Great video - full of useful information. Excellent trees too. I like that you included thuja, which I haven't seen on many beginner lists - in my limited experience with thuja, I agree, thuja is tough and makes a great beginning tree. Other good beginner species in my opinion are maples and cotoneaster.
Thanks!! To be honest, in terms of maples I have only worked with deshojo so far (I should really expand my collection on that front) and they tend to be touchy imo. Haven’t found any exciting cotoneaster material so far but I’d like to give them a go as well!
@@Bonsaifly Yes, I have heard that shin deshojo is considered an 'improved' version of deshojo, suggesting deshojo could be a bit finicky. The plain species Acer Palmatum is not finicky (in the right climate).
Moin David, bin gestern auf deinen Kanal gestoßen und begeistert.... bin Anfänger, aber wenn ich sehe was du in so kurzer Zeit aufgebaut hast... Respekt! Beste Grüße, Thomas
Hi Thomas! Freut mich, dass Dir mein Kanal gefällt. Ja genau, mache Bonsai seit ca 4,5 Jahren und hatte nur minimales Budget aber über die Jahre ist die Sammlung ganz gut gewachsen :)
@@Bonsaifly so sehe ich auch meinen Weg... neben den ganzen anderen Hobbys, wie Pflanzenzucht, Zierfische, Garnelen, Holzwerkstatt (Winter)... es macht einfach Spass und meine Enkelkinder kann ich so immer wieder für etwas begeistern. Beste Grüße aus dem sonnigen Stade, Thomas
I brought a Chinese juniper tree yesterday but I had to cut it down to the roots. Now the tree is about a meter tall and has a few weak roots and no branches or leaves on its trunk because all the branches and leaves were on the top and bottom of the tree trunk. After cutting the trunk, the tree has no branches or leaves. I put it in the soil and applied some rooting hormone to its weak roots. Maybe it will get a little better. Do you think the tree can grow new branches or not? Of course, the tree is about forty years old. Thank you. Of course, I want to bring two small seedlings of fifty or thirty centimeters home today and graft their trunks to the old tree in a way that I do not cut off the trunk of the young trees until the young seedlings continue to grow, so that the old tree can also get some energy from them, and I will also graft two juniper gini cuttings to the old tree so that perhaps the old tree will be encouraged in this way and the cuttings will start to grow on the old tree. Do you think this is always good or not? Does it not give a positive answer in the survival of the old tree? Or do you think there is no need to do these things and the cuttings and the old tree will start to sprout on its own after a while from the old trunk? I would appreciate your guidance.
Team Ficus! I also don't understand why they are frowned upon by many practitioners. You can get so creative with them and it is very rewarding to work with them as they grow so fast! Nice Video, thanks a lot!
Thanks for all this info! I'm very new at Bonsai having only really started this spring as my yard is covered with new sugar maple seedings, and even a couple of oaks that seeded last year, I potted about twenty of the very tiny maples some with their seeds still attached and no leaves yet, and they came up very well. Others I pulled out of the leaf mold and sat them in bonsai soil with peat, perlite, and some potting soil, and 90% survived and are doing well. I also have an eastern white cedar that I got free after Christmas as my very first. It's so cool to go out every morning and see all these babies reaching for the sun! I also purchased two black cherries and wisteria from another plant lover. What do you think of boxwood for beginners?
Sounds like a great start! I always try to encourage people to get some bigger trees instead of starting from seed because growing from seed (whilst fun) is going to be a long process until you can actually work on the material. I’d say go for a 30€($) tree and get the technique down. Boxwood is actually not a bad starter but it does grow very slowly and here in Europe we have a big plague of boxwood borer, so you’ll have to check them for that a lot and treat them at the earliest possible moment otherwise these pests will only take a couple of days to pretty much ruin a tree
@@Bonsaifly Thanks for the reply. I only started the baby maples because I have about a million sprouting all over my yard! They're fighting so hard to survive I just couldn't mow them down. I also have a few 2-4-year-old other species that I'll be able to work with sooner. I've left them in 12" or 1-gallon pots to let the trunks get thicker. There are a couple of nice little pine trees nearby that'll be taken as yamadori next year.
I‘d say you’re right in terms of back budding and forgiving pruning mistakes, plus bending is quite easy. I do find they are trickier than junipers or Thuja though, especially in terms of resistance to summer heat and cold temperatures
id add in the regular acer palmatum japanese maple. they are just as easy as ficus. and they are cold hardy down to a zone 4 or 5. i wish i knew that sooner. new sub and thumbs up for you. happy bonsai'ing!
Thanks for the support man, glad to have you here. I actually didn’t know that, I only have one Deshojo and that one is very finicky. I‘ll give the regular variety a go!! ✨
The Spekboom (Jade) is a very common tree in South Africa. It is edible, as previously commented, and is the staple food of elephants in the Ado Elephant Reserve. I had a triple trunk Jade. I separated it and bound the three trunks together to form a big trunk, trained it as a root-over-rock, pruned and wired it in one go. Still growing strong through heat waves and downpours. Can take a lot of 'abuse' from beginners
@@Bonsaifly You lived in the US, I figure. Anyway, I am into Bonsai since a few short years and I like your approach. Just got a Lidl 5€ Ficus yesterday here in Germany. I also have a Jade amd Acer Palmatums. Your trees are awsome. I will subscribe and leave some comments here and there.
Great video - full of useful information. Excellent trees too. I like that you included thuja, which I haven't seen on many beginner lists - in my limited experience with thuja, I agree, thuja is tough and makes a great beginning tree. Other good beginner species in my opinion are maples and cotoneaster.
Thanks!!
To be honest, in terms of maples I have only worked with deshojo so far (I should really expand my collection on that front) and they tend to be touchy imo. Haven’t found any exciting cotoneaster material so far but I’d like to give them a go as well!
@@Bonsaifly Yes, I have heard that shin deshojo is considered an 'improved' version of deshojo, suggesting deshojo could be a bit finicky. The plain species Acer Palmatum is not finicky (in the right climate).
Dude, great informative video. I live in Northern Ireland and for my climate I completely agree with your choice of varieties for beginners.
Thanks man!
Yeah I reckon it’s probably similar to northern Germany (at least whenever we have a cold year)
Moin David, bin gestern auf deinen Kanal gestoßen und begeistert.... bin Anfänger, aber wenn ich sehe was du in so kurzer Zeit aufgebaut hast... Respekt! Beste Grüße, Thomas
Hi Thomas! Freut mich, dass Dir mein Kanal gefällt. Ja genau, mache Bonsai seit ca 4,5 Jahren und hatte nur minimales Budget aber über die Jahre ist die Sammlung ganz gut gewachsen :)
@@Bonsaifly so sehe ich auch meinen Weg... neben den ganzen anderen Hobbys, wie Pflanzenzucht, Zierfische, Garnelen, Holzwerkstatt (Winter)... es macht einfach Spass und meine Enkelkinder kann ich so immer wieder für etwas begeistern. Beste Grüße aus dem sonnigen Stade, Thomas
I brought a Chinese juniper tree yesterday but I had to cut it down to the roots. Now the tree is about a meter tall and has a few weak roots and no branches or leaves on its trunk because all the branches and leaves were on the top and bottom of the tree trunk. After cutting the trunk, the tree has no branches or leaves. I put it in the soil and applied some rooting hormone to its weak roots. Maybe it will get a little better. Do you think the tree can grow new branches or not? Of course, the tree is about forty years old. Thank you. Of course, I want to bring two small seedlings of fifty or thirty centimeters home today and graft their trunks to the old tree in a way that I do not cut off the trunk of the young trees until the young seedlings continue to grow, so that the old tree can also get some energy from them, and I will also graft two juniper gini cuttings to the old tree so that perhaps the old tree will be encouraged in this way and the cuttings will start to grow on the old tree. Do you think this is always good or not? Does it not give a positive answer in the survival of the old tree? Or do you think there is no need to do these things and the cuttings and the old tree will start to sprout on its own after a while from the old trunk? I would appreciate your guidance.
Team Ficus!
I also don't understand why they are frowned upon by many practitioners.
You can get so creative with them and it is very rewarding to work with them as they grow so fast!
Nice Video, thanks a lot!
You’re welcome and i completely agree, Ficus are definitely in my top 5 favorites
Thanks for all this info! I'm very new at Bonsai having only really started this spring as my yard is covered with new sugar maple seedings, and even a couple of oaks that seeded last year, I potted about twenty of the very tiny maples some with their seeds still attached and no leaves yet, and they came up very well. Others I pulled out of the leaf mold and sat them in bonsai soil with peat, perlite, and some potting soil, and 90% survived and are doing well. I also have an eastern white cedar that I got free after Christmas as my very first. It's so cool to go out every morning and see all these babies reaching for the sun! I also purchased two black cherries and wisteria from another plant lover.
What do you think of boxwood for beginners?
Sounds like a great start! I always try to encourage people to get some bigger trees instead of starting from seed because growing from seed (whilst fun) is going to be a long process until you can actually work on the material. I’d say go for a 30€($) tree and get the technique down.
Boxwood is actually not a bad starter but it does grow very slowly and here in Europe we have a big plague of boxwood borer, so you’ll have to check them for that a lot and treat them at the earliest possible moment otherwise these pests will only take a couple of days to pretty much ruin a tree
@@Bonsaifly Thanks for the reply. I only started the baby maples because I have about a million sprouting all over my yard! They're fighting so hard to survive I just couldn't mow them down. I also have a few 2-4-year-old other species that I'll be able to work with sooner. I've left them in 12" or 1-gallon pots to let the trunks get thicker. There are a couple of nice little pine trees nearby that'll be taken as yamadori next year.
beautiful work
Thank you 🙏🏼
I think the yew is also a good beginner tree as long as you water it, it seems to grow vigorously as well
I‘d say you’re right in terms of back budding and forgiving pruning mistakes, plus bending is quite easy. I do find they are trickier than junipers or Thuja though, especially in terms of resistance to summer heat and cold temperatures
@@Bonsaifly I will keep that in mind, I've only had it a few months
Hello, where are you from? Really like your videoes and you got some good tips and nice trees :)
Germany
Thank you ✨
id add in the regular acer palmatum japanese maple. they are just as easy as ficus. and they are cold hardy down to a zone 4 or 5. i wish i knew that sooner. new sub and thumbs up for you. happy bonsai'ing!
Thanks for the support man, glad to have you here. I actually didn’t know that, I only have one Deshojo and that one is very finicky. I‘ll give the regular variety a go!! ✨
Can you make a video on care of mini Muraya Paniculata
I don’t have one unfortunately so I wouldn’t know
Interesting note about all five highlighted species: Juniper, Thuja, Ficus, Jade and Elm... they all root easily from cuttings.
Yes!! Totally should’ve mentioned that haha
Fun fact: the leaves of the Pafra Tree (Portulacaria Afra) are edible! They are used for salads in South Africa.
Holy sh** I‘ll add some to my salad next time I have one
안녕하세요.나는대한민국에서분재나무를키우고 있습니다 .영상을잘감상을했습니다.감사합니다.👍👏👏👏😀🤗
I‘m glad you liked it!! Have fun with your Bonsai ✨
The Spekboom (Jade) is a very common tree in South Africa. It is edible, as previously commented, and is the staple food of elephants in the Ado Elephant Reserve.
I had a triple trunk Jade. I separated it and bound the three trunks together to form a big trunk, trained it as a root-over-rock, pruned and wired it in one go. Still growing strong through heat waves and downpours. Can take a lot of 'abuse' from beginners
Yes, they are such a great species for beginners to learn on. And very satisfying to work with even years into the process
Dude, if you are german, your english is bad ass....
Thanks, much appreciated! ✨
@@Bonsaifly You lived in the US, I figure. Anyway, I am into Bonsai since a few short years and I like your approach. Just got a Lidl 5€ Ficus yesterday here in Germany. I also have a Jade amd Acer Palmatums. Your trees are awsome. I will subscribe and leave some comments here and there.