Thank you so much for your guidance. I realized that I really don’t have the basics down as you suggested. I have some, but certainly not well enough. Instead of trying to get creative I’ll stick to the basics. Christmas is coming soon and I asked my children for Bonsai books. I also realized that I get impatient and try to make the tree fit my design rather than me fitting the design of the tree. Bonsai is a marathon, not a sprint. I have to constantly remind myself of this. I also discovered I love collecting bonsai pots. I want to make sure I have just the right pot when I need it. Thank you again for your videos.
No worries, just take your time to learn the fundamentals and then you can expand and experiment more. When I first started doing bonsai, I learned a lot through trial and error and ended up killing a lot of trees. It takes time but you will get there! If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask. Best wishes!
You have such a strong hybrid of bonsai followers. People learning, people growing, and people like me who are like me who are trying to grow pretty trees in their gardens. As always, thank you for sharing your knowledge
I’m so happy you created your channel! When I get a notification of a new video from you and sit down to watch, it always seems that I’m sitting down to speak with a good friend. Your easy going, friendly and approachable manner, to say nothing of the incredible depth of your knowledge and willingness to share, are always a pleasure. I always learn so much from you, to the point that I’m motivated to take notes. Who knows, maybe my notes will be turned into a best selling book called, “Wise sayings from Milton”. Thank you
I struggle with similar challenges with the heat I'm in South Texas and we deal with temperatures and the summertime of 105 or above I find that no matter what I do the through the months of August the tree goes through a certain amount of stress I have come to find that they definitely do better if they're under shade there's a group of really tall sweet gum trees.. so July and August I move almost all of my bonsai trees underneath those trees to help with the stress of the heat
Yes, share more John Naka stories, and other masters. I love to hear how the masters explain certain things in their own special way. Can you share more quotes to help us get into the mind/philosophy/personality of some of the bonsai masters you encountered over the years?
Will do! Here is one: I bugged him about shortening pine needles. He finally said, “Remove all the long needles and you’ll have short needles.” I extrapolated: Remove the thorns and move on with my life. That is be positive, see the possibilities, and move on.
Boswellia is a hard tree to find. It’s the frankinscience tree. The bark is scored for it to leak sap which turns hard and is harvested for the scent. There is a lady in Arizona here on you tube that grows them. I’ve been trying to get a boswellia tree for about 2 years now. Wonderful tree
Here in central Europe we face quite different challenges concerning overwintering our bonsais. I dug mine under a massive layer of snow so my bonsai don’t dry out. Thanks for sharing your insights.
When comes to tools, I am not the best role model. Doing these videos nudge me towards getting more organized. Stay tuned, I will share some “best practices” on tools with you soon.
I live in San Diego, and we experience a lot of drought… What bonsai are the most drought resistant? I’m still new to bonsai and I need tips on choosing the right trees for success!
If you count on rain to keep your bonsai alive, forget about Southern CA. Almost all are pretty drought resistant in that an elm can be rejuvenated if you catch it in time before it is dried out all together.
I have a question on asthetics some people say if the apex flows to the right then the first branch should flow to the right because in nature that branch would seek out the sun but i also see other designs where apex flows to the right and first branch is on the left is there a preference? Also people should know trees work both ways u need foliage to produce roots and roots to produce foliage so when it is said when repotting if u cut the roots heavily to cut the top also, u can but it would benefit the tree more if u left the foliage on to repair the roots u just hacked off.shade the tree if possible. If u leave the foliage on that is when the tree will need misting to keep up with the flow of water because there arnt enough roots to supply water and it will slow down transpiration by misting if its hot outside.in general its about auxins and cytokinin.Dont quote me on that 😂
I am sure in some cases the apex looks good that way. Bonsai is to emulate nature, which does not follow a fixed pattern. So it cannot always be true. That is a good example of “half-truth” being presented as universal truth. When you have root loss, you can either reduce branches or do what you can to keep the branches moist, such as misting. It is a trade off and it is safer to not kill the tree by reducing branches and leaves. How about do a little bit of both? How often do you start a bonsai without cutting back the lower branches? So, that make that history! Often, that is a way to thicken the lower trunk and to create a good taper at the same time.
I don’t have any because I use traditional (Japanese) bonsai material. I am venturesome by nature, but stick to plants that are likely to mature gracefully.
I do not. According to the web, "Acer truncatum, commonly called Shantung maple, is native to China. It is a small, rounded, deciduous understory tree that typically grows 20-25’ tall with a densely-branched, rounded crown. Features medium green leaves (to 5” across) that have 5 triangular lobes." Apparently, it is a nice landscaping tree that is easier than Japanese maple to care for. I have not tried it because the leaf is large. Please provide us feedback on how small the leaves will reduce to if you work on this species. By they way Shantung natives are usually tall and gregarious.
Hi Milton I'm kinda new to gardening so I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I bought 6 Home Depot mini Christmas trees to try Bonsai. My boswellia sacra seedlings will take a few years to get to where I can work on them. I also have Rocky Mountain Juniper cuttings that are still Alive I hope most of them root. I want to try your cut and grow method and experiment/cheat with wire on a couple trees....... Question I live in Grow zone 9 where the temperatures get over 110 F in the summer. which bonsai plants do you recommend for warmer weather if there are any or can survive living in the window seal indoors during the summer? Thanks
Hi Willie, pears I can help, I live in zone 9b, just north of Sacramento Calif, 450 ft elevation, we get hot summers here too.Ive have good luck with JBP, deodar cedars, atlas cedars, Hinoki cypress (but needs afternoon shade) olives, sweet gum, zelkova and Chinese elms. I have a fair amount of Japanese maples but they get pretty hot even w/shade cloth. Hope this helps you👍🏻
@@kurtkaiser7436 Thanks I will look them up. I try to stick with heat hearty plants so I don't have to take them inside. I have a large covered back patio that faces west and gets afternoon shade. Last year was my first growing season and it went better then I expected by keeping all the potted plants there.🤠
In the window sill sounds ok. It tends to be hot if the window is closed with sun on the plant…and just as hot as outside if the window is open. As I mention on a recent video, elm is the best candidate. Leaf does not get burned in heat, and is somewhat drought resistant…so long as it is not bone-dry.
Dear Milton, question, can i prune or style a pinus sylvestres and after the work leave it outside in the winter cold. I know they are very hardy , but i am in doubt about this. The cold does not drop lower than -8 in my country Belgium, and that is rare, normally some nights will be -3. And is it the same for mugo pine and japanese white pine? thankyou 🙏🌲
Speculating, because I've only grown Japanese Black pine...It is probably OK to prune in the winter, although why not wait till the spring. You will see growth soon after styling. I am also concerned a broken branch during wiring may dry out in the cold.
Dr Chang, about using a slow released fertilizer. How often do you apply it? The label tells me how much to use, but it does not tell me when too apply it. I water every day, use black lava rock, and live in Modesto Ca. Thank you.
I fertilize fish/kelp liquid fertilizer every two weeks during the summer, and once a month during the cooler months, and none at all in cold winter months. You may have to use more frequently, because lava rock does not retain much fertilizer. I suggest adding slow release fertilizer as well, such as Osmocote. You can get good tips chatting with hydroponic folks.
Some maples airlayer easy and some dont. I would search if that type of maple airlayers easy if not u can always hide the graft to the back of the tree. If it has a good graft sometimes the tree will outgrow it and can be barely noticeable. I had an osakazuki and the air layer didnt work and had to hack it off.
In only very rare case, the graft part becomes indistinguishable from the main trunk. It is a shame to see so much time wasted on old bonsai with an ugly graft mark. Definitely airlayer…simply by cutting off a ring of bark, add about three inches of soil above that. The tree will usually root well in less than a year. Soon you will be happy with “I’ve done it!” Until it is done, it's not done!
It is OK….Happy to share with you what I have :) Please email me about this at hello@bonsaiheirloom.com. I assume you want the seeds from the Japanese maple in front of my garage?
Hi Milton, Love watching your U Tube channel thank you so much for taking the time to teach ur helpful advice and tips. I think bonsai teaches us alot of how to think about and approach situations with simplicity Practicality common sense of what you want to achieve and the best way of doing it and i believe these are some of the things i have learnt so far from bonsai. I have a couple of questions first one i dug out a yardori olive tree out of residential garden about a year and a half ago. I didn't manage to get many fiberous on it but wrapped the big tap roots in spaghnum moss and then poted in pumice and made a clear plastic tee pee to cover it. It was about 6 feet tall and the leaves stayed green for about a year. They recently went brown so i trunk copped it and covered it again and to my delight it has sprouted new growth that is about 3 inches long when do you think i should take the plastic bag off? Also i have a tall Chinese Juniper about 6 foot tall that i airlayerd 3 times on the main trunk just wondering if you think all of them will grow roots being on the same trunk or weather i should have done 1airlayer at a time. Also i have learnt from airlayering is to tightly seal both ends so it keeps the warmth and moisture in. As i tried it once without sealing the top and it didn't work. Many thanks PS i think you and Peter Chan the bonsai man should get together one day to do a video you are my 2 favorite bonsai teachers 🙂
It is easy to pour the tree out with pumice to see if there is good root growth, I suspect it has lots of roots. Repot into garden soil and the tree is on its way! If not, repeat what you did before. Water frequently! For the Chinese Juniper...No problem. Layer three sections at the same time to get 4 trees. Air layer must not dry out…so please add water and seal the top also. Either way, temperature is ambient.
Thanks for the advice Milton. Keep up the great work love ur videos lots of brownie points from me lol. will check to see if it has enough roots to safely transplant otherwise will keep it in the humidity tent and will keep a close eye on those airlayers. Just wanted to share a good soil mix and good species of plants for bonsai material for those in New Zealand or similar climates. I live in New Zealand which has quite variable seasons and recently it has become quite tropical conditions with heat rain and wind it's been quite hard to get my soil mix right. But I think I have found a winner At the moment I find 1 part organic loam 1 part compost 2 part sharp sand 1 part perlite 1 part mini pine bark 1 part pumice Is working great and the plants love it. Sometimes I use mafian stone instead of pumice and that works great to. It has good Cation exchange compacity and also helps filter out harsh chemicals. Also lemon Verbena makes great bonsai material for the gourmet bonsai they grow very fast and the trunk thickens quick and has great bark . Some of our native plants also make great bonsai in particular pohutukawa- metrosideros excelsa kowhai- Sophora Microphylla Manuka - Leptospermum scoparium Black beech -Nothofagus Solandri Totora - Podocarpus Just some good options if anyone wants to give those a try. Thanks
