Beginner advise

Hi

I am totally new to bonsai and recently bought 3 starter trees and im looking for a wee bit more info on them and how best to care for them.

They are: Silk Tree, Elephant Bush and Japanese Holly.

1/ Can anyone confirm what types of tree these are? When searching for info on how best to care for them, the info I find it quite generalised into categories such as Juniper etc and im not sure which category mind fall into.

2/ They are all very young. A few inches tall and the trunk is not yet developed into wood. They still look like plants rather than trees. They are growing but i am not sure if I am meant to prune etc when they are so young or if I have to wait until they are more developed.

Any info from you veterans would be great.


Kind regards..
David.

Hello David and welcome to the forum - I hope you get all the answers and inspiration you need.

What would be really good would be if you could post some pics of your new purchases so we can make a more informed response. Additionally, an idea of where you live is good because care advice is very dependent on which temperature zone you are in. That way the people who are local to you can give you more appropriate help rather than just generalisations.

If you are not sure how to add pics to a post there is a very good sticky post by Jim Lewis. Go into the Testing board and at the top you will find this -just follow the steps Jim outlines. I managed it so it must be idiot proof!

Good luck - looking forward to seeing your pics.

Fiona

Hi Fiona

Thanks for the welcome.

I am in Musselburgh, East Lothian. Right on the coast of the River Forth. Here are the pics of my tree's.

Elephant Bush


Japanese Holly


Silk Tree


Silk Tree


Let me know what you all think.


Regards..
David

Hi again David. Ah well now - Musselburgh eh? That puts an entirely different face on things given your proximity to Luca's ice cream shop (rest of the bonsai world please note - ice cream to die for!)

You have quite a long way to go before you do anything to your trees. They need to grow and establish themselves (rather as you thought) a fair bit more before they are ready and indeed would withstand any work at all.

I'm going to send you a private message with some contact details for the Edinburgh bonsai group who meet in Currie every month. If you went along there they would be delighted to help you and will give you plenty of advice, great banter and a good supply of Danish pastries. (They're also madder than a box of frogs. If you have a sense of humour you'd enjoy their meetings.)

Others will also give you advice on here.


slainte

Fiona

Hi

Thats great Fiona. Luca's?? I never touch the stuff. Well, at least not on weekdays!

I wondered if it might be the case that I have to wait a while. Any idea what types of trees these are? As in, beech, pines, conifer etc etc?

I am considering buying a more established tree that I can work on while these ones grow. Can anyone recommend a certain type? And can anyone suggest a good age of tree I should get? Particularly for indoors. My house is quite warm with double insulated walls, double glazed etc etc. We rarely need the heating on except in the very very coldest weather.

I will take a shot at the first pigeon. Elephant bush could be Portulacaria afra .
...ciao Leonardo

Can I suggest that if you've got a garden - even a small one - you start thinking outdoors for bonsai. Very little does well indoors in any part of God's Country but outdoors is a whole different ball game and where bonsai should in fact live. If you go to that Sunday Edinburgh group meeting I sent you details of, you will get a good idea of what does well in the Lothians. You might even just pick up a bargain or two from the good chaps there. In fact... play your cards right...

The first pigeon falls to the ground only to be pounced on my the master's retriever so he reloads for the second wave of birds and fires boom at the silk tree or Albizia julibrissin.

'''ciao Leonardo

Leonardo

You're good eh? That's it. It goes to sleep at night you know.. Amazing. lol. Grows fast too. It's increased in height by about 2 inches in as many days.

Do you know what category of trees these are though? ie, conifers, pines, junipers etc. What do mine come under?

Your trees are evergreen small trees. Evergreen means - at its most basic - that they will keep their leaves in winter in their own climate. In a colder climate they may drop their leaves or even die. The Silk Tree and the Elephant Bush are tropical, meaning they exist as trees (i.e. out in the wild) in tropical climates. They will not survive a Scottish winter possibly not even indoors in the case of the Silk Tree. The Japanese Holly is also an evergreen tree in its own climate and is a bit more hardy (i.e. cold tolerant) than the other two. I would not keep one outdoors in Scotland in winter, but in the late Spring/Summer they would be kept outside. I hope this helps but would suggest (without meaning to offend you - I'm guessing from the way you phrase your question that you don't currently have this knowledge. A thousand apologies if you do) that a decent book or website on basic tree classification might help. I will send you details if you want.

I would also restate my previous advice that you'll have to wait a good while for these to be in any condition to so something with. Why not look at trees that do well in Scotland. These include conifers like Scots Pine and Yew(evergreen) or Larch (deciduous and v. easy and quick to grow) or deciduous trees like hawthorn. All easily found, usually from a good bonsai friend!

David J wrote:Leonardo

You're good eh? That's it. It goes to sleep at night you know.. Amazing. lol. Grows fast too. It's increased in height by about 2 inches in as many days.

Do you know what category of trees these are though? ie, conifers, pines, junipers etc. What do mine come under?

Sleep movements, leaves close or nictonasty is a common trait to the legume tribe of plants, second pigeon.

ciao.... Leonardo