First tree?

Okay, so I watched the original karate kid movies recently, and i started thinking that this would be a cool hobby. So my main question is: should I buy a tree from a nursery or start from scratch from a seed from one of the trees in my backyard? Also, what kind of soil should I use and how often do I water it? I'm a complete beginner here so any information will be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I started thinking that bonsai would be a good hobby
I already take karate

Well. Since it is midsummer and a very poor time to start a bonsai -- whether from seed or from a nursery plant that needs repotting, etc. that gives you a nice long period (until late winter or spring) to find some bonsai books and do some reading, and look at pictures of nice bonsai to help you decide what kind of tree (or trees) you might want to work on.

You can keep on reading here, also, and you will see many fine trees posted here for inspiration.

Buying a "bonsai" is an option, but 99% of the easily obtainable (AKA affordable -- under $100) bonsai aren't worth buying -- we call them "mallsai" and their life expectancy is quite short. A good or decent bonsai will cost you hundreds of dollars.

Besides, it is a lot more fun and informative to create your own -- though not necessarily from seed for your first tree. That means 10 years of waiting until you can have anything that resembles a bonsai. The consensus "best" approach is to buy a nursery plant and turn it into a bonsai. You also can find a bonsai nursery and get a "pre-bonsai" (one that has had some starting work don on it -- shape, roots, etc) but those are a bit more expensive, too. Again, though, midsummer isn't when you want to do this because you can't do the necessary root work (repotting, etc.).

There are bonsai clubs in Virginia. You might want to join one of them near you; local help is invaluable to one who is starting out. Here is a list.

VIRGINIA - Arlington
Northern Virginia Bonsai Society
is a non-profit organization whose goal is to educate about and
share Bonsai Information. We have lectures from noted speakers, workshops,
collecting trips, and publish our own newsletter. NVBS has been in
existance for over 27 years. We meet every second Saturday of the month,
9am at the Walter Reed Commmunity Center, 2909 16th St. S. Arlington, VA.
Contact: John Fitzsimons by Email: jfitzsimons@verizon.net

VIRGINIA - Hampton
Peninsula Bonsai Society. Meets the second
Tuesdays, 7:00 PM at the Peninsula Council of Garden Clubs building in
Hampton, Contact: Bob Owens (757) 877-3515 Email Bowensai@aol.com




VIRGINIA - Lynchburg
Central Virginia Bonsai Society
usually meets at Grove Street Recreation Center, 301 Grove St. the 4th
Thursday during growing season at 7:00 PM. Contact: Julian R. Adams, 1721
Langhorne Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503, (434) 384- 7951, E-mail: jra@adamsbonsai.com.
All skill levels of bonsai enthusiast are welcome. Meeting days and
location are irregular. Call ahead for current schedule.



VIRGINIA - Norfolk
Virginia Bonsai Society is dedicated to the promotion, education, and enjoyment of the living
art Bonsai and Penjing. We meet in the Holly Room of Baker Hall at Norfolk Botanical
Gardens, 6700 Azalea Garden Rd., first Thursday of each Month, 7:00 PM. Contact:
Walter Lisicki (President) (757) 486-3422, or e-mail: info@virginiabonsai.org. For
additional information please visit www.virginiabonsai.org



VIRGINIA - Richmond
Richmond Bonsai Society. Meets at Imperial
Plaza Auditorium, 1717 Bellevue Ave., 4th Monday at 7:00
PM. Contact: Randi Sharp (804) 840-5565, E-mail: richmondbonsaisociety@yahoo.com. On an annual basis, the club typically sponsors two visiting bonsai
artists who offer a program format of lecture/demonstrations. All skill levels are welcome to attend. Workshops are
also offered during the year. Please check the event calendar on the website for the monthly topics and speakers.
Website: http://richmondbonsaisociety.org/

VIRGINIA - Roanoke
Hinoki Bonsai Club. Meets at Roanoke
Council of Garden Clubs Bldg., 3640 Colonial Ave., third Wednesday of each
month, except August at 7:30 PM. Contact: Ken Clubb (540)
362-2725 or by E-mail: kclubb43@cox.net. Our club
meets monthly with programs relating to creating,styling, and maintaining
bonsai. We usually have one or two visiting bonsai
artists giving lecture/demonstartions each year..

Jim gives you good advice... you need to read all you can find about bonsai and maintance .... If there is a bonsai nursery in your area that would be the place to go ... they can give you information and you will be able to find a decent tree.... sometimes at walmart and lowes they have what Jim call mallsai .. these will work but you have to be careful .. It is not the time to dig anythng up or buy anything that needs root work from nursery.... so read and see if you can find a tree that is not too expensive to start with.... come back and ask all the questions you need ... everyone is willing to help .... goodluck ... John

Ok thanks guys. Ill get some books from the library and do some reading. BTW, is your user name moyogijohn like miyagi in the karate kid? If so clever, if not; well, idk

Thanks again!

ickathu wrote:BTW, is your user name moyogijohn like miyagi in the karate kid? If so clever, if not; well, idk

Nevermind, just found out that moyogi is a style of bonsai

You are right,,moyogi is a tree that the trunk has curves in the trunk but the apex,top of the tree iscentered with the root base..I like chinese elm trees and like that style....keep posting on what you are going to do ok??it is good that a young man wants to do bonsai..take care john

Okay, I am going to keep you posted as you requested.
I went and dug up a tree today that I thought looked nice. I planted it in a pot (made sure it had drainage holes, but they aren't very big) and took some pictures to indentify it (sorry about the background, it was the plainest I could find):

link to the pictures (cant get them on here):
Here they are

could comeone please help me identify what kind of tree it is?

Thanks!

Alex,, Your tree looks good but remember now is really not a good time to dig up anything..hope you got a lot of roots keep it damp not over watered put it in the shade for a while then start giving it some sun..i will let some one else name the tree because it looks like 3 i can think of....good luck i hope it will do good....john

I believe you have an American beech tree. It can be used for bonsai but is not easy. No matter what it is, for now, cut the upper branches shorter & put it back in the ground in very rich soil, like a vegetable garden, & keep feeding it. It is a baby, & you want it to grow up & have a much thicker trunk before it can be a bonsai.
Iris

moyogijohn wrote:Alex,, Your tree looks good but remember now is really not a good time to dig up anything..hope you got a lot of roots

I know but I really wanted to start and we have about 1000000 trees in our yard so I figured I would try and see how it works, lol. Thanks for the advice about what to do with it, greatly appreciated

Alex,

You read what more experienced persons wrote, you hear what they say, but you act upon your eager to start and practice Bonsai...
We all are eager. Some has good guides/ Masters, other do learn a lot by themselves from books, magazines and e-sites.
To my opinion and experience, the preferred and shortest way to learn is practicing bonsai with experienced colleagues/ clubs/ masters. the internet is of a great help' but it cannot replace it.
good luck

Ami

You have an American beech. It WILL not survive dug up and crammed into that little pot. It PROBABLY won't survive, even if you follow Iris' good advice and put it in the ground.

The American beech, Fagus grandifolia, is a quite difficult plant to dig and transplant at the best of times (which is late winter or very early spring BEFORE it has leaves). You chose the very worst of times (mid summer) to dig it up and pot it immediately -- which we almost never do -- into a small pot.

Before you kill another tree. Please do some reading and learning. Start with a nursery plant which is used to life in a pot and will not be as shocked at being moved into a smaller one -- at the proper time (winter-spring). Join a club.

Learn patience; that is the essence of bonsai.

i think at the age of 13 and with ur internet site u are a very bright young man, figure out what tree does best in ur area, find what kind of tree u like and get close to a style u want to have, go to the nursery and shop around till u find the nursery tree that will work, this may take u some time to find one, and u will learn what truck types that work for ur style just by shopping. buy the tree and do nothing but keep it alive for the rest of the year. this will get u into practice of bonsai care without harming the tree first... if u keep it alive come spring then u will see what has to be done to keep healthy, u will then take ur time at preparing it for a pot (plus u wont freakout so many ppl here)... so miyagi was teachin patience with the wax on wax off lesson. i have been learning bonsai now for 14 years and i have a very hard time like you trying not to rush my trees. and the people here just blow my mind with their trees so they know what their talking about... just dont give up!!!!

I agree with Jim, Iris, and Ricky. The chances of this tree's survival is slim to none, but don't give up. Patience is the hardest part to overcome in the beginning.I am still in the early stages of learning bonsai and have killed a tree or two in the process. I feel that there are very few people that can say they have not killed a tree in the process of learning this artform. Being 13 and interested in learning you are ahead of the game, but you should heed the advice given and put aside the idea of creating a bonsai for now and work on understanding to care for your trees and what each species can endure. Read, read, read,and find a very forgiving species or two for your first trees. Cheap nursery stock makes for good practice. Also as stated see if you can't find someone nearby with expierince who can help you along in your endeavors. And the part I agree with ricky most on is don't give up. Mistakes happen and will continue to happen, but over time they will become less so don't get discouraged. Good luck.

Todd

Okay, thanks all of you.
The only problems with me getting a nursery plant is
1. I have a 4yr brother, 8yr sister, and 15yr sister. My dad is out of town ~4 nights a week, so my mom cannot take me anywhere easily.
2. My parents don't seem to like any of my hobbies, e.g. my mom doesn't want me to knit or crochet because its "girly", my mom yelled at me the other day because I watered my plant and she said that I didn't have to water it 24/7 (I had watered it around 7:30, and then, it was around 4:00 in the afternoon sun)


So, that is why I am going to have to use either cutttings or a plant from my yard, etc...

ickathu wrote:Okay, thanks all of you.
The only problems with me getting a nursery plant is
1. I have a 4yr brother, 8yr sister, and 15yr sister. My dad is out of town ~4 nights a week, so my mom cannot take me anywhere easily.
2. My parents don't seem to like any of my hobbies, e.g. my mom doesn't want me to knit or crochet because its "girly", my mom yelled at me the other day because I watered my plant and she said that I didn't have to water it 24/7 (I had watered it around 7:30, and then, it was around 4:00 in the afternoon sun)


So, that is why I am going to have to use either cutttings or a plant from my yard, etc...

There is nothing girly about crochet. There are some amazing crochet artists who are men . Some are top designers. Your mum needs to get out of steroetypes and realise there are no rules about what men and women can do. Its attitudes like this which makes humans not move on in their development. My boy is 6 and crochets and has no idea that boys are only supposed to do certain things. Your mum needs to chill out and let her children find out what best for them in life and not enforce her predudices on them. Do what you enjoy. Don't be swayed in life by others people ideas.

Check these out.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=254715699
http://blog.thecrochetdude.com/

Smithy wrote:

ickathu wrote:Okay, thanks all of you.
The only problems with me getting a nursery plant is
1. I have a 4yr brother, 8yr sister, and 15yr sister. My dad is out of town ~4 nights a week, so my mom cannot take me anywhere easily.
2. My parents don't seem to like any of my hobbies, e.g. my mom doesn't want me to knit or crochet because its "girly", my mom yelled at me the other day because I watered my plant and she said that I didn't have to water it 24/7 (I had watered it around 7:30, and then, it was around 4:00 in the afternoon sun)


So, that is why I am going to have to use either cutttings or a plant from my yard, etc...

There is nothing girly about crochet. There are some amazing crochet artists who are men . Some are top designers. Your mum needs to get out of steroetypes and realise there are no rules about what men and women can do. Its attitudes like this which makes humans not move on in their development. My boy is 6 and crochets and has no idea that boys are only supposed to do certain things. Your mum needs to chill out and let her children find out what best for them in life and not enforce her predudices on them. Do what you enjoy. Don't be swayed in life by others people ideas.

Check these out.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=254715699
http://blog.thecrochetdude.com/

I know, I used to be able to crochet some really amazing things (not to brag), but then she told me I needed to stop...
Any way, yeah....
My tree is looking pretty good I think. It has of pests though.. I see spidermite webs on the leaves, and golden garden spider webs between branches. I've just been watering my tree and knocking down the webs. Not sure how much it has been helping though. Other than that, it has green leaves, and none of them are wilting so I think it might make it.

If you enjoy and good at it keep it up , just don't tell your Mum. She should be proud of you . I wish i had had your enthusiasm for being creative at that age. I had gone off the rails by then.
Good luck with your tree. Even if it doesn't make it you will learn something.