For "Advanced" Bonsaist's only please.

[bodhidharma]

I hope the heading got your ATTENTION. I would love this to be an all fun thread for people who have been at our Art form for a number of years. We spend a lot of time helping out and maybe we could enjoy trotting out our first attempts when we first began Bonsai and had our "sticks in pots" and thought they were glorious. I have kept this little tree to remind me of one of my first ever (what i thought anyway) real, fair dinkum styling jobs when it was a stick.I was so proud of it in all its wire and thought i had created a great Masterpiece. Fifteen years later and a lot of hindsight it is now this. Not a great Masterpiece but it grows on and i have now began to make new plans for the tree. I ignored it for to long as it got swallowed up in my new acquisitions and knowledge but i will change that and pay a little more attention to it from now on. NOTE, it has never been in a Bonsai pot and has only been repotted three times in its life. Shame on me. IF YOU HAVE STILL GOT ONE OF YOUR FIRST EVER STYLINGS AND HAVE SOME TIME UNDER YOUR BELT IN BONSAI PLEASE SHARE ITS STORY WITH US AND THE NEWER PEOPLE WHO SHOULDNT BE READING THIS BUT ARE

[daiviet_nguyen]

Hi bodhidharma,

I appreciate the message in this post I still have a few of my first trees (a few have got stolen!)

I will post them later on as Progression in the New Year.

All the best in the New Year bodhidharma.

Best regards.

PS: By the way, I like the look of your first tree too.

[Bretts]

Here is my stick in a pot Bodi. I am still told to chop it down but that won't be happening

jimmy.jpg

A little unkempt with big leaves as it is a growing out season

[bodhidharma]

Good for you Daiviet and Brett's, come on people bring out those skeletons. You know you want to.

[bodhidharma]

Hmmm..72 views and 2 reply's, must be a lot of newby's breaking rules or a lot of seasoned performers not willing to bring out their history's

[Jarrod]

Heres mine, moving away from a stick in a pot now, and i now hate figs!

[bodhidharma]

You and me both Brother.

[Pup]

This is the first what was called a Bonsai, it was won in a raffle in 1980. The one to the right is the top of this tree, that I cut off when telling Jon, one of the founding members of this club to get some balls referring to cutting trees back.

The tree in question is a PJ and stands 20cm from the pot to the tip.

The other trees posted here, are for the members who are not supposed to be reading this thread . The group are Melaleuca rhaphiophylla, the cutting were struck in October of 2009.
The single trunk is a Melaleuca cuticularis also struck in October 2009. They are small but do not have to be sticks put some shape into them.

The first tree also has a lot of attachment for Mrs Pup, so it does not get too much styling other than defoliation. As with all things when the wife claims it

Cheers Pup

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I thought I had better clarify one point, the advance bit, I am an advanced beginner plus a perpetual learner, Pup

[bodhidharma]

Thanks Pup and Mrs Pup. Great contribution. Love the little Fig. I wish they would grow well over here but,.. unfortunately

[MattA]

Bodhi & all,

This is the tree I have had the longest, not just a stick but a tiny seedling with 2 sets of leaves when it was dug in 1986. In 1997 it had progressed a bit but was still essentially a stick in a pot. In 2008 it flowered for the first time ever and I decided to plant it in the ground to GROW! Drawing inspiration from yourself I have started anew with this tree, no longer am i going to try to keep it little.. I want this baby BIG & bold when in full flower. It has just started pushing new shoots after the major reworking it has received. The first branch is now the trunk, trunk will be start of the 1st branch.

jacky97.jpg

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jaccy dec23.jpg

This is the next oldest tree in terms of how long I have had it. It always had a nice flare to the base but no matter what I was never happy, The crown has been removed 3-4times over the last 20yrs & most of that time it was neglected. As with the Jaccy it was planted in the ground 2yrs ago. In that time I regrew a new upper half, only to chop it off again a few months ago. Apart from a few scars etc that still need working I am, for the first time ever, happy with how this tree looks & where it is going. It was dug 2wks ago & is pumping buds everywhere, almost time to get in & sort out what i keep or dont from the framework. I am aiming for a single foliage cloud just hanging in the ether.

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Matt

[bodhidharma]

Fantastic contribution Matt. i would love to see the Jac in flower please. When it does it of course

[craigw60]

Heres my first tree, initially styled at a CAE. class in 1982, its a lemon scented tea tree (just pruned ant re-potted). I was told at the time it is an inappropriate selection and would never make a good bonsai. This tree has survived more assassination attempts than Fidel Castro.
Craigw

[Ash]

Hi bodhidharma,

My first bonsai I still have- it is a fig I have had since 1994 when I started bonsai. I have written about it previously in this post: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4343&start=0
Below are some photographs- the first photo was taken when it had been in my care for a year but when it was still a stick without much taper. The second is a photo from sometime earlier this year.

Fig1.jpg

Fig4.jpg

regards

Ash

[bodhidharma]

Thank you Craig And Ash. Nice to see the trees starting to come out of the woodwork now. No pun intended The novice's reading this (although unauthorized) can see that trees do grow and become something pleasing to the eye.

[MattA]

Fantastic contribution Matt. i would love to see the Jac in flower please. When it does it of course

Bodhi,

My thanks to you for your thought provoking posts. With posting you trees and how you plan to improve them or (not), I have started looking at mine with new eyes. (With regards not, it was a post of yours about one of your first trees & not wanting to change it as a reminder of where you came from that started me planning Jaccy's rebuilding)

Jaccy didnt flower this year as I pruned way too late in the season. I had always wondered if it was pruning or age that made the diff with these guys. Well it isnt age, my 4yr old seedlings in the garden have flowered since there second spring & a friend has a large pot planted one that flowers profusely each year (he never prunes) I will definitely post pics when she finally flowers, or rather, when I finally allow her to flower again. Time to stop playing with it & let it grow into what it wants to be... A TREE not a bonsai... I have told it can be both & it has accepted the compromise, 4' instead of 40', far from my orig desire of just 12". That will be for another jaccy.

Matt