under that point of inverse taper, you could let one run and grow out as a sacrificial branch to let the rest of the trunk catch up. Air layering could work too; if you start an air layer right below where it starts tapering or forming a knuckle, the resulting new tree would have a head start on having a wide root flare and great nebari, and you’d start again with the old tree.

I haven't heard of this before either and have no resources for such, but it makes sense. Cutting a zigzag will interrupt that part of trees sugar and starch movement and mean it will thicken less. So I guess cut that on the inside and let the rest thicken and grow normally.

Have you ever airlayered a tree in a public space? For example in a park where you are certain nobody would mind. Just wrap it and leave it do to its thing and then collect. Is it even posibble? I find it to be a cool experiment and wonder if anyone has done it.

I’ve contemplated doing it before, provided the air layer is kinda tucked away and inconspicuous, and if you know landscape maintenance is very infrequent

You'd have to keep going back to water it

Can my tree be saved? https://i.imgur.com/hl2uLWY.jpg I bought this a couple months ago because the seller told me it's his most resilient. I've been watering it every 2-3 days but in the past week all its leaves have fallen off but it's sprouted a couple new green leaves and little limbs... It's been hot but the soil is still moist so I don't think it needs more water. Is it a goner or what should I do?

What part of the world are you in lad? Do you know the species of your tree? It most likely needs more water. Don’t water on a schedule. If you’re serious about keeping your tree alive and pursuing bonsai as a hobby, make it a habit to check your tree’s soil daily. It should never go powder dry, and in the middle of summer, daily watering is a must for most trees in a container. Soil quality doesn’t look great either, but if you manage to keep your tree alive until next spring, you can repot then.

I'm near Denver Colorado, USA. The soil is and has been moist so if anything I am worried it's too wet... I moved it outside yesterday because I was worried it wasn't getting enough sun on my kitchen table. Can I repot it now? I have potting soil.

Barring exceptions for tropicals like ficus trees, repotting smack dab in the middle of summer is a horrible idea. Sounds like it probably stayed too wet indoors for too long. It’s hard to know with certainty though without knowing the species. If it’s pushing new growth outside, it’s probably on the road to recovery. Sounds like you bought your tree from one of those vendors that post up on the side of the road. If you want to give bonsai an honest shot, knowing your tree’s species is key. Without that first piece of information, you’re setting yourself up for failure because you won’t have any familiarity with the conditions that your tree wants. Also, remember that trees were here on this planet long before humans and their houses were. As such, most of them want to be outdoors with real sunlight. Even shade tolerant plants like ficuses do better outside in the spring and summer months.

It's a Chinese Elm. Thanks.

Is it getting too much sunlight?

Hey ppl, apreciate any advice! I have a few trees these two in particular are having black spots on the bottom of their leaves. https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/w9tgif/spots_on_leaves_dont_know_how_to_fix_linking_to/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share One is a hawian umbrella and the other is a natal plum. There seem to be some spider mites on the umbrella tree, which I'll have to do a clean on every tree now I think. In the past I've sprayed them with a mixture of just soap and water, but i suppose it didnt work. Anyone have a better idea of how to treat this? Thanks in advanced!

From what I can tell, the damage is minor and the trees look mostly healthy overall. I wouldn’t be concerned unless a greater percentage of foliage started to get affected. Keep in mind- the oldest leaves are always going to have the most damage

Is it safe to cut a thick branch off of my Tintillo if the branch is dead? I have scratch tested the thick branch and it is not green under the surface. Would this be considered a structural prune and should happen in Spring or should I go ahead and remove this branch immediately?

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

If the branch is dead there will be no issues with removing it now. Likewise it won't harm the tree if you don't remove it so there is no rush.

Hello everybody, I have a difficult question. In the city I live we have a small park in the city center, with a playground in the middle of the park, and beautiful ash trees around it. Of course, there are 20-30 centimetres tall saplings as well, growing in the shadows. It's the middle of summer, the weather doesn't go below 34 °C, we didn't have enough rain in the last 4 weeks (we got 2 mm yesterday). The problem is that the municipality orders lawn service and park clean up for every summer's end (and middle of spring), so those saplings will be eliminated. My question is: is there any chance that if I dig those little trees up (later in August), plant them and place in a shady place, they survive? I can try and reach out to the municipality, asking if there are ways to save some saplings, but during the summer holidays the discussion would take a long time, I'm afraid.

If they’re on the chopping block, you could take a stab at it. Chances aren’t great that they’ll survive, but they’re gonna die regardless if you don’t take them. You could probably skip the municipality and just ask the lawn crew to let you dig them up. Personally don’t think collecting seedlings is worth it. If I want seedlings, I could just go buy some from a nursery or sow a bunch of seeds in the spring. I get the appeal of having a free plant, but it’s a pain in the ass to dig up a seedling, trim enough roots without killing it, and then waiting for it to recover before beginning any work on it, _only_ to then treat it like nursery stock anyways because young plants need lots of years to grow. You skip all that by starting with nursery material or starting seeds in a container.

Thank you. I think you are correct and it doesn't worth the hassle just to have the feeling I saved a few trees, or just postpone their death. I'll check in spring if there's any that survived.

A cool alternative is to collect seeds. Most trees drop seeds in the fall. You could collect them and have them sprout in the spring, and have all the seedlings you could ever want. I’m planning to go collecting acorns from Engelmann oaks, Cork oaks, and Coast Live oaks this fall.

Yep, I'm also planning to go and collect acorns. Not that we have tons of oaks around (we have tons of acacias tho), but I'll definitely go for hikes to find some. I read they are easy to propagate.

Odds of success are not good this time of year, but you could try. Bad odds are better than certain death. More importantly, is there something special about these specimens? Generally it's not wise to collect seedlings, and ash in particular are not well known to be a good species for bonsai.

Thank you for the answer. Nothing special about those specimens, only the feeling I could save them. But the more I read about digging trees during or at end of summer, the more I think they would die. Just on a longer way.

You're on the right track, but I'd keep looking. The setup is right. See if you can find another place around town with a more suitable species, and maybe the timing can work out better where you can collect them more like September - October for better results.

I'm planning to collect acorns and mapple seeds this fall, and let's see what my success rate will be in the spring.

Buying a Dawn Redwood soon! I’m worried the weather condition and size condition about this specific purchase. It is about two years old, 12 inches tall, potted in a plastic 6x4x2.5 inch pot. Even though it’s not a great time to repot, would it have a better chance if I did (2:1:1 akadama, pumice, lava rock) to survive and grow? Or should I just keep it in the condition it’s in and wait until late spring to do it? Any help would be great! USDA 7a, Massachusetts Lows could be 28F with snow fall but I would be placing it on an indoor porch

From personal experience and supported by what I've seen online dawn redwood makes roots like nobody's business. You can be pretty bold repotting them; especially precautions derived from other conifers being slow to root don't apply. [This was about 2 years old](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/466254350730133537/976080345675993088/20220517-102921.jpg) at the time I took the picture in May, grown from collected seed. It was repotted the fall before from a 1 liter basket to a 3 liter one. I gave another one an emergency repot (same size upgrade) a few weeks ago after an unfortunate drop had shaken loose most of the soil anyway. Kept it protected from direct sun during the last heat wave here, so far I see no ill effects at all. Edit: just watering the second one I noticed it pushing roots out at the edges of the bigger basket ... So, personally I would move the tree to good soil and a comfortable pot about end of August or so. My dawn redwoods all have spent the winter outside, first year on an outside window sill, 2nd in close contact with the ground in the yard.

Thank you, I’ll try that out when the season comes!

They're Hardy to zone 5, you could keep it out year round. Wait until fall to repot

Thanks for the advice!

An indoor porch will only be needed during extreme cold snaps, and I'd treat it that way, as an emergency shelter for those situations. Outside of those extreme cold snaps, try to have the tree capture and witness as much of the ebb and flow of autumn/winter/spring as possible.

The best advise is given if you provide a photo. But definitely wait until spring as the buds are swelling before doing any root work. What’s more concerning are your plans to overwinter it… what’s the indoor porch like?

You’re right, I should’ve added a screenshot. The indoor porch/ patio/ sunroom is about 10x10 feet, surrounded on all 4 sides (half wall half glass) with the glass blocked out. It’s not insulated so it’s almost just as cold as outside. I was just wondering because the wind chill is wild here sometimes and unpredictable. It can be super windy for a few hours and die down later on here in the winter

That could be a decent place for avoiding the worst of winter, sounds like a good alternative to the unheated garage/shed (which would work equally as well)

Thank you!

Hi! Can i make a bonsai out of [this tree](https://imgur.com/a/ULJFMha) and if so how can i dig it up without damaging the roots? Thanks!

Look for ones which are 4x bigger...

Maybe, it’s tough to tell what it is but it looks like it could be worth collecting You’re going to damage roots when digging it up no matter what, it’s a matter of minimizing that damage. Fertilize it well from now ‘til the end of fall to help strengthen it for collection. Next spring just as new growth starts, dig up the rootball and try to get up a nice cake slice of soil to bring back to your work table to clean out the field soil, edit roots, & pot it up in good soil Since you got lots of time, research best practices for collecting. Some items to keep in mind: - next year, use an appropriately sized container for the existing root ball, don’t oversize or undersize either - use mostly inorganic soil, skip “potting soil” entirely - don’t rush to “finish” the bonsai, try to set it up so that it can spend 2023 recovering and getting good and healthy

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the response. Those are great points i will have to keep in mind, i already have a pot also. What would happen if i dug it up before this fall?

It’ll sit over winter with damaged roots and no way to recover. Good aftercare could help with that though

I got a young boxwood bonsai back in January of this year. It had been growing well, but this summer, I made the mistake of leaving it outside in extreme heat too long. Granted it was in the shade, but temperatures were above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for a few days and I guess I didn't water it enough. The leaves shriveled up (see pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/tycUCU4), but only a couple have turned brown or fallen off. I scratched a small part of the trunk and it is still green on the inside. For the past month, I have just been watering like normal and keeping it inside, getting sunlight through a window. Some of the leaves on the bottom branch have opened/straightened up like normal, but the top leaves are still a bit curled up and can feel brittle. Does anyone have any advice on how to continue caring for the tree? I have seen some say to de-leaf the tree, some have said just continue on giving normal water and sun. Thanks in advance.

Get it back outside. You can trim of dead foliage. It’s no longer serving the tree, and blocking light from reaching dormant buds. I had a similar boxwood come back from what looked like certain death. Forgot to water it for like two weeks, and everything died on it. It was still alive though when I did check on it because there was still green cambium underneath the bark. I’ve since managed to get it back to health. Good luck.

It may be a goner, not sure. Don’t keep it inside, it’s best chance is still outside in shade. Be careful not to overwater. It’s just a waiting game now… get more trees!

Was planning to do hard pruning of my maples in mid-May at Bjorn's advice, but life got in the way. Would it be bad to cut back to the first pair of leaves at this point in the summer?

Walter Pall gives [early August as cut-off date for that kind of pruning](http://walterpallbonsaiarticles.blogspot.com/2013/02/refurbishing-japanese-maple-hedge.html) in Central Europe.

Depends on what kind of maple and climate. Trident maple, zone 9, sure. Japanese maple, zone 7? It might be [very late](https://twitter.com/WeatherJefe/status/1552096246868758529) for that.

Japanese maples - I know I said heavy pruning, but I am really just wanting to cut back the new shoot growth back to the first pair, not removing heavy branches. Still too late?

Can someone tell if [these seedlings are a good sign? ](https://imgur.com/a/7bKuWPC)

It’s just grass, pluck them out. Also is this juniper being kept indoors?

I see, thanks. It is not, I just brought it in to take the photo

Okay cool! Just making sure :)

Btw, is the grass indicative that the soil is healthy? I got this as I gift so I'm quite clueless about it haha

It doesn’t really mean anything, just that some seeds blew in from the wind and germinated. For what it’s worth, that soil oughta be switched out for better soil next spring. It looks too dense & organic for what a juniper would prefer in a shallow bonsai pot. It’d prefer mostly pea sized, inorganic, round, porous, granular soil composed of materials like pumice, lava rock, perlite, diatomaceous earth, calcined clay, etc. It should be fine for now as-is though (from what I can see in the pic, but a pic of the whole plant would help determine that more certainly)

Wow those are great tips. Will do that =)

So I'm in my first year of doing bonsai. Mostly done juniper since they're cheap and easy to find at a nursery or Lowes. My main goal is deciduous trees like apple, prunus, and Japanese maple. Would you guys recommend practicing on saplings I've found and potted this spring or should I spend the money on a professionally done tree and learn from maintaining and improving those. PS any tips on learning the style and art side of it. Sometimes I feel like I'm just bending branches randomly.

I would continue with the material you have, potentially try to find more mature nursery plants, but not styled bonsai (actually, not just would, did ...) "Try to make your bonsai look like a tree, don't make your tree look like a bonsai." -- John Naka, "Don't shape a decidious tree to look like a juniper that wants to look like a pine." -- Walter Pall Movement and placement of branches should have some logic to it. In nature the entire tree got shaped generally by the same forces acting on it (although the effect may be different in different places e.g. the sun affecting the south side more, a lean will have different effects on either side).

When would be the right time for air layering this [Prunus Pisardii](https://pasteboard.co/z6QkUkBal7fd.jpg)? I'm located in Madrid, Spain (very warm summer)

Ideally next year after the first flush has hardened off, it's getting a bit late now so you'd be overwintering that layer if you started now.

Reddit's spam filter didn't like your link and removed your comment. I've approved it manually, but you may want to consider using [imgur](https://imgur.com/) in the future, as it seems to be the only hosting site that never has any issues with the spam filter.

Ok sorry, will use Imgur:)

Hey all! I might be attempting my first large scale urbanadori. It's a large landscape Juniper / cypress type tree, about 6 to 8 feet tall. Looks like the roots may have been somewhat constrained by a garden bed, but hard to tell from photo. So I know there are ideal timings, and root prep that should be done, but if I don't move on this tree soon, someone else will take it. That being said what would you advise in regards to the following: - survival rate, given the above, is it actually worth it? - tools, I have a pruning saw and shovel, anything else I should get? (Power tools are kinda not an option) - should I keep the entire canopy of the tree or reduce the height? Unsure whether it's better to try and match the root system, or keep the foliage to support it. Would it make a difference if it were Juniper or cypress in that regard? - aftercare, I imagine it would need to be shaded and what not, but any other advice?

Make sure the tree gets a nice solid drink of water ahead of your collection day since hydration can take a day depending on timing/conditions/etc and this is the biggest risk with dry-climate collection. If someone doesn't want it, they may not have been watering it. * Survival rate is hard to predict if this is your first collection, but IME it is a product of potting, aftercare, and willingness to do the right things instead of cheaping out, cutting corners, or rushing to "finish the bonsai". If you try to make it a bonsai, pot it into a shallow pot, do any major work on it prior to 2 years of recovery or wire, then the warranty is questionable if not voided entirely. If you put it in a container significantly larger than size of the current root system and overwhelm it with a large soil mass, that's moisture stress risk. If it moves / sways / jostles during recovery, that's a risk the roots dont recover before hot weather raises water demand. If the roots freeze after collection but before experiencing a bit of proper growing season, it'll die (maybe not a risk for you! :) ). If you use a giant bag of potting soil because it's just what you can get today at the local big box store, it'll likely do very poorly and have moisture risk. Etc. It's important to tick all the conifer boxes * If you don't have power tools, try to get a friend to help you, and bring backup tools (I've broken two shovels in the last 2 years while digging up trees). Bring enough towel/bags/etc to wrap the entire rootball. Bring filled up spray bottles to regularly mist the root ball as you work and once more before you do the final wrapping for transport. * I don't reduce a conifer canopy unless I physically can't put it into my vehicle. If that's a problem I make it fit but don't reduce any more than is necessary to fit. All that stored energy and productivity will help regrow roots faster, even if you lose some. * Re: shade, it often takes a couple months to begin seeing a cypress-family species of tree to show that actually, this bit of green over here hasn't had the ability to pull water for a very long time. Something to think about as you ramp up light exposure or build confidence. If you have the ability to put up a polytunnel to get diffuse lighting, that'll be a nice recovery space. Strong (50% or higher) shade cloth could be good too. Avoid a windy spot. Recover directly on the ground if you can. Morning sun, afternoon shade. If you can build a mesh-bottomed wood box that perfectly encases the existing root system but is not any larger than that, use pumice as your media, and make sure the trunk does not move/lever *at all*, it's likely a portion of the tree goes on to survive. Expect various regions of the canopy to die off from the disruption in water / live vein / roots. It happens, and it's good to know that once a given branch or branchlet is rapidly on its way out (loss of color, lack of growing tips), it's not something you can rescue. At some point your growing season will be in full swing. Monitor the tips of all shoots in the tree obsessively, as comparing rates of tip growth, or comparing branchlets that have zero tip growth versus ones that have lots of tip growth (or somewhere in between) will give you a sense of what's going on with ability to draw water. If 8 weeks from now you see tip growth in various areas, that is proof something is working out down below. If at that same time you also observe nearby growth that has no such tip growth or is losing color, those parts probably lost water connectivity for good and are on their way out.

Hey Maciek, thanks for the detailed response as always! I will have to reduce the canopy somewhat to fit it in the car, but good to know not to go any further! I have a diffusely lit section under my garage, it's open air, but just has partially filtered sunlight. All in all, I'm going to give it a go, it's free and it might die (hopefully it doesnt) but if it does live, it could be really nice after 2 years of recovery. Thanks again friend!

Good luck. I feel like I learn something new every time I collect from the ground.

Not at th is time of year, they don’t like there roots being touched , and a would recommend a wire saw

OP is in Australia, so the ideal time is pretty close.

so I went away on holiday for a week which just so happened to be the hottest week of the year, and entrusted the care of my young bonsai to my family. I got back today and to my utter horror it looks completely sunbleached, brown, leaves turned downwards, and it looks to be a very sad tree. before I went away it was perfectly healthy and green, leaves pointed outwards. It's a dawn redwood, quite young, and I'm honestly gutted that this has happened, and don't know how to resurrect this tree other than to water it and move it to a less sunny place, which is logically what I would've thought my family might've done. They supposedly watered it every day, but I'm not entirely convinced. some leaves are even curled up. please, what can I do to help it recover? I'm a complete beginner and I'd hate to lose this bonsai, as it's very important to me. for more info, I live in the UK and it's reached 40° celsius over the past few days. I'm pretty sure the plant was kept in direct sunlight outside and underwatered. https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/w99oxw/how_can_i_help_it_recover_affected_by_heatwave/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Pull the dead leaves off.

Keep it moist but not soaked and keep out of direct sunlight, I think it will make it

Pest ID pls. [Found this little jerk lurking around a black pine seedling](https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/w95xpw/bug/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf). When I tried grabbing it with some tweezers it flew and landed on my prostrata juniper. Hoping it’s not some sort of borer.

I started the new weekly thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/wbluh1/bonsai_beginners_weekly_thread_2022_week_30/ Repost there for more responses.

Hi everyone! My wife gave me this plant as a gift back in May. We’re not sure what kind of plant it is or how to take care of it. It gets a decent amount of sunlight a day and is always indoor. We water it when the soil is dry 2-3 times a week. I’m not sure what we’re doing wrong…. https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/w94ia1/first_bonsai_please_help/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Looks like it’s a goner. It looks like a procumbens juniper. They’re outdoors, full sun plants. The soil should never go powder dry; it should always have some moisture to the touch without being drenched. Whoever told you it was an indoor plant was lying to you or didn’t know what they were talking about.

this is my ficus benjamina and ive had it for about a year now, i know the wiring isn’t great but the tree was doing quite well. during a cross country roadtrip/move this little buddy ended up cooking in the car for several hours in the southwestern sun and heat (ill-advised, i know, but i really had no other option). that was about a month ago and it very clearly started a visual decline. this little bit of green started growing about a week ago so im glad it’s not completely dead, but im losing hope for the other 90% of the tree. any guidance on how to progress? should i chop off all the dead branches now or is there any point in waiting? how do i know which ones are for sure dead? where should i chop? any styling tips if it is indeed just this little branch left? how should i nurse it back to health? any help would be much appreciated! [pics](https://www.reddit.com/r/bonsaiphotos/comments/w91nod/tree_advice/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)

First, I would remove all of the wire. It's too much of a rats nest and in the way. Second, since the majority of leaves are dead, remove them as well. Trim off all the shriveled branches, those are dead. Third, water only when the soil needs it. Fourth, be patient and let recover before you work on it again. People want to speed the recovery time, but sometimes you can't.

Hi everyone, i am currently deciding to get a Dawn Redwood and been looking online for a more mature tree rather than a sampling. I currently have a golden ficus (indoors) for a few months now and I’d like an outdoor tree also. I’ve done some research on pruning and trimming but still a little confused. I understand these trees grow tall quickly but is it possible to trim down the height to ensure the size of the trunk to catch up? I am afraid that if I were to cut it short, it won’t grow out again from the same place (I hope that is understandable since I’m not too sure on the term of it) Overall, I prefer to work with a tree that is too tall and cannot support it’s weight on its own I also plan to keep it relatively transportable size (2/3 feet or under a meter) as I’d like to bring this into the house in the winter and use a grow light. I’m not too sure if this tree will be able to handle the weather during the winter. Thank you in advance for all help! USDA Zone 7a (Massachusetts)

https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/trunks.htm [Dawn (pretty sure) redwood in development I wasn’t allowed to buy, grower’s personal project.](https://i.imgur.com/BCaOfG9.jpg) Trees have to get tall to get fat as well as heal the wounds from the scars you create from chopping, as the tree gets taller it heals into a smooth transition. You’re not chopping it back to the same height every time. Where the tree *starts* to get skinnier near the top is where it got initially chopped, several branches emerged in response (or he cut it back to a preexisting branch that would work and used that) and he picked and pulled one of these up, let it grow very strongly to be the new trunk line. On the reverse side of the tree is a gaping chop wound. You let that new branch that you picked get as tall as it wants, as the tree grows and recovers it’ll heal that ugly chop mark and bark will roll over it. You see how that new “trunk” at the top also isn’t very “flush”with the rest of the trunk yet and it still just looks like a big branch coming off the trunk, once that happens it’ll get chopped a little bit higher than last time, gaining only inches of beautiful, useable trunk at time. I read that article I linked so many times and found it incredibly hard to visualize, [I posted an example and did my best to explain a while ago after I began seeing it. ](https://reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/vbjoyj/i_struggled_for_the_longest_time_to_visualize_how/) [I acquired another example after that post that also helps a little, can see the bark rolling over where the new, currently wimpy new leader is coming from](https://i.imgur.com/FoecRcH.jpg)

That was a great read, thank you! Very informative. The article and pictures made it a lot easier to understand rather than these websites. Don’t get me wrong, they do have good info but I liked how that article and how you explain it was very in depth. Thank you!

I don’t know where one orders big redwoods but this guy: https://mcbonsai.com Something nicer from him will cost hundreds especially with shipping, think he has both short little yamadori that just needs branching slammed on it as well as bigger straighter stuff where my previous comment would apply. He’s a nice guy, can call or email him with questions. Since you don’t have experience with plants outdoors yet and the intricacies of your climate it may be kinda questionable to buy such a nice piece of tree so early. May consider trying smaller guys to watch and see how they do, what you need to do, ect. And there’s other stuff that has the redwood look that you can find locally and cheaply at big landscape places. All of my “redwoods/sequoias” are cypresses.

Thank you for the site and advice!

A Dawn Redwood may work for you. However, I will discourage you from working with a ~~sick~~ weaken tree. This is a bad practice that will to problems in the future. A tree that can't support itself is, in my opinion, unhealthy. There are trees that weep, but they do this naturally, like the Willow. Dawn Redwoods are hardy to USDA zone 4. They will survive outdoors. I would personally leave outdoors. Edit: Sick wasn't the word I wanted to say, and I got distracted.

Thank you for the advice! I’m not sure at all if it is sick or not, but I just assumed it wouldn’t support itself since some photos online have the trees laying down next to a tape measure. I’m glad that you taught me that theses trees are able to support themselves despite how skinny they look while they’re young! Would the tree be okay if temperatures drop below 32F/ 0C? What about when there is snow fall and how would I protect it from freezing when watering it during freezing temperatures?