Thursday, August 1, 2013

Not an orchid nor an AV....it's my first bonsai!

Trying something completely new!  I've never had a bonsai and was always afraid of trying one because they seemed like a lot of work, etc.

But hey, you only live once, right?  So I read up on them a bit, then just happened to wander into a semi-local nursery just after they'd gotten a whole huge shipment of super-healthy pre-bonsai of all types.  I couldn't resist.

I picked this one out, a Shimpaku Juniper, as it had the best 'character' in the trunk of all the junipers there.  I plan to give it a bigger/stronger bend in the future.  I grossly underestimated the size of wire I'd need for this trunk (it's thicker than I thought it was!), so now I have to wait on bigger wire, ha!






I gave it its first rough hack today.  Cut off two main branches and several smaller ones.  I will refine the shape and whatnot when I repot and wire it later.  I don't have a concave cutter yet, so there are branch knobs still.

I will update with pics as it progresses.  I understand this is one of the slower growing types, so don't expect frequent updates, lol!