Forgive me if I have already asked this question somewhere along the way but does the age of a Bonsai matter? Let me explain. I know the older they are the better they look and the more respected they are... however they do have to begin somewhere..after all .. every tree comes from seed and I know many bonsai are started from nursery stock.
But I have some trees that I have started from seed and cuttings that I would like to turn into bonsai.. however I'm not sure if they are to young.. I started growing the ones from seed last year in June ... a china berry tree and a jacaranda tree. They are coming along nicely but when do I start to shape them? The one I've decided just recently to do from a cutting is a corkscrew willow tree. I guess there isn't much I can do with the corkscrew willow cutting just yet but wait for it to grow right?
I don't want to abandon them as bonsai because they have come along so well already and though they may be young still I know that I won't be able to grow them into full sized trees due to lack of space to put them. Plus they are both considered invasive.. I just want to do right by these tree's and give them the best start as bonsai that I possibly can while they are still young. Any Advice? = /
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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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TomM
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Rather than age I usually think in terms of the plants size when planning the future bonsai. In your 'minds eye' try to determine how big you want your finished bonsai to be. Picture it if you can with the proper pot. That is the goal you will reach for.
Then grow it out to 1 1/2 or 2 times that size. (in terms of age this might take a long time - perhaps years unless it is a fast grower, but jacaranda is quite fast). Then chop it back to 1/3 or 1/2 of the planned 'finished size'. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times, each time shortening the height and branch length until you have 'reduced' the size to fit your vision.
It's not so much about the age as it is the size you want. Along the way you can determine the styling aspects you want to incorporate into your future bonsai with wiring and pruning. But it takes 'aging' as well.
Now you might see why we often forgo the seedling start - unless you have lots of time and patience to devote to the project. We often prefer to jump start the process using large nursery stock or collected material from the wild (already 'aged') and start the chopping down to size.
I know your original question was "does the age matter" and I didn't give a simple answer. I have young cuttings that I hope to train as future bonsai but I know that it will take years to do so. I will follow my plan as outlined above to 'create' some forest groups and individual trees as well. But it is not that I want them to be older - I want them to be bigger, and to look OLD.
Then grow it out to 1 1/2 or 2 times that size. (in terms of age this might take a long time - perhaps years unless it is a fast grower, but jacaranda is quite fast). Then chop it back to 1/3 or 1/2 of the planned 'finished size'. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times, each time shortening the height and branch length until you have 'reduced' the size to fit your vision.
It's not so much about the age as it is the size you want. Along the way you can determine the styling aspects you want to incorporate into your future bonsai with wiring and pruning. But it takes 'aging' as well.
Now you might see why we often forgo the seedling start - unless you have lots of time and patience to devote to the project. We often prefer to jump start the process using large nursery stock or collected material from the wild (already 'aged') and start the chopping down to size.
I know your original question was "does the age matter" and I didn't give a simple answer. I have young cuttings that I hope to train as future bonsai but I know that it will take years to do so. I will follow my plan as outlined above to 'create' some forest groups and individual trees as well. But it is not that I want them to be older - I want them to be bigger, and to look OLD.
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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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Bewildered, TomM has outlined the steps of 'coppicing' a tree for bonsai training.
Back before WW-II there was a suburban Japanese village called Omiya that made an industry of doing what he suggests.
If you have the bed space for your tree(s), why not try one or two to feild? Even a jumbo nursery pot and some good old fashioned sunlight will help speed things along.
Back before WW-II there was a suburban Japanese village called Omiya that made an industry of doing what he suggests.
If you have the bed space for your tree(s), why not try one or two to feild? Even a jumbo nursery pot and some good old fashioned sunlight will help speed things along.