Bonsai Virgin

Hi everyone,
I must say this is an awe inspiring website and after viewing many photos and reading too many posts etc..... I have taken the plunge and not only joined up but started my first bonsai project.

Because I don't really have too much faith in myself at the pressent time I've started with a budget plant from my local B&Q (about £4 after a staff discount).
I choose a Juniper blue carpet and after hacking and slashing at it for a few hours, washing down and trimming the roots etc (while the Wife shook her head) these are the results:



note: the pot was a charity shop find that I drilled a few holes into for wiring and drainage all in all it's cost me just £5 so far so not only is bonsai a great hobby but its also very cheap to start too

Any coments or feedback would be gratefully recived.

youll soon realize this is not a cheap hobby. tools, good material, books, fertilizer, soil, etc. its a bit of an investment but deffinitely worth it

Great! I just got into it too. Not to discourage you, but I wouldn't call it cheap. The bonsai you work with is probably the cheapest part. I'm no expert on this subject, but (just to give you a quick example) I just dropped $60 on substrate components alone; not counting sifting supplies or other necessities.

I'd suggest doing a lot of research into it before doing too much, as a lot of things depend on your local climate, personal schedule and the time of year. There's loads of info here, on other forums, on the internet in full, your library, etc. Again, I'm no expert, but I strongly encourage you to look into all the aspects of it before going to far.

Regards,
Zach

Hi Rubarb, Im new to bonsai too, got my first tree about march time from my girlfriend with her not realising what it took to look after them lol, do lots of research and that is probably the best advice i can give as i know pretty much nothing another good idea would be to join a club near you, best of luck in your new hobby and enjoy.

Regards

Dave

Hi Rhubard

I like what you've done with that, and I wouldn't change the pot.

Have to disagree with the other respondents though - you don't have to spend a fortune to enjoy this hobby (although it would be very easy to!).

Nice first tree

Dave

Cheers Ironhorse,

Unfortinatly tho tonight whilst doing my late evening watering session I flicked a lengh of hose pipe over a tomato plant we have in the centre of the garden and acidently knocked this off the table

Feel gutted about it as I'd just done more work to it the night before and it was starting to look sweet.
....but its my fault for being lazy, luckly there was no broken limbs ect just a huge mess and broken pot so not is all lost (just a cheap pot gone), luckly the wife brought home a pot the other day so I've just wired it and planted into that for now.

What a bugga ehh ?

Embuggerances will happen - shame, but at least it was a cheap pot, I've found one or two in local charity shops, at least your tree is OK.

Dae

True, shame really cos i thought that tree kinda suited that pot but alas it in a round flat pot now (a bit to big but hey ho its growing ok).


Note it was a rush job to get the thing wired in etc as it was about 11 pm when i had the mishap took the wire off to worked the stems a bit to make it more brach like.

It's coming along for such a small thing.

The proof will be if I can leave it alone long enough to get decent, but a few trips in the country may hold the key there I'm gona be air layering some odd trees I find soon

Still looking good, but a smaller pot would suit better. I got a few good secondhand unused pots from Ebay, about £4 each, Kaizen bonsai had some pot sets on their site too recently which looked like good value.

Dave