Thank you for giving us encouragement to just go for it. Sometimes I think we newbies think there is too much mystery involved in developing a beautiful tree. You are so kind to give permission to try some things and possibly fail but make lemonade out of lemons!
Pleased you got it! We old guys tend to make a big deal of what we know to feel good. In reality, there is so much to know, so much to learn,,.,.We can all make progress together. I encourage everyone to send us feedback so together we can improve.
I'd just like to contribute a little tip for digging up old trees to make the transition to bonsai. Like Milton says, prune back the foliage.... but then let it heal/recover for a few weeks. Next with your shovel push it into the ground all around the tree like you're going to dig it up, but don't. This will break a lot of large extended roots. Now again wait a while so that the tree may recover, (altho I'm not sure for just how long this should be)... the goal is for the tree to develop more finer roots closer to its base so when you do ultimately dig it up out of the ground, the recovery process will be a lot smoother.
At the moment I just keep an eye out for random trees that happen to pop out around my home while I'm gardening! I put those in nursery pots and let them grow on their own. You never know what tree may appear!
This is the best advice for acquiring raw bonsai material that will thrive for you. So many people (and I'm guilty of this as well) try to grow trees that might struggle in their climate just because they really like those particular varieties, but meanwhile find their local trees undesirable for bonsai. It took me years to realize "someone's trash is another's treasure", meaning whatever is growing like weeds in your yard, somebody somewhere is trying very hard to grow. I've started to just appreciate my own neighborhood bonsai materials.
I just repotted a purchased Willow Leaf Fig that was doing poorly with your soil recipe. The root ball was filled with nothing but coarse pumice and green slow release fertilizer pellets. Here's hoping the repot into new substrate helps. 🙏 Thank you for all your knowledge- I learn something every video!
That is what commercial grower use...to go with constant watering (drip). So what they have works well for them. You can do likewise, but water the rootball many times a day to keep the roots wet...or use my soil and keep the rootball wet by wtering at least once a day,
I’ve been following for about a year, give or take. And I can’t believe how much I’ve learned and the confidence I’ve gained with trimming my garden trees for the scale I want. I have one tree that I’m begging to dig around slowly to be ready to pot this winter. I appreciate all the videos and help
Thank you. I had high fail rate before almost 99% because I would dig up a tree with barely any roots and kept the leaves. Now I cut back all the leaves and branches that I don't want. Next video: styling trees with big leaves. Oaks, ash tree, mulberry etc. Thank you sir!
Please refer to my two earlier videos on oak. A short answer is to make bgger bonsai to scale...and also enjoy them during the winter months when there is no leaf.
I appreciate your experience with Bonsai and enjoy your channel . We live in South Australia and have young Gums popping up all the time . I wonder how they would cope being manipulated for a Bonsai!!!. Thank You for being here and sharing your wisdom with the world. 🐨🦘
Thank you for your valuable and correct content!! I hope young folks really listen and learn how to keep not just bonsai but info thats relatable to growing flora. I have 2 large juniper I started to create a large bonsai out of them. They're to big to transplant,at least I don't have the equipment required to accomplish that. how bout info or video on a large tree?
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. There are two tools I recommend. A heavy shovel (almost 20 pounds) which people collect trees use...and also a heavy duty reciprocal saw to cut the big roots. Use the base as a starting point...and build up from thqt so the tree of reasonable height. Have fun!
Thanks for your videos, they are very instructive and they definitely help me to keep learning every day. I would like to ask you how can we speed up the growth of smaller leaves. I have heard that you should keep pinching big leaves sporadically, so they can grow back smaller. Is this true? How often do you recommend to do this? Thanks again.
Leaf reduces in size when there are more leaves on a tree...to balance healthy grown and have small leafs quickly...consider pruning three to four times a year...that is let new growth harden before cutting.
Only thing I have issue with is I wish we had better photos explaining the ideas you have. Photos really pull a deeper understanding, context and prospective atleast for myself
What is your favorite native/non-traditional species for bonsai? Local varieties are often easier to get & learn with. Do you have any experiments or pet projects you can share? I'm currently working with Meyer lemon, crepe-myrtle, dog wood & oak, in addition to my traditional trees.
Of the tress you mention...For citrus, instead of lemon, I will try kumquate...Crepe myertle is grea because there are so many new color...CA coatal life oak and wild scrub oak have small leaves... I am not sure how to distinute native vs from else where sine they are here in America so so ling , many for several hundred years... I like new corsses t be low risk and ifferent...like crepe Myrtle with new colors. You ARE having fun!
Does California have box elder maples? I've been experimenting with them and they seem to grow a lot like trident maples. I would love to hear some info on these types of maples as they are everywhere in texas. They have all the traits of a Japanese maple but no respect! Lol
We don't have that in CA nurseries. Does the leaf reduce in size? appreciate feedback to broaden our knowledge. I tend to stick to traditional trees that are proven to be good bnsai material. Discovering new material is not one of my challenge in life. 🙂
@MiltonChang-ee6rq they definitely reduce in size. They are extremely hardy it seems and grow like crazy if left alone. The leafs don't look much like a maple leaf but the trunk and branches do. So far they have mimicked my trident maples.
I would say it depends on the type of pine. As I understand it, Mediterranean pines, for example, which are used to a warm climate, shouldn't have a big problem with this. For exampel "Pinus pinea".
YES AND NO. Trees are very forgiving. I suspect most pines will work if you keep the soil moist (but with air) Certain pine requires winter chill...I am unsuccfessful with collected Pondarosa pines...And the fantastic old one at the national Arboretum dies after about 15 years there (DC)
Are you ever bothered by scarring on especially collected trees? I guess a way to look at it is that scars reveal the history of the life of the tree and suggest age. I have attended the November all-Japan exhibit in Kyoto where many of the deciduous trees are shown without foliage. One can clearly see the branch structure and twig ramification and I saw little evidence of scarring. Maybe just their preference.
There are two aspects of bonsai that could be pleasing. Art and craft. Japanese bonsai emphasizes perfection...which is wonderful and enjoyable. But when each tree is perfect in the form of other, it is less art than craft. In fact, Japanese bonsai master are referred to as "giant" master craftsman (in direct translation). Now you take a Japanese bonsai done perfectly, but also are natural and rough looking...wouldn't that be capitalizing on the best of both worlds? Not tearing down but building on the merits of other cultures. For example, people i Hawaii takes pride in being the mix bowl... Let us adopt this philosophy to make bonsai in America uniquely American!
@@MiltonChang-ee6rq Thank you very much. The Japanese themselves have been masters at adopting something from another culture and making it their own, some would say elevating it. My impression is that Japanese bonsai practitioners would not object to your recommended philosophy. Unfortunately, I find an attempt to exert control in the Ikebana world.
I’ve seen many of your videos, I noticed none of them have any secondary or tertiary branches and they are all in the primary stage of development, even the ones you’ve had for 50 years. Why is that?
You are very observant! prove we can't get away on UA-cam. 🙂 I got busy, and spend 5-10 minut4es per tree for many many years...and got back into detail work less than 10 years ago, and try to figure out ways to make trees look artistic...and start to make my trees full. I will show some of the show trees I have; I think you will like them...part of the process to get ":there".
I find it puzzling that everyone says that Junipers are so easy to handle and easy to care for. Over the course of time, I have started several experiments with them. Both bought plants and plants I dug up myself. And every one of them, absolutely every one, died sooner or later. In my case, the same applies to all conifers. Give me a conifer and it will die. No matter which one it is. I really have tried everything by now. Different soil compositions, special fertilizers, etc. Nothing helps! It's like a curse. It's exactly the opposite with deciduous trees, where I practically always have success. Whether grown from seed, from cuttings or dug up. I don't understand it!
Oh man do I relate! For me it's pines.... absolutely love them, absolutely cannot keep one alive in a pot for more than 2 years. I'm okay with spruce, cedar, larch, juniper, etc. I can't figure it out either. I'm almost certain it has something to do with using mycorrhizae and possibly moss to cope with any organic matter in the soil which would only rot the pine roots. My latest approach is using larger rocks at the top to keep dry but gradually finer particles lower down to let the pine's roots search for the water like in nature. Over-wintering them is also a challenge. Ironically, they grow perfectly fine in the ground here. It's a learning experience but a slow and painful one full of many dead trees. But don't give up on junipers, they truly are the most forgiving of evergreens.
I'm having the same luck with Hinoki. Seems every dry cold winter I just can't get enough water into them. They lose more needles in winter than summer can replace. I've also killed some Juniper but mostly smaller ones that winter always has it's way with. Strange, I've always viewed evergreens as trees that loved winter. Simply not true.
The gravity of the moon doesn't change with the phases of the Moon. The Earth rotates the Moon directly above you once every day. This is why there are tides every day.
@@jarrettonions3392 I wrote out about half of a giant comment, then stumbled across this video which explains it much better: ua-cam.com/video/pwChk4S99i4/v-deo.html The tldr is that tides happen because of ocean water getting hydraulically squeezed from the "edge" of the Earth (as seen from the Moon), pushing that water toward the faces of the Earth near and far from the Moon, NOT because the Moon's gravity is able to pull the water on the face of the Earth toward itself. This is why the ocean has a tide, but your neighborhood pond does not: you have to be able to squeeze water from a distant location over to you. A "spring tide" is just when the Moon and Sun's tidal forces line up. A "neap tide" is when they're perpendicular to each other. However, these forces are extremely small: 1/10,000,000g by the Moon, and 1/3 of that by the Sun. The only reason we have tides is because of the hydraulic squeezing of entire oceans. At a single point, say a tree, the difference would only be measurable by the most sensitive of equipment (certainly not the tree) in the most controlled environment (not outdoors, or in your house). BUT ALSO, even though the tidal force can be different across the month, you're swinging through the peak and trough of the force twice per day, and a stronger tidal force at "high tide" also results in a stronger tidal force pulling you DOWN at "low tide", largely balancing the forces out over the course of the day. But, again, we're talking about 1/10,000,000g +/- 1/30,000,000g. Practically speaking, it's nothing. I doubt there's a scale in existence that can measure that difference. I tried to see if it had been done, and I got papers like, "Measuring the Tidal Force on a Particle’s Matter Wave". If you have to measure a matter wave to view the tidal force, there's no way sap is impacted in any way, and differences in barometric pressure alone are going to wipe out any possible influence of tidal forces.
Gosh! This is getting technical…and here I have not done physics for almost 55 yrears! Here goes, I hope I am correct. 🙂 The distance between earth and moon is about 240,000 miles…and the fluctuation is 30,000 miles…so it is a fraction of 1/8000. Gravitational force is proportional to the distance squared or a fluctuation of 1/64,000,000 from high to low. Do you think that small a change the moon’s pull is going to make a difference…to anything except a (relatively) meniscal change in the height of tide? The problem with urban legend is that they are not entirely wrong…just extrapolated to absurdity. Sorry! Id id say in an early response that it is silly! I should be more respectful.
Thank you for giving us encouragement to just go for it. Sometimes I think we newbies think there is too much mystery involved in developing a beautiful tree. You are so kind to give permission to try some things and possibly fail but make lemonade out of lemons!
Pleased you got it! We old guys tend to make a big deal of what we know to feel good. In reality, there is so much to know, so much to learn,,.,.We can all make progress together.
I encourage everyone to send us feedback so together we can improve.
I'd just like to contribute a little tip for digging up old trees to make the transition to bonsai. Like Milton says, prune back the foliage.... but then let it heal/recover for a few weeks. Next with your shovel push it into the ground all around the tree like you're going to dig it up, but don't. This will break a lot of large extended roots. Now again wait a while so that the tree may recover, (altho I'm not sure for just how long this should be)... the goal is for the tree to develop more finer roots closer to its base so when you do ultimately dig it up out of the ground, the recovery process will be a lot smoother.
thank you! You are 3xactly right!
thanks!
At the moment I just keep an eye out for random trees that happen to pop out around my home while I'm gardening! I put those in nursery pots and let them grow on their own. You never know what tree may appear!
This is the best advice for acquiring raw bonsai material that will thrive for you. So many people (and I'm guilty of this as well) try to grow trees that might struggle in their climate just because they really like those particular varieties, but meanwhile find their local trees undesirable for bonsai. It took me years to realize "someone's trash is another's treasure", meaning whatever is growing like weeds in your yard, somebody somewhere is trying very hard to grow. I've started to just appreciate my own neighborhood bonsai materials.
I just repotted a purchased Willow Leaf Fig that was doing poorly with your soil recipe. The root ball was filled with nothing but coarse pumice and green slow release fertilizer pellets. Here's hoping the repot into new substrate helps. 🙏 Thank you for all your knowledge- I learn something every video!
That is what commercial grower use...to go with constant watering (drip). So what they have works well for them.
You can do likewise, but water the rootball many times a day to keep the roots wet...or use my soil and keep the rootball wet by wtering at least once a day,
I’ve been following for about a year, give or take. And I can’t believe how much I’ve learned and the confidence I’ve gained with trimming my garden trees for the scale I want.
I have one tree that I’m begging to dig around slowly to be ready to pot this winter. I appreciate all the videos and help
Have fun!
Thank you for sharing
My pleasure! I am out to promote bonsai.,,.,.to make it a "houseplant"!
Many thanks for making and sharing this video, very informative and a pleasure to watch 👍👍
Thanks!
Enjoy!
great content! truly appreciate the knowledge that you share with us!
You are welcome!
Thank you. I had high fail rate before almost 99% because I would dig up a tree with barely any roots and kept the leaves. Now I cut back all the leaves and branches that I don't want.
Next video: styling trees with big leaves. Oaks, ash tree, mulberry etc.
Thank you sir!
Please refer to my two earlier videos on oak.
A short answer is to make bgger bonsai to scale...and also enjoy them during the winter months when there is no leaf.
@@MiltonChang-ee6rq thank you sir.
I appreciate your experience with Bonsai and enjoy your channel . We live in South Australia and have young Gums popping up all the time . I wonder how they would cope being manipulated for a Bonsai!!!. Thank You for being here and sharing your wisdom with the world. 🐨🦘
You are welcome.
Love the video very informative keep it up
Thanks!
That is my intention.
GREAT video
🙂
Thank you for your valuable and correct content!! I hope young folks really listen and learn how to keep not just bonsai but info thats relatable to growing flora.
I have 2 large juniper I started to create a large bonsai out of them. They're to big to transplant,at least I don't have the equipment required to accomplish that.
how bout info or video on a large tree?
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time. There are two tools I recommend. A heavy shovel (almost 20 pounds) which people collect trees use...and also a heavy duty reciprocal saw to cut the big roots.
Use the base as a starting point...and build up from thqt so the tree of reasonable height.
Have fun!
Thanks Milton! 🌟
🙂
Thanks for your videos, they are very instructive and they definitely help me to keep learning every day. I would like to ask you how can we speed up the growth of smaller leaves. I have heard that you should keep pinching big leaves sporadically, so they can grow back smaller. Is this true? How often do you recommend to do this? Thanks again.
Leaf reduces in size when there are more leaves on a tree...to balance healthy grown and have small leafs quickly...consider pruning three to four times a year...that is let new growth harden before cutting.
I like to see somthing abaut Cherys.🍒or Apple or ader frutting trees. I hav start a cherry last Sommer. Need some Inspiration.
@8:22 even the humming birds are interested in today's Q and A, 😂
Thanks for sharing your wisdom sir. Off the subject....but are you in California?
xYes, I am not far from Stanford.
Only thing I have issue with is I wish we had better photos explaining the ideas you have. Photos really pull a deeper understanding, context and prospective atleast for myself
What is your favorite native/non-traditional species for bonsai? Local varieties are often easier to get & learn with.
Do you have any experiments or pet projects you can share? I'm currently working with Meyer lemon, crepe-myrtle, dog wood & oak, in addition to my traditional trees.
Of the tress you mention...For citrus, instead of lemon, I will try kumquate...Crepe myertle is grea because there are so many new color...CA coatal life oak and wild scrub oak have small leaves...
I am not sure how to distinute native vs from else where sine they are here in America so so ling , many for several hundred years...
I like new corsses t be low risk and ifferent...like crepe Myrtle with new colors.
You ARE having fun!
In what conditions and ambiance does a juniper needs to grow?
Very accommodating.
Is there an “ideal” time of year to dig up field grown junipers?
With reasonable care (cut back branches etc) you can dig juniper almost at all times...When in doubt, dig during the cooler months.
Find the squirrel in the tree.
YEAH!tqageThat is take advan of what is already there!
Does California have box elder maples? I've been experimenting with them and they seem to grow a lot like trident maples. I would love to hear some info on these types of maples as they are everywhere in texas. They have all the traits of a Japanese maple but no respect! Lol
We don't have that in CA nurseries. Does the leaf reduce in size?
appreciate feedback to broaden our knowledge.
I tend to stick to traditional trees that are proven to be good bnsai material. Discovering new material is not one of my challenge in life.
🙂
@MiltonChang-ee6rq they definitely reduce in size. They are extremely hardy it seems and grow like crazy if left alone. The leafs don't look much like a maple leaf but the trunk and branches do. So far they have mimicked my trident maples.
Can I grow pine bonsai in average 25 - 30 degree Celsius temperature place with heavy monsoons?
I would say it depends on the type of pine. As I understand it, Mediterranean pines, for example, which are used to a warm climate, shouldn't have a big problem with this. For exampel "Pinus pinea".
YES AND NO. Trees are very forgiving. I suspect most pines will work if you keep the soil moist (but with air)
Certain pine requires winter chill...I am unsuccfessful with collected Pondarosa pines...And the fantastic old one at the national Arboretum dies after about 15 years there (DC)
Are you ever bothered by scarring on especially collected trees? I guess a way to look at it is that scars reveal the history of the life of the tree and suggest age. I have attended the November all-Japan exhibit in Kyoto where many of the deciduous trees are shown without foliage. One can clearly see the branch structure and twig ramification and I saw little evidence of scarring. Maybe just their preference.
There are two aspects of bonsai that could be pleasing. Art and craft. Japanese bonsai emphasizes perfection...which is wonderful and enjoyable. But when each tree is perfect in the form of other, it is less art than craft. In fact, Japanese bonsai master are referred to as "giant" master craftsman (in direct translation).
Now you take a Japanese bonsai done perfectly, but also are natural and rough looking...wouldn't that be capitalizing on the best of both worlds?
Not tearing down but building on the merits of other cultures.
For example, people i Hawaii takes pride in being the mix bowl...
Let us adopt this philosophy to make bonsai in America uniquely American!
@@MiltonChang-ee6rq Thank you very much. The Japanese themselves have been masters at adopting something from another culture and making it their own, some would say elevating it. My impression is that Japanese bonsai practitioners would not object to your recommended philosophy. Unfortunately, I find an attempt to exert control in the Ikebana world.
😊🥰
Thsnks!
I’ve seen many of your videos, I noticed none of them have any secondary or tertiary branches and they are all in the primary stage of development, even the ones you’ve had for 50 years. Why is that?
You are very observant! prove we can't get away on UA-cam. 🙂
I got busy, and spend 5-10 minut4es per tree for many many years...and got back into detail work less than 10 years ago, and try to figure out ways to make trees look artistic...and start to make my trees full. I will show some of the show trees I have; I think you will like them...part of the process to get ":there".
i wouldnt advise trimming a tree during a full moon
Why not if it is bright enough to see where yu are going...
Guess two outer reasons why not?
🙂
👍👌🙂
🙂
I find it puzzling that everyone says that Junipers are so easy to handle and easy to care for. Over the course of time, I have started several experiments with them. Both bought plants and plants I dug up myself. And every one of them, absolutely every one, died sooner or later. In my case, the same applies to all conifers. Give me a conifer and it will die. No matter which one it is. I really have tried everything by now. Different soil compositions, special fertilizers, etc. Nothing helps! It's like a curse.
It's exactly the opposite with deciduous trees, where I practically always have success. Whether grown from seed, from cuttings or dug up.
I don't understand it!
Oh man do I relate! For me it's pines.... absolutely love them, absolutely cannot keep one alive in a pot for more than 2 years. I'm okay with spruce, cedar, larch, juniper, etc. I can't figure it out either. I'm almost certain it has something to do with using mycorrhizae and possibly moss to cope with any organic matter in the soil which would only rot the pine roots. My latest approach is using larger rocks at the top to keep dry but gradually finer particles lower down to let the pine's roots search for the water like in nature. Over-wintering them is also a challenge. Ironically, they grow perfectly fine in the ground here. It's a learning experience but a slow and painful one full of many dead trees.
But don't give up on junipers, they truly are the most forgiving of evergreens.
I'm having the same luck with Hinoki. Seems every dry cold winter I just can't get enough water into them. They lose more needles in winter than summer can replace. I've also killed some Juniper but mostly smaller ones that winter always has it's way with. Strange, I've always viewed evergreens as trees that loved winter. Simply not true.
Indoor home tour
I will insdt4a emphasie bonsai as house plants 🙂
Instead....
The gravity of the moon doesn't change with the phases of the Moon. The Earth rotates the Moon directly above you once every day. This is why there are tides every day.
Please explain spring tides
@@jarrettonions3392 I wrote out about half of a giant comment, then stumbled across this video which explains it much better: ua-cam.com/video/pwChk4S99i4/v-deo.html
The tldr is that tides happen because of ocean water getting hydraulically squeezed from the "edge" of the Earth (as seen from the Moon), pushing that water toward the faces of the Earth near and far from the Moon, NOT because the Moon's gravity is able to pull the water on the face of the Earth toward itself. This is why the ocean has a tide, but your neighborhood pond does not: you have to be able to squeeze water from a distant location over to you.
A "spring tide" is just when the Moon and Sun's tidal forces line up. A "neap tide" is when they're perpendicular to each other. However, these forces are extremely small: 1/10,000,000g by the Moon, and 1/3 of that by the Sun. The only reason we have tides is because of the hydraulic squeezing of entire oceans. At a single point, say a tree, the difference would only be measurable by the most sensitive of equipment (certainly not the tree) in the most controlled environment (not outdoors, or in your house).
BUT ALSO, even though the tidal force can be different across the month, you're swinging through the peak and trough of the force twice per day, and a stronger tidal force at "high tide" also results in a stronger tidal force pulling you DOWN at "low tide", largely balancing the forces out over the course of the day.
But, again, we're talking about 1/10,000,000g +/- 1/30,000,000g. Practically speaking, it's nothing. I doubt there's a scale in existence that can measure that difference. I tried to see if it had been done, and I got papers like, "Measuring the Tidal Force on a Particle’s Matter Wave". If you have to measure a matter wave to view the tidal force, there's no way sap is impacted in any way, and differences in barometric pressure alone are going to wipe out any possible influence of tidal forces.
Gosh!
This is getting technical…and here I have not done physics for almost 55 yrears!
Here goes, I hope I am correct. 🙂
The distance between earth and moon is about 240,000 miles…and the fluctuation is 30,000 miles…so it is a fraction of 1/8000. Gravitational force is proportional to the distance squared or a fluctuation of 1/64,000,000 from high to low.
Do you think that small a change the moon’s pull is going to make a difference…to anything except a (relatively) meniscal change in the height of tide?
The problem with urban legend is that they are not entirely wrong…just extrapolated to absurdity.
Sorry! Id id say in an early response that it is silly!
I should be more respectful.
Something silly *)
Me? 🙂