Juniper 'with jin'
A Brief overview of Styling and working with Bonsai.
Contrary to people's believes, Bonsai are mostly outdoor trees... Its only the latter years where Bonsai Artists have cultivated Bonsai from Tropical/semi tropical trees (such as ficus and serrisa) that the indoor tree (so to speak) has been become more popular. But even these tropical trees need to be placed outside, to enjoy the natural air and sunlight of nature during the summer months..
If you are a serious hobbiest, you will need a Bonsai shed, the shed should have a work bench with turntable, this enables you to work on your trees and style in peace, not worrying about the mess from off cuts etc... The turntable is a must! For all Bonsai artists, this gives you the advantage of turning the tree to view it in all directions, so you can get the right design your aiming for (without physically turning the tree all the time)
The shed should have a good set of shelves and storage, in order to house all your tools, this keeps them out of harms way and also keeps them sharp and dirt free..
Try and keep the work place and tools clean, This prevents cross infection of 'fungie' being passed to other present or future bonsai.
Developing a Bonsai from raw stock
I will try not to take it two much in depth, just give the beginner some basic tips to get started, so you can develop your own Bonsai, and as each year passes you can see your creation grow and perfect.. But you need to learn how to keep and maintain your tree, so try and read as much as possible on the subject and get different views on styling and pinching back etc this will help your progression...
Styling a tree can take patients and practiced! But it will all come together. Always keep in mind, you are designing a 'miniture tree' take alook around at trees in the wild, this will give you a good idea of how the branch structure works and grows (eg.. Thicker branches on the bottom, dainty branches on the top or apex)
My personal preference is to use Yamadori (collected tree's from the wild) you must have permission from land owners to do this.
For every dwarf tree (with Bonsai potential i collect from the wild) i plant two seeds in replacement..
Also you can use garden centre stock, (look for anything with low branches and a good trunk line ) or you can airlayer from a mother tree. Cuttings or to grow from seed are very long cultivation methods and would take many years of waiting to create a reasonable looking Bonsai...
Once You have your raw stock you can start to work on it... you can use wire to wind round branches, this sets the branch to where you want it (eg.. Put some twists and curves in it, lower or higher a branch) just make sure you keep a check on the wire, you don't want the wire to cut into the bark, this will take many years to heal over and spoil the Bonsai.. Also prune back branches when you want ramification or twigginess to start, (just like the branches of a mature tree) to do this cut back to a bud (so you are restricting grow going forward) and are producing the branch to reverse and back bud. Secondary shoots will spring up keep pinching them back to cause ramification... a great technique, that gives the illusion of a mature tree...
These are just a few tips to get you started! The more you practice the better you will become (you will lose a few trees on the way) but don't get to disheartened (we all have!!)
What ever you decide, if you are reading this page on our site, you certainly got an interest in Bonsai.. Experience artists will know most of the above, but for the beginners, there is allot to learn! But i sure know you will enjoy the journey of knowledge bonsai holds and there is no turning back,! Once You have caught the bonsai bug! you will want more and more... Enjoy every moment of it..