Today I was in a garden centre and they had great sales. So.. although I only needed potting soil, I came home with a new taxus. What triggered the sale for me, was the reposed roots



Besides the exposed roots, there was nothing spectacular about it..



But I thought± Nice small tree, who knows, add a few years to the root _ branches, and it might become a nice tree. So I started clipping away. Too much material. The result.. A floor full of clippings, and a seriously shrunk plant..



After ripping the roots apart, washing away the soil, and reporrting in a nice bonsai pot, the result is a pre/shaped bonsai. Add in your mind 5 years to this, and I think you should get the image of where I´d like to take this.

I like those roots they are lovely! Nothing better than a good nebari structure. I have just finished exams, so pumped to go nursery crawling! Its awesome just buying a whole lot of stock

Hm.. I think i read somewhere that there are 2 rookie mistakes in bonsai, on the extreme side of the scale..

1) Beginners have a few trees, but are always uncertain, and keep reading untill their ears are red and swollen. Yet still they do not have the confidence to work on the tree, afraid of losing a plant

2) People keep buying trees, and never get around to doing much with the trees, just because it takes a lot of time to take care of a few dozen trees.

Just hope you are aware of the risk, and rather buying loads of stock, you just bring home one or two?

I myself run the risk of nr 2. I love plants, and I love spending time at a nursery. I find myself sometimes spending hours in a tiny nursery, just peering at roots, taper, trunks and price-tags. And as I have reached a stage in my life and career that money is not the first concern anymore (And with a 1100m^2 garden, space is not either!) I am always at risk of bringing hom yet another plant. So I have no wset the rule: No buying of plants, untill the previous purchase has been shaped / repotted / ... In any case: Untill the previous one is in the flow of becoming a bonsai.

Just one tricky thing.. Just saw an advert for 1600 m^2 of land... Well-priced. Now I thinking of buying it, and planting half with grapes for wine, and the other for bonsai stock. I am a bit worried doing this, but I think it would be an interesting investment. Maybe I can start growing pre-styled bonsai for sales

Wonderful little Taxus, Keith. I really like what you have done with it. "Fukina-gashi"...is that Japanese meaning 'leaning form'? Great little pot you have used. I'm extremely jealous of the roots!

With regard to your list of rookie mistakes...I must confess, I lean toward number 1.

Thank you for sharing your new tree experience!

Hi Leslie,

You keep referring to a person named Keith. Who is that?

Yeah, it was for the roots that I decided to take it. The style is supposed to become wind-swept. So something like this would be their natural counterpart:


It will however take a few years, as it is a very young plant, and I removed a lot of material. I could have styled the lop top branches I think, but rather create some tougher trunck as a base to build on, I tought.

Yeah, I also took you for the kind of person that keeps sucking up the information, always thinking: I do not know enough; What if I do something wrong. [Just realize: If you do not kill the tree, you can just grow new branches ]

Hi Jelle,

I am so sorry for repeatedly calling you Keith. Keith is "manofthetrees" real name (a member here on the forum) and for some reason I keep getting you two mixed up. Unfortunately I have troubles with short term memory due to chronic pain and physical and mental fatigue. It's very frustrating for me at times. I hope you will have patience and forgive me when I slip up.

I agree with your decision to focus on creating a stonger trunk for now. I also think buying that piece of land to grow grapes and pre-bonsai trees is a fabulous idea. Go go for it! Providing that is, that you have the right climate for growing grapes. But then, you would already know that because you're the expert here!

Thanks for the advice. I'm not reading nearly as much lately...I either don't have the time or, I'm too tired to concentrate. I am much more relaxed now with the bonsai process. Having been immersed into the rooting of cuttings so soon in my learning process and seeing them sprout new growth, as well as seeing new growth on my Ficus Too Little (Jamina) after all she has been through has given me more confidence in what I'm doing.

Also, I finally have the "Quick Reference Guide to Bonsai Terms" finished and sent to Oscar which he will make into an article for the site. It's a huge relief to have that done which will give me more time to focus on researching and logging all the plant cuttings I have rooting.

Thanks so much for sharing your process.

Loveely new BE feature to be able to search for threads that you started. This taxus is actually now a cascade, and I am aiming to make it at least twice as high!
In 2014:

Today:

looking good

Hello LB
You wrote that you bought the tree mostly because of exposed roots, why not showing them and the tree from the side? Is this your new front?

You caught me: because they are now supported with a rock; The roots are not strong enough to stay up. In a couple of years that will change, don't worry