Plants Trees and Bonsai

Hi Poaannua,
So you will know all about Bonsai!
Someone gave me one last year because they couldn't be bothered to look after it. I kept it in my greenhouse and it grew glossy and beautiful. Then this spring it suddenly turned yellow and died. I don't know what I did wrong.
I like Vancouver centennial and the rest of your photo.

Hello and Welcome to GOY.
I think a lot of people will be glad to have someone knowledgable about Bonsai. Everyone on this site seems to have their own interests and areas of expertise. It actually works out very well!!

Welcome! I love this site because people do write back, and it's nice to hear er - read! what people think about all sorts of things relating to gardening - I also love geraniums, so can understand your wife's fondness for them. =) I'm sure we'll learn a lot from you and the experience you have!

Looking forward to seeing and hearing all about you're Bonsai's. I am trying a few for the first time with some sapplings from my garden. Good to have an expert on here.

Thank you all for a friendly welcome. I'll write more later today.

Welcome Poaannua i love Bonsai`s but i never had the nerve2grow 1 they look so Delicate :)

Welcome from me too. Looking forward to you sharing the wisdom that you have collected over the years. By the way for part of my life I lived in Hampshire, in Peetersfielldd and Liss. My husband was born in Emsworth and our name is a Hampshire name.

Welcome poaannua. I'm just up the road from you in Bracknell

Hi Poaannua - I'm looking forward to reading your blogs on nature and bonsai. Will you be posting pictures of your trees? I must warn you, this site can be pretty compulsive!
Sarah.

Hi Trees and things. Thanks for reply to my Blog. This is a good time to do a final pruning . I have been cutting down 3ft. Pyracantha to turn them into Bonsai. They had been intended to grow on as hedging, but so nasty and thorny , unsafe for the garden with Kids about. but as Bonsai the thorns are no problem just tipped off as they appear. and you have a flowering ,berrying and evergreen tree with quite a good trunk, that responds to Bonsai pruning to the manner born

Hi Andrewr You have some fine photos. I expect you have the same sandy soil as mine. It''s good to be able towork in the garden soon after rain. I wouldn't like to live on a clay soil.

I see Jacqui is fearful of starting a Bonsai. Don't be, all the word means is 'A TREE IN A POT'. however it is expected that some artistry is added. Here we come to the critical point. Your Art may not be my Art As is the case with Abstract and realistic painting.
The tree you train should be the way you like it, no need to follow tradition. Stiff and exactly following the rules like a Japanese formal upright. or a twisted , sometimes grotesque, Chinese Bonsai.
Ideally the tree should look like a miniature of how it is when growing naturally. Which might be as it grows in a field all alone , or in a hedgerow blown by the wind, or on a mountain side, starved but surviving.
A Bonsai is a tree in a pot, but Bonsai is also a Hobby, an Art, A fascinating way of growing many different Trees , Shrubs and sometimes Succulents, in a very small space and it is this second usage of the word that brings the enjoyment that lasts a lifetime. Even as you pass trees of full size you begin to think, "That branch sholud be removed " . or "That is a super shape, I'll try to grow one like that.".
I don't have many finished Bonsai,, People buy them as they develop, To me the fun is in the growing. All mine have begun here as seedlings or cuttings. They are welcomed by other growers because they are slow grown from the start and have short distances between the joints, making for good branching as they mature..
It is raining again, so I have rambled on. Often at this time in the morning at this time of year, I have started the watering.Time off for me, but sorry for those who look forward to an outdoor weekend.