My first Bonsai

[Bhebe55]

Stopped by a vendor on a whim and fell in love with a little 13 year old juniper bonsai. Since then I have read everything I can get my hands on and watched hours if bonsai videos on you tube. I live in the swamps of Deep South Louisiana zone 9a. I'm really interested in trying to make bonsai out of local flora. I think I can get some interesting specimens from the marsh areas. One of the questions I have is where is the best cheapest place to order supplies, tools, pots.? Anyone have any experience with bald cypress bonsai? What's the best way to get started without spending a ton of money? Thank you in advance for any and all advice. I look forward to being an active member and picking y'all brains for knowledge hard earned.

 

[bonsaibp]

Welocme to the site and to bonsai. Try getting ahold of Guy Guidy at NOLA Bonsai in New Orleans. He's the man when it comes to bonsai down there. Especially with native materials. There's also Zach Smith in Francesville - he owns Bonsai South and is a good man and knows his stuff. either one of these guys can get you off on the right foot.

 

[Cypress]

Welcome!

Getting started in bonsai without a ton of money is pretty easy. I think maybe when people get way overexcited when first into bonsai they can probably buy trees that are way overpriced for what they are. So I would say, don't buy anything off the internet that costs hundreds of dollars. Down the line when you're more familiar with bonsai and able to asses the value of something like that, then go for it.

To start with, I would suggest buying a few very affordable plants from a nursery or box store. That way you can get a bit of practice with pruning, styling, repotting techniques, etc. even if they're not phenomenal trees to start with. I've only been into bonsai for about a year now, so this is largely what I've done so far and now I have some nice little pre-bonsai with promising futures. Before you go searching through nurseries, try to read up on as many species of tree as you can so you know what you're looking at when you go. And of course educate yourself on desirable traits for bonsai stock... traits at the top of the list being trunk diameter, taper, and movement, and nebari (surface roots). One tip: if you go to nurseries in the fall, you can often find trees for crazy cheap. Last month I picked up 4 very sizable junipers for like 15 bucks total, which they were all about 30 dollars each earlier in the summer. They were all just tossed in a heap at the way back looking quite abandoned.

Of course the cheapest way of acquiring trees is collecting them from the wild for free. I wouldn't advise you do this at least until you've had one season to get your hands dirty and you've read everything you can find on collecting wild trees. It is very much frowned upon in the bonsai community when people do this irresponsibly and end up killing the tree. This coming spring I'm going to be collecting a few trees for the first time. Very exciting!

Welcome to the forum and the hobby. Once you're hooked, you're hooked!

 

[Paradox]

Welcome.

My advice is to learn what will survive in your area and to read as much as you can from books and online forums. Join a club if you can find one near you. Like Judy said, make sure you have the ability to provide whatever species you choose to grow the things it needs. Outside/inside; winter protection, the proper level of sun or shade. You must learn to keep things alive before you can learn to make them into a bonsai. You have to learn the correct timing of things or you will have trouble keeping things alive.

Realize that this is not an instant gratification hobby. You will need patience and self control. It takes many, many, many years to learn and even more to master. Trees grow in periods of season and years not weeks and months. You also need to be able to commit the time it takes to diligently care for your trees. That means checking them almost every day for water, bugs, disease.

Do some research and ask questions. There are many good people here willing help if you get stuck. Good luck!

 

[Bhebe55]

Wow thank you all for the advice. I looked up Mr Guidry and his shop is about 40 minutes north of me in New Orleans. He has classes available so I'm differently gonna check him out. What tools would y'all recommend for a beginner and maybe a website that has fair prices? I think I have a decent disposition for this hobby as I'm a critical care nurse so I'm used to taking care of delicate lives that need constant attention. My wife and I just bought our first house and now I've got the room. I just hope the excitement I'm feeling now doesn't wane. Thanks again for the prompt responses and helpful advice.

 

[johng]

You are in a great area for bonsai...I have been collecting in the swamps of south carolina for years...Bald Cypress are some of my favorite trees to work with...Water elm have great potential as well. Start slow...collect a few seedlings...get comfortable keeping them thriving...then venture out for something bigger. You can find a few videos I have done on Bald Cypress from the link in my signature.

As to where to buy...I find that stone latern has reasonable prices and quality. I would avoid the bonsai aesthetic brand when it comes to tools but most of the other brands they carry are decent. I do buy the BA aluminum wire.

Have fun with it!!
John

 

[jk_lewis]

Welcome to the sport of bonsai!

My wife and I just bought our first house and now I've got the room.

IF, by "now I've got the room" you mean indoors, you need to know that few -- maybe none -- of the native trees and shrubs of your area will do well indoors. Bonsai is an outdoor spot -- except for a select few tropical plants.

Here are the bonsai clubs in LA. I'd recommend you join one, even though they're not that close to you.

LOUISIANA
LOUISIANA - Baton Rouge

Louisiana Bonsai Society. Meets at Baton Rouge Garden Center, 7950 Independence Blvd, third Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Contact: Howard Merrill at (225) 275-2917 Shows at the Garden Center, April and November.
LOUISIANA - Lafayette

Bonsai Society of Acadiana. Meets at University of Louisiana @ Lafayette Horticulture Center, Johnston St., first Wednesday, 7:00 PM. Contact: Bonsai Society of Acadiana P.O. Box 51906 Lafayette, La. 70505-1906 or Johnny Hardcastle at 337/365-4829 or e-mail address jmh6344@louisiana.edu
LOUISIANA - Lake Charles

Lake Charles Bonsai Society meets at McNeese State Univ., Frasch Hall, Lecture Hall 101, Beauregard Drive at Ryan Street, third Tuesday, 7:00 PM. Contact: Dennis Corley, President, P.O. Box 1652, Lake Charles, LA 70602, Phone: (409) 866-5803 E-mail: awbonsai@bellsouth.net Check website for driving directions. www.LCBSbonsai.org
LOUISIANA - New Orleans

Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society. Meets at St. Andrews Church hall, 8017 Zimple St., second Tuesday, 7:30 PM. Johnny Martinez, (504) 467-2857. Meeting date may change in months we have guest speakers.Annual Society Show is in May at the Botanical Gardens in City Park in the Annual Greater New Orleans Spring Garden Show. WEBSITE: www.gnobs.org
LOUISIANA - Shreveport

Shreveport Bonasi Society- Meets Monthly at the Barnwell Art and Garden Center. 801 Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway, on the second Saturday 1:00pm. Annual Spring Show and Workshop. For more info contact: Robert Specian (318) 227-0744, E-Mail rspecian@comcast.net Website: http://shreveportbonsai.org/

 

[Cypress]

What tools would y'all recommend for a beginner and maybe a website that has fair prices?.

Last spring when I first began bonsai, I bought a whole set of quite cheap chinese made tools. I think it was less than $100 for like 12 tools or something like that. From that experience I would recommend that you don't do that. A few of them were ok to begin with and some re still in ok shape. But most the scissors blades didn't even line up correctly, my concave branch cutter is now useless as the blades don't line up anymore. I would say buy a couple nice *japanese made* tools to begin with and build up your tool box over time. You'll find you'll use certain tools much more than others, at least starting out and you can get away with using some ordinary gardening tools from Lowes or whatever for certain things.

This is a thread I posted about having no clue about what scissors to get: http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?13409-Big-handles!-Little-handles!-Middle-handles!-Help

If you scroll down to Brian Van Fleet's post you'll see he posted a picture of the tools he uses 90% of the time. Not really that many. I'm looking into buying a few nice tools from Kaneshin right now: http://kaneshin.shop.multilingualcart.com/index_en_jpy.html

 

[bonsaibp]

Wow thank you all for the advice. I looked up Mr Guidry and his shop is about 40 minutes north of me in New Orleans. He has classes available so I'm differently gonna check him out. What tools would y'all recommend for a beginner and maybe a website that has fair prices? I think I have a decent disposition for this hobby as I'm a critical care nurse so I'm used to taking care of delicate lives that need constant attention. My wife and I just bought our first house and now I've got the room. I just hope the excitement I'm feeling now doesn't wane. Thanks again for the prompt responses and helpful advice.

You can get any tools etc. from Guy or Zach- always better to buy what you can see. I would suggest a good shears and a branch cutter that's all you need for now- spend money on trees.
If you take classses I'm sure there will be tools you can borrow. When you do buy tools stay away from the super cheap ones- you'll be buying again soon. Good bonsai tools aren't cheap, that's why I suggest spending your $ on trees initially. If you decide this is for you then you cn start your tool collection. In the meantime have fun.

 

[Poink88]

You can get any tools etc. from Guy or Zach- always better to buy what you can see. I would suggest a good shears and a branch cutter that's all you need for now- spend money on trees.
If you take classses I'm sure there will be tools you can borrow. When you do buy tools stay away from the super cheap ones- you'll be buying again soon. Good bonsai tools aren't cheap, that's why I suggest spending your $ on trees initially. If you decide this is for you then you cn start your tool collection. In the meantime have fun.

I agree.

FYI, Bob here is a Joshua Roth reseller but too modest to tell you. I believe JR tools offer very good value. Not the best, but you can definitely do much worse with other brands.

For shears I recommend ARS brand like this.
http://www.amazon.com/Straight-Blad...8&qid=1387814167&sr=8-4&keywords=ars+scissors

 

[jkd2572]

Go and watch all the bald cypress bonsai videos on YouTube. The go and dig you some bald cypress. Very forgiving tree and easy to grow. They are like weeds and can take a beating. Very hard to kill. If you have access that would be a very cheap way to start and a very good tree for a beginner not to kill.

 

[Grok42]

I'm one state over in Mississippi and I'm just a few months ahead of you as far as being on this forum goes. I have to say that you've already gotten some good advice and I highly encourage you to take it all in and consider it seriously.

I too am interested in collecting bald cypress given that they are everywhere here. I personally don't feel I'm ready to do it yet but this could just be my personal careful nature, decide for yourself when you're ready. You should 110% watch johng's videos, they are some of the best online for this species. Also, there is some very good advice on collecting in a thread where I asked about how to go about it.

Having just gone through the first stage of acquiring tools I feel I have some insight on it. The thread Cypress linked to is a good one. The two tools on the left are the ones to start with. The others you can substitute other common tools for until you want to get something better. As everyone has said, don't go crazy but don't go cheap either. I have been happy with the Joshua Roth brand Poink88 mentioned but there are probably other equally good brands in the same price range.

What hasn't been mentioned anywhere is that you *must* get a root hook if you plan on repotting a plant. I tried to use some common garden tools and they just are not up for the task. There are lots of common tools that will work as well as specific bonsai versions but a root hook it is not something you can substitute. I didn't think I was going to survive my first repot of a 3-gallon boxwood. After getting a $10 root hook I repotted about 9 more with no problem.

 

[Cypress]

I am in love with bald cypress. I chose my username for this species. Oddly enough I don't live where they grow naturally, and haven't ever really seen the real deals in the swamps down south. A testament to the toughness of this species is that they grow perfectly fine as landscape trees in upstate new york where they experience winters like they never would down south. I always really loved the look of their majestic trunks contrasted with their delicate foliage. I have two potted saplings that I'm growing, but I would really love to be able to collect one down south in the future. Gotta make a few friends down there eh.

 

[Bhebe55]

Thanks again for all the advice. My wife already got my Christmas present so I have to save a little for my budding bonsai addiction. I differently think I'm going to try to save and buy higher quality that will last over rushing and having to replace. I'm going
To try to go to Guys shop after the first of the year.

It's amazing how differently I'm liking at nature around me. I've looked at the same trees thousands of times but it's just seems like now that I'm truly seeing them.