Bonsai on a Budget

[Nwaite]

I can't be leave this post is still goooooing ..... you guys cracking me up.

HOW TO DO BONSAI'S FOR FREEE!

Dig up neighbors srubs...
Hide them in you back yard...
Snap off branches you don't like with bear hands or a swift kick...
Tie other branches with old shoe laces...

If you own any... you may have spent that extra $ on fish fertilizer. ...

Plant to trees on your old cereal bowls!

Oh and don't forget making your own fertilizer from colected and save shat and piss...

Good luck now you can go buy all the sweater you need!

 

[Giga]

Carp, sometimes aluminum just doesn't do the job.
Maybe you have to double up on the aluminum. Is it cheaper then?

But, the aesthetics play an important part, too. Copper wire darkens over time making it less noticeable. Aluminum wire is silver colored. Or is painted. The paint wears off. Then, it turns silver!

And it's not unusual to leave wire on for a couple years. So, thinner wire, that visually "disappears" over time or thicker wire that becomes more visible over time?

Ficus is a conifer? News to me!

I do pines and junipers. For those I use copper. I wired my olive using aluminum. I use the appropriate wire for the job.

I am ashamed but I use what wire I have on hand for what tree I'm working on. Wish I had more $$ then I had for bonsai but the budget dictates what I buy. I usually buy everything at once every spring and I buy copper and aluminum(more so aluminum). If I run out of copper I use aluminum on conifers like I did my large blue spruce-so again I agree with @Adair M the wire turned bright silver after a year. I don't mind so much but for a show, not so much lol. For really thick branches I did have to double on a couple but it is what it is and I do what I can

 

[Dav4]

I am ashamed but I use what wire I have on hand for what tree I'm working on. Wish I had more $$ then I had for bonsai but the budget dictates what I buy. I usually buy everything at once every spring and I buy copper and aluminum(more so aluminum). If I run out of copper I use aluminum on conifers like I did my large blue spruce-so again I agree with @Adair M the wire turned bright silver after a year. I don't mind so much but for a show, not so much lol. For really thick branches I did have to double on a couple but it is what it is and I do what I can

I've re-used some pieces of Aluminum wire 3-4 times. They were probably cut off the coil up to a decade ago. They get unwound and placed in a pile for re-use as needed...no need to be ashamed.

 

[Giga]

I've re-used some pieces of Aluminum wire 3-4 times. They were probably cut off the coil up to a decade ago. They get unwound and placed in a pile for re-use as needed...no need to be ashamed.

I do the same thing lol I have a 5 gallon bucket that I use any piece that's reusable

 

[timetravel_0]

I can't be leave this post is still goooooing ..... you guys cracking me up.

HOW TO DO BONSAI'S FOR FREEE!

Dig up neighbors srubs...

I've heard the stories of the older Japanese guys in California in the 80's coming to meetings with rusty steel wire on their trees, and one practitioner that composted fish heads (leftovers from fishing for his family's food) in a bucket as fertilizer. Based on what I heard, they had some pretty fine trees.

I should also mention, that a lot of the members in that club were huge proponents of "urban yamadori".

 

[Ironbeaver]

When I first started, i ground down an old pair of wire cutters

on the face showing and they worked okay as concave cutters (cuts needed a tiny bit of cleanup with a sharp knife.) You can also grind off the point to make them function more like "bonsai" wire cutters.

 

[Nwaite]

When I first started, i ground down an old pair of wire cutters

on the face showing and they worked okay as concave cutters (cuts needed a tiny bit of cleanup with a sharp knife.) You can also grind off the point to make them function more like "bonsai" wire cutters.

NICE! Thanks for that bit of info... I have a bunch of old pairs of wire cuter I'm going to try this out tonight.

 

[GGB]

I used to wire my trees with twist ties, sifted soil with a tennis racket, and only dug up free trees. thank god for my most recent raise

 

[sorce]

I used to wire my trees with twist ties, sifted soil with a tennis racket, and only dug up free trees. thank god for my most recent raise

Triple snap!
Lol.

Now you can spend more on weed to make better trees!

Oops wrong thread.!

Sorce