Japanese Maple Ideas

[Alcaviator]

bending the branches down wont make it look old, it will just look contrived. because its still a young tree, with a spindly long trunk and spindly branches. its poor material, but gotta start somewhere. also, the tree doesnt look in proportian because its too long and the canopy is too high. hastily bending everything down is a way to a quick, forced canopy, but it will never look right, just a quick fix.
google japanese maple, look at some good ones and study the proportians and you will begin to see why your tree will inevitably need shortening and probably bulking up either in a grow bed or training box.

actually, airlayering the trunk just under where it splits into two is a quicker way to a better more in proportian tree, it just makes sense.
this is what a natural twin trunk with some girth looks like

Beautiful example right here with those pictures. you just opened up my eyes to a whole new idea. thank you. and im truly not looking for free/non researched answers i've truly read alot of stuff to include a couple full books but yet like to look for ideas to think outside the box as sometimes i get too tunnel vision.

 

[Alcaviator]

So many of these 'maple starter' threads get started and we never see 'what happened next' so yeh maybe best advise is to design a quicky to get newbies loving what they created and sticking around i guess

I won't be that. I know I'm new but I do have follow up. I started 2 years ago with only a Juniper, Schefflera, Ficus and a Jade. After 2 years of staring at them I wanted to branch out. It so happened that my grandmother passed away so i decided to build a whole garden in her honor. This is just a start and I'm reading books daily and always looking to learn and seek out advice from greener hands than mine. I'm used to wrenching on airplanes not plants. although i will say I can do safety wire like a pro I'll log on with my phone in a second and show you my garden progress real quick. any advice is welcome!

 

[Alcaviator]

@BobbyLane @Forsoothe! heres what I’ve done the last month. From 4 plants I had in 2 years to starting something in my grandmothers honor that truly truly brings me peace. Also I have new plants since these pictures were taken

 

[Alcaviator]

All responses by Bobby ,RockM , Shibui and Forsooth id take into consideration all their talking point and read them carefully . Also I’ve been in your shoes, finding quality pre bonsai material that has potential on EBay is very difficult. There are 5 sellers out of the many that I know have good material for a good price. This sellers materials are way overpriced IMO, Ive seen this sellers stuff so be weary in the future and I wouldn’t buy from this seller again. Go to a bonsai nursery/studio, fbook auctions can be a thing but again it’s up to you as your eye improves to discern good material or not. Lastly, plant nurseries, I’m fortunate to have a very high quality native plant nursery near by , so hope you’ll have the same luck in all those avenues I mentioned.

I most certainly agree on the pricing. i offered 1/3 of his asking and he took it

 

[leatherback]

Just one other comment.. There is no need to "do" something as soon as you get it. I have trees that I have had sitting around for 2 years. Waiting for the tree to get in a state of health I like. Getting it in proper substrate. Getting ideas with complex materials. There is no shame in just "thinking things over" for a bit.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I would recommend walking through landscape nurseries and looking for the first couple inches of trunk and the first three branches. All else is changeable by bonsai practices. Also, don't fall in love with cheap marked-down plants at the end of the growing season because they are on their last legs, that's why they want to sell them cheap. The best time to find good stock in a landscape nursery is when they have a billion plants at the beginning of the season. They are healthy, they are right there in your face to rotate the pot, examine extensively and ponder a pathway to show quality, and compare with everything else available as to species, variety, size, price, and so on. It's a fun adventure and you can spend delightful hours shopping and once you learn how to shop specifically for bonsai stock, you'll be a lot happier with your results. Volume is the name of the game: hands-on learning to style, and becoming able to look at a so-so plant and put it back down and walk to the next one. You have graduated when you can stroll into a nursery with money burning a hole in your pocket and leave with nothing.