Hi tony,bonsai is everlasting,a tree is never finished,even 100 year old trees are never finished.thats why your never to old to start bonsai growing .your trees are never finished and neither are anyone else’s.hope you know what I mean.
I do indeed Brian. We are just a part of the life of a bonsai. I enjoy being the person at the beginning, but I would like to think that long after I am gone, other people are enjoying caring for the trees I started.
Totally agree tony, nothing ventured nothing gained... And bonsai can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. From free trees and perlite n some less than perfect soil to big expensive bonsai with akadama and fancy things . just because it costs a ton doesn't make it better. Bonsai is for everyone! I'd rather dig up a small tree that cost $0 and have it die than buy a $300 50 year old tree and have it go to the big planter in the sky.. But to each their own. Great work as usual!
Personally I fiddled with a few trees for a few years first, things that didn’t cost me much. I did it in normal flower pots and seed trays with easy species. Once I started - I couldn’t stop. I was bought a proper real tree for my 18th once I had decided I could have a good go at keeping it healthy. I’m 47 this year and I decided yesterday that that particular tree, a Japanese maple doesn’t need a repot this time, it’s about to sprout this years leaves. I’ve had successes and failures, I’ve lost a few great trees and others just never seem to go anywhere but I have successes and some great trees and a few interesting projects. The best way to start bonsai is to dive in and hack plants to bits, if you keep things alive and enjoy it and it’s not a chore to work on them and you have the confidence to do the work then continue. Many cheap small bonsai trees die in the hands of people who assume they know what they are doing and don’t realise that a tree needs to be kept moist and doesn’t want to be sitting in a soaking wet drip tray. I saw much the same thing working with tropical plants, people would often remark that “I can’t keep anything alive” and the conversation would pan out into my realisation that rather than do a bit of research as to how to look after plants - they would assume that they knew how and so never learned very much whilst their plants perished. I used to try to sow some seeds as to general plant care. Often these people wanted to have healthy plants but assumed that you were either green fingered or not. I used to point out that I wasn’t born with green fingers - I learned from books and mistakes. I didn’t used to like the comment “oh, you must have green fingers” because I simply had an interest which I then built up the skills towards. All very similar to what you are doing Tony but not on the same scale that you are! A hundred odd trees is twice as many as I’ve accumulated in nearly 30 years!
Interesting stuff Jacob. Sounds like you were hooked from a young age. I definitely agree with you about diving in and hacking plants. That's the fun, and that's how we learn. As for the 100 trees, it's more like 400 and growing 🤣. To be fair though, most of them are very much pre-bonsai.
Hoi Tony. Het belangrijkste bij een hobby bonsai is plezier hebben en ontspanning.dat daarbij een goede bonsai ontstaat is mee genomen.groeten uit the Nederland Catharina Packe
Very cool project Tony. To bad you lost two of the trees off the start, but that is part of the fun gamble in discount tree shopping. I look forward to seeing were this goes. Thank you for sharing!
Ah, just when I thought I had enough trees… I suddenly feel inspired to give it a go! Can’t decide whether to clump them or go for more younger seedlings in a forest style 🤔 great vid! All the best 👍🏻
Very grateful to you, Tony, for all this video output and the experimental approach. Looking forward to seeing the results of all your projects. Hope you complained about those 2 dead £2 Acers, disgraceful!
What’s up dude. Now now Tony. That top part will dry out in summer supper quick. If it was me, I’d wrap the top part in cling film to keep it from drying out. But that is me, pinch of salt and all that 😂
I'm not so sure mate. After filming, I covered it in moss, so with a bit of luck the moss and regular watering will keep that nice and wet. The problem I see with cling film could be a lack of oxygen and possible root rot
Another great RoR experiment by Professor Tony. In 2 years time, I bet the roots will be holding tight and much of the muck can be removed. Nice work as always. I’m a big fan. Cheers
Thanks Steve. Yeah I'm really looking forward to the time when I can start spraying the muck when I water, and with a bit of luck it will slowly reveal the roots. As you say it will probably be a couple of years.
Great project Tony. I will be anxious to see updates on the progress. I have one question about the grey substance you used to attach the roots to the rock. It looked like sand and clay mixed but I could not hear the name you mentioned. I loved the apparent stability of the roots. I also liked the use of rocks and an elastic binding material to provide a secure hold on the roots and the rocks you added to force the roots close to the main stone. Loved the video.
Hi Mark. The stuff I used is known as muck. You can buy special Japanese muck or make your own as I did. Today I filmed a video of me creating a big multiple hawthorn over rock landscape, and I show you in it the ingredients I use to make muck and how I make it. It should go live sometime this week.
And there's another one of Tony's projects ... I hope you can keep those roots under the muck moist enough. With all the projects you have going on, do you find the time to take care of all of them ? About 10 years ago, I had around 40 trees but due to circumstances I couldn't really take good care of them and after a while , because of shortage of free time, I even had to give up on bonsai entirely. That's why now, when I have started with bonsai again, I try to keep my number of plants to around 20 but with the emphasis on 'try' ☺
Good luck staying at around 20! I think you'll surpass that in no time! 🤣 I am in a fortunate position at the moment that I'm not working, so I have plenty of spare time to devote to this, and infact the youtube side takes far longer than the bonsai. I remember hearing Walter Pall say that having over 1000 trees, he doesn't have time to over work them, and it ends up being best for the trees. Often a tree needs to just sit for a year or two, and at least with plenty of trees, I'm happy to just let that happen. That being said, I cam see in a few years when more of my trees start becoming more refined, I might end up having to thin out my collection.
Yet again another out of the box project Tony. I think I would put some moss on the muck that is exposed just as a belt and braces precaution. However I'm sure that it will be fine as it is and it should in a few years be a really great tree. A great video Tony. Keep them coming mate.
Hi Mick. Great minds think alike! After the video I did add some moss to this. I just forgot at the time. As you say, it's better to give it every chance I can
Very ambitious project, Tony. I'm easily seeing the logic in using the clay mixture and because of that step I think your fusion will succeed and thrive..good one T!
Another interesting creation to follow Tony. Why stop with a fusion project when you can do a root over rock? It’s hard to imagine the texture and the porosity of the muck on video. Will it be difficult for it to remain moist? Thanks, keep growing
Hi Matt. I have been giving these projects a quick spray every few days, and they are staying very soft. It's a really moist humid time of year over here, and providing they are out of the wind, they're not really in any danger of drying out.
As always very sound advice from you, Tony. The 'muck' mix looks great. Wouldn't clear fishing wire be a more attractive solution for pegging down the springy roots than vet tape though? How long do you intend keeping the vet tape in place please? Thank you again for another great video !
Hi Nikki. I don;t think so no, the vet tape is great because it's got a bit of stretch, and it's wide so it really grips to the much or rock or whatever. fishing line would just be a pain I think
Tony the two trees that the bark was coming off .looked like they had buds on them ..i would stick some cut paste on the bare bit and stick them in a pot whats to lose?
Yeah I suppose that was an option, but they did have quite a bad smell, so incase there was some kind of bacteria or fungus, I'd rather just dispose of them.
I see you've had the same problem I had with JM bought from "Big Box Stores" rotting in the stodgy soil they use to root the cuttings. I have sworn that if I'm ever tempted to buy more I will repot them straight away regardless of the time of year. I'm trying to get some to re-root by covering the bare section of the trunk with light airy soil mix..
I think it has potential but I’m unsure of how well the muck works, having never done it myself. Will it dry out too much, will the roots grow through it, will you be able to remove it? Only time will tell.
I don't think it drying out will be too much of a problem Jacob. So far it seems to be staying nice and moist with the odd spray of water. As to how the roots will grow in it, as you rightly say, time will tell.
Interesting and like you I will wait and see how succesful this method is. I'm not a great fan of fusion if I'm honest but I am goig to have to do at least one so I can tick it off the list. You have to keep on experimenting and enjoy the results regardless ;)
I live in Germany, in the Swabian Alb. My Japanese maples were planted in my garden for 2 years and just didn't grow. When I learned that these maples need a slightly acidic soil, it was clear to me why - we have a lot of limestone in the soil. So I'm afraid that "root over rock" won't work with maples, but I'll be surprised. Better you kill your maples than I kill mine. 😁😉
Hi Thome. This was one of the reasons that I wanted to create this group. I am really interested to see if they can survive, and these are perfect Japanese maples to try with because they are really tough and also cheap. Goor to hear that you solved your problems and your trees are doing great!
Never owned a plant in my life was always into aquariums a year ago my mum brought a port jackson fig tree and since then I have brought over 50+ trees and have started to bonsai them all with 1 casualty being my 1st ever bonsai so I disagree just do it watch UA-cam it'll teach you more than anything else will 😅
I'm pretty much with you there Saalik. I'm not sure how this looks at the moment, but I'm all about the experimentation, and in the future It will be interesting to see it develop. It will either be good or bad!
Tony I was wondering can you make a forest with different trees or does it have to be the same tree type I know it's off topic but would like your opinion.
Hi John. Yes, forests with different species of tree can definitely be made, but you have to do it with a lot of thought. Nigel Sunders has a great example called his bog forest in which he used spruce and larch which sit together really well. I will definitely be trying to combine trees in the future, but for now I'm happy to keep things simple, and using the same species is a lot easier.
Hi tony,bonsai is everlasting,a tree is never finished,even 100 year old trees are never finished.thats why your never to old to start bonsai growing .your trees are never finished and neither are anyone else’s.hope you know what I mean.
I do indeed Brian. We are just a part of the life of a bonsai. I enjoy being the person at the beginning, but I would like to think that long after I am gone, other people are enjoying caring for the trees I started.
Totally agree tony, nothing ventured nothing gained... And bonsai can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. From free trees and perlite n some less than perfect soil to big expensive bonsai with akadama and fancy things . just because it costs a ton doesn't make it better. Bonsai is for everyone! I'd rather dig up a small tree that cost $0 and have it die than buy a $300 50 year old tree and have it go to the big planter in the sky.. But to each their own. Great work as usual!
Yes I agree Andrew. There is no right or wrong way to practice bonsai. We each do what we take enjoyment from, and I love creating my own trees.
Personally I fiddled with a few trees for a few years first, things that didn’t cost me much. I did it in normal flower pots and seed trays with easy species. Once I started - I couldn’t stop. I was bought a proper real tree for my 18th once I had decided I could have a good go at keeping it healthy. I’m 47 this year and I decided yesterday that that particular tree, a Japanese maple doesn’t need a repot this time, it’s about to sprout this years leaves. I’ve had successes and failures, I’ve lost a few great trees and others just never seem to go anywhere but I have successes and some great trees and a few interesting projects.
The best way to start bonsai is to dive in and hack plants to bits, if you keep things alive and enjoy it and it’s not a chore to work on them and you have the confidence to do the work then continue. Many cheap small bonsai trees die in the hands of people who assume they know what they are doing and don’t realise that a tree needs to be kept moist and doesn’t want to be sitting in a soaking wet drip tray. I saw much the same thing working with tropical plants, people would often remark that “I can’t keep anything alive” and the conversation would pan out into my realisation that rather than do a bit of research as to how to look after plants - they would assume that they knew how and so never learned very much whilst their plants perished. I used to try to sow some seeds as to general plant care. Often these people wanted to have healthy plants but assumed that you were either green fingered or not. I used to point out that I wasn’t born with green fingers - I learned from books and mistakes. I didn’t used to like the comment “oh, you must have green fingers” because I simply had an interest which I then built up the skills towards.
All very similar to what you are doing Tony but not on the same scale that you are! A hundred odd trees is twice as many as I’ve accumulated in nearly 30 years!
Interesting stuff Jacob. Sounds like you were hooked from a young age. I definitely agree with you about diving in and hacking plants. That's the fun, and that's how we learn. As for the 100 trees, it's more like 400 and growing 🤣. To be fair though, most of them are very much pre-bonsai.
@@TonysBonsai 400 trees! 😂 good luck.
Tony’s bonsai nursery.
🤣I do keep my eyes peeled for local land available from time to time.
Love your attitude to life Tony. Just get on and do it - you never know till you try. Top stuff
Cheers Chris. I was always encouraged to experiment and have a go as a child, and I've always tried to carry that same attitude into adulthood
Hoi Tony. Het belangrijkste bij een hobby bonsai is plezier hebben en ontspanning.dat daarbij een goede bonsai ontstaat is mee genomen.groeten uit the Nederland Catharina Packe
Hallo. Ja, ik ben het ermee eens. Plezier maken en genieten van de reis is het belangrijkste bij bonsai.
Een fijne dag verder!
Great idea Tony! I'm looking forward to seeing these develop over time
yeah, it will be interesting to see whether they make it being fused and root over rock. Perhaps it is asking a bit too much.
Very cool project Tony. To bad you lost two of the trees off the start, but that is part of the fun gamble in discount tree shopping. I look forward to seeing were this goes. Thank you for sharing!
Not wrong Matt. Sometimes we just have to roll those discount tree dice!
Ah, just when I thought I had enough trees… I suddenly feel inspired to give it a go! Can’t decide whether to clump them or go for more younger seedlings in a forest style 🤔 great vid! All the best 👍🏻
My answer would be do both Ryan 🤣
Very grateful to you, Tony, for all this video output and the experimental approach. Looking forward to seeing the results of all your projects. Hope you complained about those 2 dead £2 Acers, disgraceful!
Hi Richard. Something like that doesn't really bother me as I got them so cheap anyway, especially if the other three fuse and become a work of art! 🤣
What’s up dude.
Now now Tony. That top part will dry out in summer supper quick.
If it was me, I’d wrap the top part in cling film to keep it from drying out. But that is me, pinch of salt and all that 😂
I'm not so sure mate. After filming, I covered it in moss, so with a bit of luck the moss and regular watering will keep that nice and wet. The problem I see with cling film could be a lack of oxygen and possible root rot
You’ve outdone yourself again Tony. Best of luck!
Thanks Gerry. Glad you enjoyed it mate!
Good job Tony. Looking forward to following this project through with you. 👍👍
Thanks Guy. It's leafing out really nicely and it's going to be interesting to see.
Another great RoR experiment by Professor Tony. In 2 years time, I bet the roots will be holding tight and much of the muck can be removed. Nice work as always. I’m a big fan. Cheers
Thanks Steve. Yeah I'm really looking forward to the time when I can start spraying the muck when I water, and with a bit of luck it will slowly reveal the roots. As you say it will probably be a couple of years.
Mucking around with maples is always fun !👍
I have to agree with you there mate!
Super cool idea. Very nice job. Cant wait to see the results!
Cheers Michael. It's looking like one or two of them haven't made it, but I'm sticking with it as at least one of them is alive and doing well.
Tony have dune this rootover rock mene times works well thanks Tony
Thanks Philip. That is good to hear. It gives me confidence for the future of this tree.
Great stuff Tony!
Cheers mate
Ey Up Lad. Thanks for inspiring me to start my channel.
Fantastic! I'm your second subscriber, and I'll definitely look forward to more of your content.
Yes Tony. as Nike says JUST DO IT.👌
Indeed Joe. That why I think you should enter the tour de France mate! 🚲🚲🤣
@@TonysBonsai not sure I would look good in Lycra Tony.
Great project Tony. I will be anxious to see updates on the progress. I have one question about the grey substance you used to attach the roots to the rock. It looked like sand and clay mixed but I could not hear the name you mentioned. I loved the apparent stability of the roots. I also liked the use of rocks and an elastic binding material to provide a secure hold on the roots and the rocks you added to force the roots close to the main stone. Loved the video.
Hi Mark. The stuff I used is known as muck. You can buy special Japanese muck or make your own as I did. Today I filmed a video of me creating a big multiple hawthorn over rock landscape, and I show you in it the ingredients I use to make muck and how I make it. It should go live sometime this week.
Thank you so much for the clarification. Muck seemed to be perfect for root over rock projects.
And there's another one of Tony's projects ... I hope you can keep those roots under the muck moist enough. With all the projects you have going on, do you find the time to take care of all of them ? About 10 years ago, I had around 40 trees but due to circumstances I couldn't really take good care of them and after a while , because of shortage of free time, I even had to give up on bonsai entirely. That's why now, when I have started with bonsai again, I try to keep my number of plants to around 20 but with the emphasis on 'try' ☺
Good luck staying at around 20! I think you'll surpass that in no time! 🤣
I am in a fortunate position at the moment that I'm not working, so I have plenty of spare time to devote to this, and infact the youtube side takes far longer than the bonsai. I remember hearing Walter Pall say that having over 1000 trees, he doesn't have time to over work them, and it ends up being best for the trees. Often a tree needs to just sit for a year or two, and at least with plenty of trees, I'm happy to just let that happen. That being said, I cam see in a few years when more of my trees start becoming more refined, I might end up having to thin out my collection.
Great project. Hopefully this works. Can’t wait to see what the outcome will be.
Hi Brian. Yes, I'm really excited to see how this gets on given a year or two
Yet again another out of the box project Tony. I think I would put some moss on the muck that is exposed just as a belt and braces precaution. However I'm sure that it will be fine as it is and it should in a few years be a really great tree. A great video Tony. Keep them coming mate.
Hi Mick. Great minds think alike! After the video I did add some moss to this. I just forgot at the time. As you say, it's better to give it every chance I can
Very ambitious project, Tony. I'm easily seeing the logic in using the clay mixture and because of that step I think your fusion will succeed and thrive..good one T!
Cheers Guy. This is a bit of an experiment, but like you, I think that these trees have a pretty good chance of making it!
Here in the USA anyone can get a sugar maple or silver maple from the Walmart nursery. I am saving up for new trees this month.
Good man. I'm sure they will be worth the wait
Another interesting creation to follow Tony. Why stop with a fusion project when you can do a root over rock? It’s hard to imagine the texture and the porosity of the muck on video. Will it be difficult for it to remain moist? Thanks, keep growing
Hi Matt. I have been giving these projects a quick spray every few days, and they are staying very soft. It's a really moist humid time of year over here, and providing they are out of the wind, they're not really in any danger of drying out.
As always very sound advice from you, Tony. The 'muck' mix looks great. Wouldn't clear fishing wire be a more attractive solution for pegging down the springy roots than vet tape though? How long do you intend keeping the vet tape in place please? Thank you again for another great video !
Hi Nikki. I don;t think so no, the vet tape is great because it's got a bit of stretch, and it's wide so it really grips to the much or rock or whatever. fishing line would just be a pain I think
beautiful
Thank you SJ
Brilliant
Tony good chance nice shape. Keep growing.xx
Thanks Mandy. I just need to get to the gym with all this rock moving I'm doing!
@@TonysBonsai I think you're using your garden as a gym. No charge! Xx
Tony the two trees that the bark was coming off .looked like they had buds on them ..i would stick some cut paste on the bare bit and stick them in a pot whats to lose?
Yeah I suppose that was an option, but they did have quite a bad smell, so incase there was some kind of bacteria or fungus, I'd rather just dispose of them.
I see you've had the same problem I had with JM bought from "Big Box Stores" rotting in the stodgy soil they use to root the cuttings. I have sworn that if I'm ever tempted to buy more I will repot them straight away regardless of the time of year.
I'm trying to get some to re-root by covering the bare section of the trunk with light airy soil mix..
Yes, I must admit I had forgotten, but I did have this happen to me before. I think re-potting straight away is the solution.
Tony where did you get the tree's from?
Hi DAvid. These ones were from B & Q. I bought over 20, so a couple of dodgy ones is ok by me.
I would suggest more soil and a lot of moss over the muck, fingers crossed for this to survive
Yes, I checked today and everything is looking good, but how they look in three or four months will be a much better test!
Hi Tony, great videos thanks. Could let me know where you get the clay compost from? BTW I'm off the B+Q !!
Hi Jim. I make it myself. I made a video today that will be going live this week where I show you how I make it. Ingredients/ratios etc.
@@TonysBonsai that's great thanks. You're a tube star!!
I think it has potential but I’m unsure of how well the muck works, having never done it myself. Will it dry out too much, will the roots grow through it, will you be able to remove it? Only time will tell.
I don't think it drying out will be too much of a problem Jacob. So far it seems to be staying nice and moist with the odd spray of water. As to how the roots will grow in it, as you rightly say, time will tell.
That's a crazy good deal. Same thing here is 15x as much. too bad about the one but it still turned out awesome!
Yeah I hear that material costs quite a bit more over in the US. We are lucky in that supermarkets almost give them away at certain times of year
Interesting and like you I will wait and see how succesful this method is. I'm not a great fan of fusion if I'm honest but I am goig to have to do at least one so I can tick it off the list. You have to keep on experimenting and enjoy the results regardless ;)
Yeah, fusion is a funny one. There aren't really many examples of successful fusions, so for me the jury is out.
What’s the name of the tape you use?
Hi Wolfgang. It is called vet tape. It is designed to be used on animals like horses and dogs
@@TonysBonsai thank you 🙏
It will be just fine, np.
Grts
Kennet
Cheers Kennet. You sound like you have more faith than me!
Tony I hope your ok my friend ❤️
Thanks you Govinda. I am doing great thanks. I hope you are too!
I live in Germany, in the Swabian Alb. My Japanese maples were planted in my garden for 2 years and just didn't grow. When I learned that these maples need a slightly acidic soil, it was clear to me why - we have a lot of limestone in the soil. So I'm afraid that "root over rock" won't work with maples, but I'll be surprised. Better you kill your maples than I kill mine. 😁😉
Hi Thome. This was one of the reasons that I wanted to create this group. I am really interested to see if they can survive, and these are perfect Japanese maples to try with because they are really tough and also cheap.
Goor to hear that you solved your problems and your trees are doing great!
Never owned a plant in my life was always into aquariums a year ago my mum brought a port jackson fig tree and since then I have brought over 50+ trees and have started to bonsai them all with 1 casualty being my 1st ever bonsai so I disagree just do it watch UA-cam it'll teach you more than anything else will 😅
I think there's a good chance it will survive. I'm not sure how I feel about it but there's a long way to go. Good onya from Australia!
I'm pretty much with you there Saalik. I'm not sure how this looks at the moment, but I'm all about the experimentation, and in the future It will be interesting to see it develop. It will either be good or bad!
Tony I was wondering can you make a forest with different trees or does it have to be the same tree type I know it's off topic but would like your opinion.
Hi John. Yes, forests with different species of tree can definitely be made, but you have to do it with a lot of thought. Nigel Sunders has a great example called his bog forest in which he used spruce and larch which sit together really well.
I will definitely be trying to combine trees in the future, but for now I'm happy to keep things simple, and using the same species is a lot easier.