Some found Bonsai in Vietnam

I tried to get the owner to stand beside that one but he wouldn't, it's the size of a minivan.






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Those are some nice trees, cute dog too, almost thought it was part of the tree for a moment.

Found the last few big Mimosa on the way back from Nha Trang last week, just had to stop--look--and take a few pics. With my limited Viet vocabulary we did discuss the trees and I made some suggestions about future work. The first one, with some grinding and ramification could make a spectacular tree (a decent pot wouldn't hurt too much either).

Bob

All I can say is, AMAZING!!!

Some amazing trees Bob. I have one question. Why are a good portion of Asian trees appear to be so unkept? We see this allot, don't people care about their bonsai? I know there are not in a show but?? I have seen some at shows in the same state of untidiness.

Hi Rick,

You are right, especially here in Vietnam. They seem to start the trees off well then just ignore much of the development we would continue to do. I don't know what it is maybe the fact that everything is so cheap? You could walk into any nursery here and find a tree that was neglected over the years spend a year or so actually doing some work on it and have a real beauty in the end. They wire the same way, they will put wire on and never remove it or, 'save' it to reuse by twisting it back off. Most trees I find have pretty bad wire marks and some very bad original branch cuts. I think it's also a lack of good old fenesse in just doing the job right.

Bob

Thanks for the candid reply Bob. I didn't mean to be critical, but I have seen some fabulous trees posted only to be put off by distraction, and yes many were from Vietnam, but I did want to single Vietnam out. Oops! I just did. For our Vietnamese friends, a little maintenance goes a long way. I bet they would get a better bang for their buck if upkeep was kept.

Thanks for posting these Bob.
Would be interesting to see photos of the show trees. Are they more manicured than in these candid shots?
Jerry
www.bonsaihunk.us

Thanks for giving us a glimpse ofnursery stock you have there. I tell you all those trees have potential;i would buy any of them in a heartbeat. What jumps out most about being unkept is that all the trees have been left to grow far too tall, thus diminishing growth to primary branches, sense of taper as move up the tree.If they don't like wire(everthing grows too fast), consider using various tie-downs from a fulcrum point to pull all the branches and foliage lower. Perfect example would be Lo(Tawaiin) trees on his web page. Dustin Mann

Dustin...the poor maintenance has it's good and bad points. If a tree has potential but has been allowed to become a 'shrub' again--and you have the ability to see that potential--you can bargin for a lower price. They try to get us to pay the 'white guy tax' on everything anyway. My big fukien tea was a shrub with the primary branches picked and about half dead, the woman wanted 1.5 million VND for it. I felt around and realized the potential but when she said 'no' to my offer of 600.000 I simply walked away. She chased me down.

It took a while to clean the tree up and I've got almost two years in work to get it looking good enough to show. Due to the way it was started it will never be a great tree but, it will be a good tree. At least not bad for $36 US. I may post some pics to show the progression of that one.

They do wire but don't take it off. They seem to never feed any of the nursery stock at all so as they become root-bound growth slows to nothing. There are also no decent pots, for the average person good Bonsai pots (like copper wire) are too expensive. The choice is cast/painted concrete or cheap unfired slip cast pots. They have drain holes but no wiring holes, they don't wire trees in anyway.

Bob

These were from the Da Lat trip a month ago.



This area was loaded with trees which had been sort of started as Bonsai then planted back in the ground. I'd love to visit this place at night )

There were about 30 of these very big and old ornamental ficus, almost any of them could be shortened and turned intl a great large Bonsai.



A well-packed motorbike ready to depart. Strapped to the top of my bag are an Azalea, two decent sized Jade cuttings and a Rosemary 'gift' plant. Just enough room for me and the 'Brat'. All did well on the 300+ Km trip back.

"Strapped to the top of my bag are an Azalea..."
Is Tuy Hoa's weather favorable for Azalea? I heard that Azaleas need a cold period of temperature in order for them to bloom. How do you plan to deal with the problem? Just a thought.

Xuan

Great trees. I really like the Chinese style approach to bonsai. These trees seem to have that influence. Could be pruned a bit, but still great stuff. I love mimosas but rarely see them used in bonsai.

Xuan, not really and have not seen one here (probably the reason). I just wanted one to mess with, probably keep it smaller. You never know though, with the change in temps between summer and the monsoon season I may be able to coax one to bloom, it's not really all-important though. It survived the trip pretty well, put it in a big pot to take advantage of the rain. I may plant it in a shaded part of the garden and just let it go for a while.

Bob