My Bonsai wannabe collection -- seeking advice

[applestar]

I have another wannabe. This is a vine -- I think maybe campsis (trumpet vine)? I can't tell because it hasn't bloomed. I've been keeping it trimmed but it's still growing in the ground. (That's a 24" diameter lid)

In terms of styling for eventual final form, should I chop it down shorter now or later after it has been lifted and potted? When should I dig it up? Should I start root pruning for excavation?

[applestar]

Yay! This is the first time a potted Japanese Maple seedling has survived for two winters in a row
This is just a baby

[tomc]

Yea, japan maples. better than a strong cuppa coffee.

[applestar]

I'll be posting pictures of my bonsai wannabes again this year. Many of them need to be repotted and others will need a review of their (amateur) styling.

This is my other Sweetgum bonsai wannabe. It's still in the ground but I've been leaf pruning it just about every year as an experiment of the technique for reducing leaf size.

I've also root pruned it (simply cutting off big roots coming off of it with my garden shove) from time to time

For comparison, here is another Sweet Gum volunteer which has not been leaf pruned:

[applestar]

I pruned/trimmed it some more....

...that stump naturally creates the "back" to this tree because I can't really see what it looks like from that angle, and it isn't realiy growing in that direction much. So hopefully it looks presentable from these angles.

I was thinking this will be its canopy and I won't let it grow any taller... But would it be better to shorten it even more?

[applestar]

Here are some of my bonsai wannabe's again. These are most of the ones in pots. I think there are two or three missing from this collage (a juniper, a Rose of Sharon, and oh, TWO other pomegranates). I bought a concave cutter and will be going over all of these. I also want to take a wood carving tool and work at the big cut in the sweet gum trunks to hopefully turn them into a sunken hollow....

• seed grown pomegranate...dead sweet gum with I think crabapple...Mulberry
  Juniper...crabapple...trumpet vine in green bowl and hmm, can't remember what's in the white
  Mulberry...volunteer Japanese maple...sweet gum

-- I need to repot and re-seat most of these --

Here are some that are still in the ground. I also have two oaks and a couple of mulberries that are not pictured.

• sweet gum...Callery pear
  Volunteer (seed or root sucker) plums...sweet gum

-- I'm going to root prune these --

...obviously, I'm going to have to start labeling them...

[applestar]

Here's my Bonsai Wannabe oak in one of my vegetable garden beds:

-- I've been casually root pruning it all around, but I think I'll take out the leader again and dig it out to pot up this year.

The leaves are just leafing out and will get bigger, but it looks good right now doesn't it?

[imafan26]

When I select a plant for bonsai, I kinda let it tell me what it wants to be.
I look for plants with small leaves. It is easier to keep them in scale if the leaves are small
I also look for plants that have interesting trunks, shapes or branching. It is actually hard to make a common looking tree interesting, but a tree that already has character built in, already has a head start.
I don't have the skill or the space to cut down a large tree and I have had zero success with bark stripping so
I usually start with smaller trees and if I grow them out, I pinch them more to promote branching sooner and besides it does not look very natural when you have to cut the lead and takes some skill (which I don't have) to shave it down to make it look like it broke off naturally.
Look for trees with branches that stay supple for a long time and the plants need to be long lived.

Tools
A good sheer
small leaf scissors
a fork (cheaper than a rake and it works)
a good saw
long tweezers
a brush
concave cutters different sizes if you have different size branches.
files
wire of different guages. Copper is best and reusable but very expensive. Aluminum will work.
wire cutters
turn table

Jade is an easy and forgiving plant and easy to prune, you litterally can use your fingers to break a branch or leaf off
Geometry tree - Should be easy shapes itself as long as you have full sun or even light all around
Juniper for me is an easy bonsai because it lends itself to cascade style and I can grow it outdoors all year. It is also easy to get so cheap starter.
Rhapsiolepsis indica Indian Hawthorne grows very slowly. Need to be careful about pruning, you have to live with the mistakes a long time. But because it grows so slow there is less maintenance
Ficus because they are forgiving of light and will grow the leaves back so they are resilient and long lived
Fukien tea makes a good bonsai, just don't let it go to seed.
Panax is a small shrub that does well with shaping.
Dwarf Schefflera
Desert rose ( I put it in a pot and let it do its thing.)
camelia
boxwood
bougainvillea
cypress
dogwood
pine
Chinese Elm

[applestar]

Bumping this as reminder to myself that I want to put this project back on the front burner this year

...Just uppotted my Bonsai Wannabe Japanese Maple seedlings since they started to wake up from their winter sleep:

...don’t worry, the potting mix is only on the top 1/2 inch or so... rest is gravelly mix of orchid bark, charcoal, DE, and calcined clay.

Took a pic of one of my Bonsai Wannabe citruses with an interesting trunk base — that happened on its own. It’s still in the scaffold/architectural branch structures developing phase. Also trying to induce additional interest higher up on the trunk:

[applestar]

More Bonsai wannabe pics

Japanese Maple seedlings


Pomegranate grown from store-bought fruit seed (not the typically used for Bonsai “Nana dwarf”)


Latest addition — wisteria grown from seeds from my mom’s wisteria. Going to twine the three together.