One year In.

[bonsaiBlake]

A year already. It was around this time last year I had a batch of pine seeds in the fridge and a roadside vendor tree dieing in the back yard. A lot has happened in the past 12 months. I've killed quite a few trees and even kept a couple alive. Found a passion for an art form which will be part of m daily life till the end of my days. Met some cool people, and most importantly READ A LOT OF BONSAI RELATED LITERATURE. More than anything this is what I did, and in all honesty the majority of the information was of the e-type not printed.

To recap the year as far as trees go ( "Taps" on lone trumpet begins) We will remember those fallen at the hands of yours truly.
4 store bought no name azelas
1 overpriced roadside vendor juniper
1 mugo pine(passed during vance's disappearance back in the fall, I tried everything the thread said)
1 award winning windswept 'old gold' juniper(hehehe)
1 tam juniper on its way out
and some others i'm sure I cant think of.

Still standing.
1 overpriced roadside vendor procumbens juniper
1 alberta spruce
1 collected sage, might still die
3 willow cuttings, might die as well

Now I say this has been a learning year because it has in every sense of the art. I consider myself lucky to has found this site as early on as I did, the majority of my knowledge about tree art has come from this site.

A big special thanks to Mr. B-nut for creating this site, and to RKatzin for my copies of bonsai techniques 1&2.

And too all the other nutters out there I love all of you guys. this site is amazing and wouldn't be anything without you. lets keep it nutty in here.

For all of the new people keep coming back, bug these guys, ask stupid questions, but above all read a ton of previous threads on this site before letting those typing fingers go crazy.

Happy growing to all,
Blake

ps lets hear about your last year in bonsai. anything exciting, lose any trees, get some new ones? lets hear it. . .

 

[M. Frary]

Last year on the minus side.
1 procumbens
1 unnamed chinese juniper
1 mugo pine
1 chinese elm
1 large tamarack
On the plus side last year I gained almost too many trees to count but learned things as well. Like success at my first attempt at an air layer.
Also went to the first bonsai show in my life and got to see other people's trees for the first time.
And last but not least I made a few friends along the way. Vance Wood being at the top. If it wasn't for this forum I would have never even met the man.
So I would also have to thank the head nut too. Many times over.

 

[Cypress187]

I collecting some trees last year and bought alot of them (and killed some in the process):

Died:
1x collected pinus (pruned to much green and roots / not enough research)
2x bought juniper (cut too much off / wrong season)
1x collected oak (root rot / bad mix)
1x fukien tea (moved it inside to fast / to late / shocked him to death i think, very sad about this one, i need a new one)

Living:
1x collected birch (which i love and will need much years)
1x collected unidentified (birch looking leaf but more soft / hairy)
1x bought yew (i was afraid to cut off too much, so maybe it will die this year
2x ficus (1x transformed houseplant / 1x gift from neightbour)
2x chinese elm
1x boxwood (tiny and like 50 cents, so this one doesnt even count)
10x / bunch of hornbeams (my friend wanted a paved garden, so i got them all)
bunch of random shrubs (bought / only trimmed a bit).

I learned alot and i will keep more trees alive i hope this year.

 

[erb.75]

Happy to say that my casualties report for last year is zero...didn't lose a single tree!

I gained a lot of outdoor trees...I have a new yatsubusa elm, 2 cork bark elms, 1 texas scarlet quince, 2 small trident maple saplings, 1 kiyohime maple, 1 birds nest spruce that I got for practically free and is small and I think that's it. So a lot of new stuff to work on this year...I can hardly wait until spring! Hope everything wakes up and isn't dead come late March...

 

[erb.75]

also, I learned that dwarf hinoki cypress can survive some extreme temps with only a little mulch covering their pot...I think last winter it got down to -10 degrees F and this year it got down to the same and it's still kicking....it does shed a lot of the inner leaves closer to the trunk though. I think I'm going to attempt my first literati with it since it doesn't seem to want a lot of foliage anyway Been wanting to have one of those for a long time and I think the plant is telling me it's happy to go that route too

 

[edprocoat]

I was fortunate to not lose any trees in '14 but in october of '13 I lost a bunch to an unexpected hard freeze. I hope to keep them all going this year and pray I do not get any stolen this year.

ed

 

[benw3790]

This past year I lost two junis, a trident maple (which I got from the bonsai learning center) and a burning bush due to my first time trying to fertilize and over fertilized them to death. Now that I think about it though, I threw them all out because all the foliage dried up, turned brown and yellow and started falling off. Maybe they were just burnt and would've survived? Who knows? But its too late now. I also lost a collected pine, a collected hornbeam and two collected junipers. I planted them all into the ground and they all did good at first with back budding and signs of life and then just eventually went downhill. I have no idea why so I didn't learn much from the experience. They all had sufficient roots. I guess its all about timing! Still have 30 trees that are living.. some new and some that I still have from when I first started bonsai. I am especially proud of keeping the older ones alive. Not only are we learning the art of bonsai but also horticulture in general. I guess the two go together but what I've lesrned the most is that you have to listsn to your trees.. do everything at the right time and a lot of times, do nothing at all.

 

[florida_bonsai]

I am less than but almost 1 year into bonsai but, like you said bonsai blake, the journey has been amazing so far! I have been fortunate enough to not lose any trees so far *knock on wood* but I definitely had a close call with a little chinese elm. I have definitely acquired a ton of trees so far and I'm not sure they would be doing as well as they are without the knowledge gained form this forum. Thanks for all the help and I look forward to gaining more knowledge as I continue my journey in bonsai.

 

[Giga]

Keep at it! I lost a small crepe myrtle last year but that was due to experimentation so it wasn't unexpected. I've been into bonsai for around 15 years but it's only been 5 or so years since I made is a lifestyle kind of thing. I have around 40 trees and am pretty happy with my collection thus far- I'm been now onto the bonsai pot addiction!