Little Hinoki literati

[Dutch bonsai chef]

I think this might be my first post on this forum… started my bonsai journey about 2/3 years ago with a Hinoki starting set from Deshima. After watching countless video’s online, quietly lurking this forum and reddit and doing a bonsai beginner’s course at Deshima bonsai I decided I wanted to take things more serious. Got about 20 little shrubs I bought and abused (rip the few that didn’t make it) but they all need some serious steps in becoming good quality bonsai.

So, I figured, let’s just post my journey with all of these on here so I can get some advice on what to do next and keep track of the steps.

First up, the little hinoki I first “styled” and repotted in a colander in may 2022.

As you can see my wiring was awfull. Sometimes I get impatient when wiring so it still isn’t that good but it’s a leap forward if I can say so myself.

Last spring i decided to cut off a lot of branches and repot it again to make it a literati since I didn’t see the tree in the 2d stick with branches. I pruned it back about a month ago and also wired some branches. Don’t mind the weeds, I got rid of them


Any feedback, advice, life lessons would be much appreciated.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Here's a free wiring video that helped me. Patience is the key, & use both hands, one to hold the tree/branch steady & assist by moving your index and thumb along the wire your other hand is wrapping. Experience is the best teacher.

Free wire vid

 

[Kedron Brooke]

Okay, some advice for beginning a collection. Get several of the same type of tree. Preferably this is something you see growing well around you. You will learn faster with less diverse plants, and if it grows well around you then the horticulture is simpler. So our hobby is a mix of art and science, it's a little arcane sometimes. Horticulture grows the tree, which becomes the material we sculpt. When you are refining the design of the tree, the artistic stage, just keep it simple. Aim for 1 or 2 results initially. Maybe making the trunk bend how you like it, or making a leaf pad just so. I reckon you made a good call going for a literati design with that one hinoki cypress, as well as buying 10 of the same (I assume). Hinoki Cypress is a slow growing plant, so a bushy design will be very slow to achieve and a thick tree glacially slow. At some point you will gather sufficient experience to begin weaving several aims together at once. Trunk thickness, proportion, nebari, pot etc. However, as well as those trees I recommend at the start of this paragraph, I also recommend to buy a couple of finished bonsai trees. This will guide you, console you and importantly develop a slightly different skill set. Creating something refined from raw material is one part of bonsai. That's what you show us here. Keeping a highly cultured specimen is a different part.

 

[cody94withrow]

I think this might be my first post on this forum… started my bonsai journey about 2/3 years ago with a Hinoki starting set from Deshima. After watching countless video’s online, quietly lurking this forum and reddit and doing a bonsai beginner’s course at Deshima bonsai I decided I wanted to take things more serious. Got about 20 little shrubs I bought and abused (rip the few that didn’t make it) but they all need some serious steps in becoming good quality bonsai.

So, I figured, let’s just post my journey with all of these on here so I can get some advice on what to do next and keep track of the steps.

First up, the little hinoki I first “styled” and repotted in a colander in may 2022.
View attachment 562678View attachment 562679
As you can see my wiring was awfull. Sometimes I get impatient when wiring so it still isn’t that good but it’s a leap forward if I can say so myself.

Last spring i decided to cut off a lot of branches and repot it again to make it a literati since I didn’t see the tree in the 2d stick with branches. I pruned it back about a month ago and also wired some branches. Don’t mind the weeds, I got rid of them
View attachment 562680

Any feedback, advice, life lessons would be much appreciated.

noiiice this is one of the few really attractive ones I've seen.

Usually it just looks like the tuft of hair on Ernie from Bert and Ernie lol.

 

[Dutch bonsai chef]

Here's a free wiring video that helped me. Patience is the key, & use both hands, one to hold the tree/branch steady & assist by moving your index and thumb along the wire your other hand is wrapping. Experience is the best teacher.

Free wire vid

Never seen this video, thanks! Don’t think it’s my technique necessarily, if I take my time my wiring looks just fine, it’s just the patience when doing it that’s ruining it…