Recent content by rockm

Thanks for posting the resources. Of course the OP should follow what they want to do. My post was probably overly critical, but I've tried exactly what the OP was trying to do. It was great in theory, but in practice, it's frustrating (as frustrating as seeing a photo of dawn redwood passing...

Bamboo is a difficult plant to work with and involves specialized techniques, and knowledgeable timing from what I understand. It is a grass-- not a perennial woody plant (like a tree). Not many people use it for bonsai because it doesn't really behave in containers well. There are 'clumping"...

"Lucky Bamboo" is a dracena (Dracena sanderiana-Chinese water bamboo.), part of the asparagus family. It is not a tree, nor is it a bamboo. Nor is it really bonsai--as you can't apply bonsai techniques to it, or techniques used to tame actual bamboo in bonsai plantings (that involves peeling...

It's weird, but I've noticed there is considerable variability in the size of the fruit on individual Virginiana trees around here. Some are as big as a small plum, others can approach apple size. Might be environmental. https://www.pecva.org/work/wildlife/falls-favorite-fruit-persimmon/

@Cadillactaste How did these work out in a container? Are they invasive? How deep do the roots go? I'm thinking of using them as ground cover in a bonsai pot, as well as for accents. I've got this variety and another dwarf variety that has extremely tiny fronds.

Texas persimmon is more widely used for bonsai than the Virginiana. There was a very nice larger Texas persimmon in the front 10 acres of my parents' place in Texas. Was going to try to collect it, but never got around to it. Most of the persimmon here are just telephone pole straight small...

A critical point that can dictate how you work the tree.

North American Persimmons (Diospyros Virginiana) are great trees. BIG native persimmons are getting rarer and rarer. Wish native persimmon were more common as bonsai. They're not common and I haven't been able to find one small enough to dig, but I'm still looking. There was a huge old mature...

Always admired Arthur Joura. The most recent entry is fascinating and well thought out. Age is a relative thing and kind of beside the point for bonsai (people as well) 😁

Some shorthand on what you're aiming for with the initial bonsai training of a new unworked tree. Beginners mostly consider the existing height of the tree as a starting point. Forget that--The height of an untrained tree when starting out bonsai training is mostly useless. What really matters...

Last night the frost warning here wasn't posted until around 9 pm. Sometimes that happens. I expected it without the warning in any case. The weather in the preceding days was setting this up. We had frost the night before last as well only not as thick. Dry air mass, clear skies, calming...

The place has been under an extensive remodel, particularly the Japanese collection area--lots of stone added and displays updated. I believe that remodeling project begun in 2020 is continuing. There are quite a few new trees donated by Japanese growers as well.

I go to bed before midnight.. Frost typically doesn't appear until just before sunrise--if it does, freezing can also be in the forecast. Spraying at night can help when frost advisories are up, but by the time dawn (ish) rolls around, most of the water you've sprayed has evaporated. Best to get...

Woke up to relatively heavy frost this morning. Went out and sprayed the trees' tops with water. Water insulates the leaves from the frost. Air temp was 38 or so. Frost is on exposed areas, open grass, house rooftops, cars on the street, etc. Under relative cover of leafed out trees, etc., no frost.

FWIW, all depends on how many feeder roots you got, if you collected too late (it's about two week past prime collection time in the region, but beech are always the last ones to push leaves) and your attention to watering. Watering will vary for your beech. I would look at it every day to make...