styling advise please

[matt_95]

Hi guys,

I bought this grevilea the other ay but I didn't check very well for nebari. It only has them on one side so I was thinking of doing wind swept. It would have stronger roots on one side to hold it's self up right? Also if you see any branches That need to go please let me know. I honestly have very little idea what to do here, I'm not good at visualising. I apreciate any help. If its no gopod for a bonsai please tell me too.
Nebari

The trunk naturally leans in this direction

Front?

Some branch structure


Matt

Edit, I think the front should be slightly anti-clockwise of how I took the picture if that makes sense.

[Jamie]

gday mate

my advice would be to get all the branches wired out, even if you plan on cutting it back, its not a problem, just snip the wire before you cut the branch. then you will have played with it a little and will know the branching. this helped me out a lot when I started. as for design that is entirely up to you, if you want a windswept though, these can be difficult to pull off convincingly. so in saying that you should take some time and google windswept bonsai, find a few pics you like, and try and recreate it.

trying to recreate other bonsai is a great way of learning and finding where your styling skills are at. remember with a windswept it nearly needs to be like you are standing there next to the tree and nearly being blown over from the wind!

oh, the other thing, do a little research but I think grevillea are a little notorious for refusal of back budding so be careful

[matt_95]

Ok, I'll do that, is 1mm wire ok? I was in a rush and grabbed that. I've been looking at wind swept, it does look really hard. I'll just have to experiment then.

I would really like something like this: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl= ... =125&ty=95 but the trunk isn't straight and if its not going to back bud I can't do that easily can I? I'll do some more research. Thank-you for your input.

Oh, please excuse the hole in the floor, the original owners did a really bad job of laying the tiles

[matt_95]

Is there anything I can do to disguise the fact that it only has nebari on one side?

[Jamie]

mate, something like that is very much acheivable! dont be concerned with the lower trunk line, that is fine, if you try and recreate the canopy you will have a nice little tree!
1mm wire will be fine for the smaller branches. test the branches to see if they will flex and hold by comparing the same with the wire. just in the tips of your fingers will be fine. if the branches arent going to hold you will need a thicker wire. what I do is if it needs that bit thicker wire but you dont want to use it is to double the wire over itself, with the loop end start at the trunk and wire a branch out with it, then you can "split" the wire in half to wire two branchlets. alternatively you can cut two strands of wire and wire two main branches out starting from the trunk, wiring one branch one way and the other the opposite. then "splitting" those wires after you have wired the part that needs stronger wire and then wire two branchlets on each major branch.

(was that clear???) double wiring can work a treat and most good bonsai books will show you how to do it!

re- nebari. cut the bark a little bit where you want more roots, put on some hormone and cover with soil. this time next year you should have a good start to the new nebari

[matt_95]

Thanks again it has new branches growing out of pretty much every node so I don't really need to worry about back budding do I? I'll start wiring it soon and post some pictures. Thanks for the tip about the wire.

I'll do that to, does it need to be any special sort of rooting hormone? I have a jar of powder here somewhere.

[matt_95]

I just went down to experiment on it and felt extremly lost and unsure what to do. How far back should I take the branches? I'm going to the library in the next few days to get some bonsai books so I'll read them too.

[shibui]

You can cut most branches back as far as the first few leaves if necessary. It will shoot from anywhere there is a leaf. You should expect it to take some time to get a good bonsai from any nursery stock so do not expect a masterpiece from the first pruning. Prune with future development in mind so you develop your masterpiece little by little over a number of years.
I would not be too worried about the roots yet. They actually look pretty good in the pics for such a young tree. Just keep them covered with mix and you will be surprised how well they will develop.
Good on you for trying a grevillea. Please keep good records of when you pruned and wired, etc and photos to show the results (good or bad) so we can add the information to the Australian Natives as Bonsai database to help future native bonsai enthusiasts.

[matt_95]

So should I plant it in the ground? If I prune it will the branches stop thickening? I think I'll give it a prune tonight and then I'll wire it. How many years do you think it will take to develop a good bonsai?

Is there any where I can buy stock that's pretty much ready to go in a pot? I'm looking at buying a bulk amount of some sort of maple to grow on and try a forest bonsai, any ideas where I could buy them in bulk?

I'll definatly make a thread in there, I really like the look of native bonsai and I thought the leaves on this suited this style. I want try a eucalypt too eventually, my uncle has a property perfect for it, I might burn some too, I really like how they look when they have been burnt.

[LLK]

Matt, I saw you live in Brisbane. There are two very good bonsai clubs in Brisbane where you would get all the help you need, now and in the future. See
http://www.bonsaisocietyqld.asn.au/ and http://www.bimerbonsai.org.au/

[matt_95]

I've already found a club, the Redlands one, the others are too far away. Thanks anyway though

I just got back from the library with The Art of Bonsai Design and Bonsai with Australian Native Plants.

[matt_95]

It got a very big hair cut I decided that since the trunk is so small is will be one of those really small one, shohin or something. Its very lopsided though, one side has no branches, Will more grow? It never had any there

I couldn't get wiring it right, I ended up doing something wierd with the one branch That wasn't growing at the right angle. Let me know what you think please. I'll repot it so the trunk is verticle.
http://s869.photobucket.com/upload/albums/mthom211/

[shibui]

A few answers to your many questions:

Pruning will slow thickening but it is the best way to develop a good branch structure. put the tree into a larger pot and keep the feed and water up to it and it will still thicken ok. Good bonsai requires patience.

I would not put this one in the ground. There is too juch risk that by the time you get around to pruning it there will be no leaves where you want to prune and, as pointed out earlier, grevillea is not known for shooting from bare wood. Maybe when you have more experience with grevillea and ground growing techniques but not at this stage.

Look for stock at local bonsai nurseries and from members of your club. Some Ausbonsai members offer trees for sale from time to time - check through the For sale/ wanted to buy section for what has been offered then keep your eyes open when new posts are made. Some members grow trees for sale commercially. I might be able to help but others also sell trees including Bodhi and Leigh Tafe. Work out what species, size and shape you would like and how much you are willing to pay and PM me and I'll try to pick something that might suit.
Check with other local growers fro species that do well in your area and which do not. Some traditional temperate species do not like the tropics.
I will have trident and Japanese maple seedlings for sale bare root as soon as i get around to getting them out of the seedling boxes.

You now say the tree is lopsided with no branches on one side. This is ideal for a windswept bonsai. Also please do not repot it so the trunk is upright. Windswept trees have the trunk leaning, sometimes very leaning because of the constant wind from when they were tiny seedlings. Even most upright styles are better when the trunk leans a bit.

[matt_95]

Somebody did say I ask a lot of questions

I'll go down to the fruit market this week and get a box for it, I don't have any large pots. When it grows new branches how lond do I wait until I prune it? And how many nodes do I leave on?

What species would be recomendrd for me to start ground growing? Mum won't like me having pots all over the yard. Would maples be good? I love decidous treed, there are very few in my area though, one day I want to go to Europe in autumn to see the trees change colour.

The bonsai nurseries are to far for me to go, I'll be buying online or from a club.

I'm not sure what size and shape yet, I definatly won't Japanese Maples, they look great, turns out my neighbour has one, I never knew. I'll be after 10 or so small ones for a forest grouping and the rest I'll grow on. I might get some trident maples to (can you tell I like decidous plants yet?) now I know they grow in Brisbane I want to grow some weeping maples on the nature strip.

I'm reading through my book now so hopefully it will inspire me. I'm still in the elm chapter though. Sorry again for all the questions, hopefully I will be answering some soon.

[matt_95]

I just realised I didn't link the album properly.
http://s869.photobucket.com/albums/ab25 ... 11/Bonsai/