big box store trees!!

[benw3790]

I wanted to make a thread about the material people get from big box stores like home depot, Lowes and such.. A lot of ppl in the bonsai community are against getting any material from places like this. I know finding good material at these places are rare but it CAN be done. Just the other day I bought a boxwood that was on sale for 9 bucks. The trunk is at least 2" thick already, maybe 3" at soil level, and the branches are still young and limber enough for me to bend movement in them. Its pretty promising. So I know a lot of beginners, like myself, rely on these places to get material sometimes and I don't want ppl to be discouraged about getting trees there so I was wondering if anyone would like to share any progressions or just pictures of any material you've gotten from places like that? It would be really inspiring to me to see how some of you guys trees turned out from a place like that. Thanks.

 

[Smoke]

A three gallon procumbens nana.

 

[Smoke]

More work.

 

[Smoke]

Almost done

and done.

About five hours.

 

[benw3790]

I can't see any of the photos sometimes, just for no reason at all, I can't see photos ppl post on certain posts, because I'm using a tablet and the forum is in mobile view for me so it just has the post and then it says, "attatchements" at the bottom but its not highlighted and can't click on it. Also, I can't post pics at all what so ever with this mobile view. Really not trying to get away from the topic so, I'll try to view them on my parents laptop. Just wish bnut would change some settings or make it useabke for mobile users!! Keep posting pics tho guys!!

 

[benw3790]

Almost done

and done.

About five hours.

the tree looks awesome so far! great work, man. thanks for sharing.

 

[jedge76]

Almost done

and done.

About five hours.

That's a nice looking progression!

 

[Paradox]

Almost done

and done.

About five hours.

Wow you did a lot of work in a short time. This is something I haven't got a handle on yet.
How much can you do to a tree and not kill it. Im always afraid to do too much. Seeing this, I realize I could probably do a lot more than I am.

 

[johng]

About five hours.

Those are some fast growing weeds...maybe its moss...but 5 hours...I just thought the weeds grew fast here

 

[Vance Wood]

I wanted to make a thread about the material people get from big box stores like home depot, Lowes and such.. A lot of ppl in the bonsai community are against getting any material from places like this. I know finding good material at these places are rare but it CAN be done. Just the other day I bought a boxwood that was on sale for 9 bucks. The trunk is at least 2" thick already, maybe 3" at soil level, and the branches are still young and limber enough for me to bend movement in them. Its pretty promising. So I know a lot of beginners, like myself, rely on these places to get material sometimes and I don't want ppl to be discouraged about getting trees there so I was wondering if anyone would like to share any progressions or just pictures of any material you've gotten from places like that? It would be really inspiring to me to see how some of you guys trees turned out from a place like that. Thanks.

Absolutely the best choices for bonsai are naturally stunted trees from the mountains. However; if you cannot identify good material when looking through a mountain of nursery trees you are going to have problems finding good stuff in the woods. If you cannot keep and develop a nursery tree you are going to have big problems with the special needs of a collected tree. Surfing nurseries, not necessarily just the big box stores, but nurseries in general, will sharpen your selecting skills and help teach you thebasics------and its fun too.

The following trees are all nursery trees ranging in price from $5.00 to $35.00. As you develop in bonsai you will find that there is a lot of money to be spent on trees and a lot of people spending it foolishly.

 

[M. Frary]

What weed? I don't see any weed.

 

[Vance Wood]

What weed? I don't see any weed.

But----there is crake in the pot------just joking

 

[Dav4]

I really don't go to box stores to look for pre-bonsai, as a rule. However, you can, sometimes, find long term projects there, and usually at a good price. These are 3 7 gal crape myrtles I got for 2 bucks a piece at HD last week. One is a semi dwarf 'Plum Magic', one is a 'Nachez' and the last I'm not sure of. They all have descent bases and will be grown out long term in my yard to develop the trunks. The last is an A. palmatum 'Garnet' I got for 50% off at Lowes last month. It will be air layered and grown out for at least 4-5 years to thicken the trunk, and eventually being styled as a semi cascade.

 

[Eric Group]

I wanted to make a thread about the material people get from big box stores like home depot, Lowes and such.. A lot of ppl in the bonsai community are against getting any material from places like this. I know finding good material at these places are rare but it CAN be done. Just the other day I bought a boxwood that was on sale for 9 bucks. The trunk is at least 2" thick already, maybe 3" at soil level, and the branches are still young and limber enough for me to bend movement in them. Its pretty promising. So I know a lot of beginners, like myself, rely on these places to get material sometimes and I don't want ppl to be discouraged about getting trees there so I was wondering if anyone would like to share any progressions or just pictures of any material you've gotten from places like that? It would be really inspiring to me to see how some of you guys trees turned out from a place like that. Thanks.

I don't think that people are "against" buying trees at the box stores, more the impression is that it is hard to find rally good material there. I have found black Pines, Austrian Pines, White Pines, all manner or Juniper, Maples, Crepe Myrtles, Cedars, Hynoki Cypress, Gumpo and various small leafed Japanese varieties of Azalea.... All at Home Depots and Lowes in the past. Many were not the best examples of what you could make a good bonsai from or were grossly overpriced for what you were getting... So i didn't always buy them But they are available out there.

It seems like these big box stores are kind of getting the last pick with a lot of these trees, so you wind up with some ugly trees there sometimes. The "fancy" nurseries (most cities have a few that try to be a little more up scale than the rest) tend to get the best stock, but they charge the most for them too... There is certainly nothing that says you cannot buy good stuff from regular nurseries and these big stores though! I think some of my favorite trees were created from really cheap buys at a nursery!

My example would be an old Maple whip I bought from a nursery about a decade ago! It was a pencil thin little cutting the nursery owner still, had sitting behind her greenhouse because she wasn't sure it had taken well enough to sell yet. I talked her into letting me buy one because it looked ready to me... I think I probably paid $5-10 for it. Now, almost 19 years later, I have made numerous cuttings my own from this tree. The original whip is planted in the ground at my rental home- it is 7-8 feet tall with a 6 I ch trunk and such a beautiful tree I just don't know if I can take it out of the ground at this point to make a Bonsai out of it... It will probably be a landscape plant for life now. It has yea idled probably a half dozen or more cuttings- three or four of which have been planted in the ground to mature and are now on their way to being bonsai. One was just planted in it's first training pot earlier this year, another was transplanted from ground to nursery pot this Fall and will have the most interesting part of the trunk air layered off this year if he is growing strong... My point is that this as not some beautiful "find" at a nursery. It wasn't some wild collected specimen worth thousands of dollars and aged for hundreds of years... Sometimes the tree you find may not look like much to start, it is up to you to make something out of it.

Good luck, happy hunting!

 

[drew33998]

Absolutely the best choices for bonsai are naturally stunted trees from the mountains. However; if you cannot identify good material when looking through a mountain of nursery trees you are going to have problems finding good stuff in the woods. If you cannot keep and develop a nursery tree you are going to have big problems with the special needs of a collected tree. Surfing nurseries, not necessarily just the big box stores, but nurseries in general, will sharpen your selecting skills and help teach you thebasics------and its fun too.

The following trees are all nursery trees ranging in price from $5.00 to $35.00. As you develop in bonsai you will find that there is a lot of money to be spent on trees and a lot of people spending it foolishly.


View attachment 45647 View attachment 45648 View attachment 45649 View attachment 45650 View attachment 45651

Vance are those shimpaku junipers? If so I'm guessing you didn't get it at a big box store. Nice work.

 

[Vance Wood]

I guess the point is this: If you off handedly rule out a source, you, in the process, eliminate a possible opportunity. It's not like life is bombarding you with great material everywhere you turn, good material has to be looked for. If you limit where you look you limit you limit your opportunities.

A number of years ago the standard thinking, in some sources, was that if you did not use Yamidori trees or specifically cultivated for bonsai trees known as pre-bonsai you were not doing it right. As valid as that argument may be aesthetically it is not an option for at least 65% of the people interested in doing bonsai. This also made the assertion that bonsai is a rich man's hobby-----just like golf. Sorry that is just not true.

 

[MACH5]

Here is an example of a shohin bonsai created from nursery stock although admittedly I did not get this from HD or Lowes. But I do think it shows that you don't have to spend lots of money in pre-bonsai grown stock to get something worth while out of a nursery grown tree. As already mentioned, the trick is to know and identify a potentially good piece of material and see the tree underneath it. I will also add that just because something has been heavily marked down it does not necessarily qualify it as a good tree.


[HINOKI CYPRESS BEFORE]







[HINOKI CYPRESS AFTER]

 

[jedge76]

I guess the point is this: If you off handedly rule out a source, you, in the process, eliminate a possible opportunity. It's not like life is bombarding you with great material everywhere you turn, good material has to be looked for. If you limit where you look you limit you limit your opportunities.

A number of years ago the standard thinking, in some sources, was that if you did not use Yamidori trees or specifically cultivated for bonsai trees known as pre-bonsai you were not doing it right. As valid as that argument may be aesthetically it is not an option for at least 65% of the people interested in doing bonsai. This also made the assertion that bonsai is a rich man's hobby-----just like golf. Sorry that is just not true.

This is going to be a fun, and long, thread.

I love your point Vance. I always get a kick out of getting a lot from a little in life in general and I think box store trees are a fun, often less expensive option for those of us that are trying to save as much as possible. Thanks for that quote.

 

[Vance Wood]

This is going to be a fun, and long, thread.

I love your point Vance. I always get a kick out of getting a lot from a little in life in general and I think box store trees are a fun, often less expensive option for those of us that are trying to save as much as possible. Thanks for that quote.

This source of trees definitely stretches your creativity, and the more you do it the better you get at recognizing possibilities and design. Trees take time and the people that do them take time. It's pretty hard to not be inspired by a two-hundred year old tree, but the trick is to gain inspiration from a $20.00 tree just by the simple fact it is something to work on and something you can turn into something nice. The progression on the Hinoki above is a really good example of that principle. A really nice tree made from a not so nice piece of material. I have seen good material go begging for the simple reason some people will consider the source beneath there talent and consideration. And others who think if is not a Yamadori it is not worth the time to work on.

 

[Smoke]

Those are some fast growing weeds...maybe its moss...but 5 hours...I just thought the weeds grew fast here

That is moss that is in its flower phase