Cheap amusement

I bought this berberis thunbergii "Green Carpet" for 8 € :



Nothing you can do with the straight branches, they break so easily when you try to bend them, so the only option was "less is more".

(blurred) front :



back :



It is now about 12 cm tall (about 5 inches). The pot was bought on sale for 1 € at the same garden center.

Only 9 € and a lot of fun. It could make a nice accompaniment for a real bonsai one day...

This is nice, but I don't understand your last comment. Why won't this be a "real bonsai" itself one day? Because it's too small? Because you didn't spend a lot of money on it?

True, it's not because it's cheap that it can't be nice, and I was pleased to style it.
But bigger bonsai need much more work on them even for a first styling. And a nice big bonsai needs a nice small companion plant : most of my bigger trees are not ready to be displayed yet, so this one can get better meanwhile.

So then, where is the dividing line, at what dollar amount or height does a tree become a "real" bonsai?



Will

I think, and I know others agree, that it is much more difficult to make a very small tree look like an old tree.

Yes, I agree, however a higher level of difficulty does not dictate what is, or isn't a "real" bonsai, would you not agree?


Will

Erm, well, yes, you are right, all of you. That was a bit tongue-in-cheek actually, I didn't want people to believe I pretended to be able to make a bonsai in half an hour.
I should have written "It could make a nice accompaniment for another bonsai one day..."

AlainK wrote:
I should have written "It could make a nice accompaniment for another bonsai one day..."

To which I would have replied, it could make a nice bonsai one day.....



Will