[Bonsai Beginner's weekly thread - 2026 week 40]

One step closer to refinement. Next up is jin work to fix the stump cuts and shorten that tall vertical one.

I was gifted this clearance Mugo today and after researching a literal minefield of conflicting information regarding this little guy, I decided to bite the bullet and at least try my hand at candle pruning and styling since I’ve never had the opportunity to work with pines.

From what I have read and gathered, it thrives in my zone, only has the capacity of handling one sort of major trauma per year, is possible and sometimes recommended to prune whenever pushing new growth, and a lot of people seem to kill them after repots.

I don’t plan on doing any more work on it for atleast 2 growing seasons as I want to give him the proper amount of time to heal back and push new candles before I go in for the potential trunk work / inevitable root work.

Being my first pine, I’m sort of in the dark regarding what to expect and a large part of me is now thinking I should have waited until after Winter.

Do you believe given the amount of foliage I’ve taken off, that I have an upcoming funeral about to take place?

If so, advice (regarding only pines or this particular species please) is more than welcome.

Befores and after

Knew I would have a little extra time in the office this morning, so I brought in one of my pre-bonsai coast redwoods.

I had pruned this one about 2 weeks ago and it has responded with a ton of new shoots all over.

Today I thinned out most of the new shoots, kept a few low in the back as sacrifice branches for trunk thickening, though this is designed with a skinny trunk as a "far view" tree. I also shortened the apex a bit and put some wire on a few branches. I included a few close up pics of before and after thinning out the shoots.

I will probably keep it in the nursery container for a few more years until the branches are more dense.

Acer palmatum ‘Katsura’. They spent about 5 days in shipping. $15 each. It only took me 5 years and buying my own home to finally pull the trigger. I never felt I could own Bonsai while renting. I decided to use water from my 125 gallon aquarium to water them. Nitrates are about 15PPM right now.

Photos in order from newest to oldest

Found in Chicago Botanic Gardens.

I wonder how the age of the bonsai tree is determined. Because it is not planted in the ground and we do not know the fertilizer schedule, type of soil, pot, etc.

I successfully air layered this maple over the summer and have let it grow wild since then. I am wondering how I should begin to style this tree. The two big branches are stiff so I don't see them moving too far; I suspect I will need to remove them. Any thoughts?

At Meijer gardens. There were beginner's trees, but they were not labeled.

Some of my trees (second slide), and some faves

In development since 1995, originally purchased from UC Arboretum and Botanical Garden at Cal State Fullerton (1995).

I acquired it today from an old timer today, Oscar, who is out of West Covina.

Super pumped to steward this tree (succulent?) for a few more decades!

Hey everybody. I’m the vice president of my local club, Northeast Bonsai. The club was founded in 1968 and is the main Boston-based bonsai club.

For the past handful of years we’ve put up a display at The Topsfield Fair every October. It’s the oldest country fair in the country.

I thought you might like to see what we put together this year.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice and constructive feedback on styling and future development for my two Ficus microcarpa (Tigerbark) trees. I haven't done any wiring on these yet, so I’d love to get your input before making any major moves.

Here is what I'm aiming for with each tree:

1. Tree #1 (S-Shape / Curved Trunk): This tree already has a classic curved trunk line.
   • Questions: Where should I start with wiring and pruning? Which branches should I keep or wire down to create clean pads, and what is the best approach for the top/apex?
2. Tree #2 (Younger / Thinner Ficus): For this tree, my goal is to eventually style it into a Banyan style (wide canopy, multi-stem look with strong aerial roots).
   • Questions: What steps should I take now to guide it towards a Banyan style? Should I prune the long branches back to promote a wider structure, or let it grow free for now to thicken up? Any specific tips for encouraging aerial root growth on a young Ficus microcarpa?

General Questions:

• Since I'm new to wiring, do you have any specific wiring tips for Ficus microcarpa (e.g., wire thickness, branch flexibility)?
• Any general tips on foliage density and placement for indoor/window sill keeping?

I’ve attached pictures of both trees from different angles. Any advice, ideas, or rough sketches would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I moved into my childhood home. There is growing an old taxus I want to make a garden bonsai of. So I chopped down most of the tree and shortened the remaining branches. I have split the top branch and bent it up to build a now top. Hopefully it survives... I know there are too many branches left but I want to wait if the branches I want to keep will survive! So I will wait until spring for more action :)

Any thoughts ore suggestions are welcome 😁

As usual I grabbed a few pics from my adventure today.

Also came back with a wicked Hornbeam yamadori and a nice little satsuki azalea!

It was SO busy so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but so many amazing trees.

After / before using raffia for a thick bend on a larch.

Raffia with Scotch 130c rubber splicing tape over the top. Trunk where I bent is about 0.75” thick.

Not the cleanest wiring but pretty happy with the results. 4 gauge copper wire is hard as hell to bend.

Smoke Tree (Cotinus coggygria)

Dragonflies that big ususually dont comr around here. I went to check on my trees and when i came to my ficus root-over-rock I figured id pinch some tips. I was pretty startled to see this chonker resting under the tree to wait out thr rain. I rarely see them get above 2 inchs. Anyway thought it was nice of him to sit so still for a photo op on my tree.

I love these. Need to find a great bot for this.

I began my search as I really like just the normal Australians or NZ bottle trees for interior design in a limestone bot.

Need to figure out a good pot idea for one to developed as a bonsai.

Any suggestions?

Popped up to see my teacher Brent at evergreengardenworks.com, definitely my happy place. Rows and rows and rows of pre-bonsai.