when to shop for nursery stock

It is winter time in California and I was wondering if it would be a bad time to go and buy a tree from a nursery so that I will have it when spring time comes around?

Unless you are in northernmost California (or way up in the mountains) now is a great time to go to a nursery and get a plant to start working on now.

Awesome and thanks for the advice!

any recomendations on junipers?

Sargents (aka Shimpaku), Procumbens, Robusta, San Jose, Hollywood, are some which come to mind. Anything with an interesting trunk (thick, textured/old bark, nice root flare or butress, and many branches and foliage. Sometimes, the bargain or TLC sections have trees that could make interesting bonsai if you know what to look for. Have fun and good luck in your search!
Best, Todd

That strikes me as an odd question. I never thought about looking for bonsai material in nurseries at certain times of the year. Seems like you want to keep an eye out all the time, no matter when you planned to work on it. My recommendation would be to look often, look at everything, and rule out nothing. It's all part of the learning experience. Just have fun!

R

Since I live in Florida our gardening is less seasonal but when I have visited the Dayton, Ohio area in October I do see some deals on nursery stock, especially evergreens and Japanese Maples. They are interesting for me to look at but they are varieties that would not survive my climate.

My recommendation would be to look often, look at everything, and rule out nothing.

But don't feel bad if you come away empty handed. Buy only good material -- the best material you can afford and leave everything else behind.

There are people on here who say they learn from the crappy material they buy, but they don't learn the right things.

Good advice above, of course there is never a bad time for a nursery crawl in Sacto. You might also google...

Maruyama Bonsai Nursery awesome

There are people on here who say they learn from the crappy material they buy, but they don't learn the right things.

Not necessarily. I think the first part of bonsai is to learn what you CAN and CANNOT to specific species of plant material - how far can you push it and when is the best time to do it. You can read all the books you want, but it won't mean anything until you put your hands on a plant. We ALL have killed more than our far share of potential bonsai - and crap is a good place to start experimenting.

R

rock wrote:Good advice above, of course there is never a bad time for a nursery crawl in Sacto. You might also google...

Maruyama Bonsai Nursery awesome

I went there one day but they were closed. Have you been there before?

Bonsai Lesson #1 If the word "Bonsai" is in the title or on the product you will pay twice as much.

Now you may get what you pay for or not, but Just saying.

Todd Ellis wrote:Sargents (aka Shimpaku), Procumbens, Robusta, San Jose, Hollywood, are some which come to mind. Anything with an interesting trunk (thick, textured/old bark, nice root flare or butress, and many branches and foliage. Sometimes, the bargain or TLC sections have trees that could make interesting bonsai if you know what to look for. Have fun and good luck in your search!
Best, Todd

Is this true that Sargents Juniper is the same spieces as Shimpaku? If it is, im gonna be pretty mad at myself cause i had a chance to buy quite a few pretty nice trees for real cheap. Will someone please help with an answer to this?

Neil

Neil, there was a discussion here.
Wood
http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4797

Is this true that Sargents Juniper is the same spieces as Shimpaku?

Lots of confusion here, but in a nutshell, yes.