Hello I am new to this community, and to Bonsai.

I have recently bought to junipers which seem to thrive in the natural conditions here in West Yorkshire (i'm located in a very high, cold and wet for most of the year location). The junipers are from nursery stock and I've seen many videos and read lots on the differing ways to go about making bonsai from this stock. I am very confused though, and apprehensive about my approach. Should I use training pots (which i don't quite understand why they are used, they are already in plastic, well filtered pots from the nursery?) or do I go straight ahead and pot them into bonsai pots? Either way, I would like to prune and wire them into a shape I am happy with.

I have already attempted bonsai with several jade's and finger jades that I had, few were several years old. But these live indoors, in a conservatory. The junipers would live outside.


Many thanks!

That is what training pots are, anything that is not the final pot is a training pot. Without seeing them I can tell you that they are not ready for a bonsai pot and will probably not be for some years. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get them into a bonsai pot. You have to style first and learn how to look after the species you have. Join a club and buy a book Junipers are hardy do not even think of putting them anywhere else but in your garden.

Ah man! You was too late! I watched wayyyyy to many different approaches on youtube. Its potted. Let's see how it goes. It's all trial and error.

I did just give it a watering, and now. It's raining! Double whammy.

Training pots, by and large, are cheap pots of about bonsai dimensions. They are there to get the tree from a young, unformed state to something that looks sort of like a bonsai, something worth a $500 pot, or maybe something expensive. Once it has reached something resembling its final form you can tell what size and shape pot the tree deserves.

Of course, you can start the tree off in a "real" bonsai pot. A $25 nursery plant in a $500 pot may be a little out of place. Your call.

What kind of soil did you use? Looks like regular potting soil?

Thanks for the replies.

Firstly, my pots are £500! More like, £10!

Secondly, yeah I kinda used the same potting soil it came in. I'm going to do another, and use the mixture of bonsai compost I have. I watched some Peter Chan, and used the exact technique he did with repotting nursery stock. But I like to have many opinions. I'm trying as many different ways I can to pot the trees. See which way works best.

I feel this tree, is my best attempt at wiring as of yet! But, I feel it won't grow correctly, maybe even die. I took and planted a clipping from this and so hopefully I can nature that one from a very early stage.

AREN'T! * £500!

... so you repotted, wired and pruned it at the same time? " Plays the funeral march".....

Thought you said you have wired it?

Yes. All at once. Nowhere have I read or seen that it shouldn't be done like that...

I have done this one, in this process, I have some jade trees which I pruned about a month ago, and they are still in training pots. Their in the right conditions, but growth is slow.

Nobody has given me any advice as of yet on here? Just commented, unconstructively. Please give some advice, or don't bother. Everybody starts at some stage. If you're an aged bonsai gardener, and you're just not being constructive in your comments, please just stop commenting. It's not YOUR special gardening niche. It's an ART form, that requires lots of practice, research and failure. Being an artist and studied in art schools, I know that experimentation and failing is how you only progress.

So, constructive criticism please. Or don't bother.