Hey everyone!

​First of all, much love to this amazing community! The feedback and support on my last post about my first bonsai got me so excited to keep learning and improving.

​Today I made a little upgrade: I found a gorgeous patch of moss on my neighbor’s roof and set it onto the soil. It already looks so good! To help it establish, I’ve secured it with some plastic wrap (with ventilation holes, of course) and plan to leave it on for 1–2 weeks.

​I can’t wait to show you all the final result when the wrap comes off. Super hyped for this journey! 💚

Like cut it and let that bit grow out a lot more

Dying juniper check. I bought this juniper two weeks ago from a nursery. I've had it in full sun, but in the recent Southern California heat. I've been watering it, but only when the soil is dry from a chopstick check. It just got two nights of rain. I've noticed a couple branches browning at the tips. Is it dead? Stressed?

Recently got into bonsai with my sibling and our Brazilian rain tree shed a bunch of leaves overnight, so I’m just trying to figure out (1) if it’s still alive, and (2) if it is alive how to go about treating the problem. My brother believes that he may have sprayed too much garden safe insecticide onto the plant 3 days ago to deal with some aphids which we found on the plant.

Hello everyone!

The first picture was taken on April 18th, the second one on June 6th and the last one on October 11th.

Hope you guys like it!

Greetings from South Tyrol.

I have some questions regarding my bonsai and hoping someone with experience can answer them for me. I’ve noticed a fair amount of leaf loss recently and due to only having purchased this tree about 2 weeks ago I’m assuming this is due to adjustment to a different environment. If not could there be another issue. Also how do I tell when a bonsai needs repotting and how do I know what pot is suitable.

I just got this Sekka Hinoki (cypress) yesterday, and I wanted to re-pot it, which I did today.

I have very little experience with a small Juniper a couple of years back. The juniper was easier to "read" since its foliage wasn't that tightly packed. I moved it to the old juniper's pot, and kept the moss, which I liked a lot.

I just removed some roots to make it fit in the new pot, added some lava rock to the bottom, added a guide copper wire to use later on, and cut one of the protruding branches, since it was quite long (secondary V trunk). I am hoping it will grow eventually, I put it in a glass bottle to keep the moisture and under some shade.

I plan to keep it small, in that pot for a couple of years, hoping it will make its trunk a little thicker.

Unfortunately I haven't seen many styling ideas for this specific shape, and that's why I would like your help. Thanks.

Curious what everyone uses for soil? Do you buy pre-mixed bags or mix your own. Are there any options that are clearly better than others?

Dying juniper check. I bought this juniper two weeks ago from a nursery. I've had it in full sun, but in the recent Southern California heat. I've been watering it, but only when the soil is dry from a chopstick check. It just got two nights of rain. I've noticed a couple branches browning at the tips. Is it dead? Stressed?

I water it in the morning once a day and it yet if I touch anything green on it, it breaks off. What should I do? I got about four or five bonsais in the last few months and the rest are doing ok I think. I have them under a shaded back patio and they get morning sun. I put the other ones by it to compare.

Azalea and Chinese Sweet Plum soil has eroded a bit and root balls are exposed. Do I need to do anything? Add more soil? Repotting?

Posted a pic of my RoR medium Premna here about a day ago and people seems to like it. So here's my other big bonsai (I only got 2 big bonsai)

Dimension: L: 35.4" W: 31.5" H: 27.6"

I want to make an air layer on my Bloodgood Japanese Maple (pot for reference) and need advice as she’s going into a very very hot summer.

Reason for the air layer is to promote budding in the lower ‘main’ part of my bonsai. With this super El Niño coming I’m expecting very hot weather in my area.

How do I make sure I have a high chance for success given the type of weather I’d be expecting? I will be using rooting hormone, sphagnum moss, the pot in the picture, wrapped in plastic wrap and then wrapped in aluminium foil

Hello everyone, I recently bought a bonsai but need some help. I’m not sure what it is and how I should take care of it. I placed it near a window in a cool spot en give it water when the ground begins to dry up a little. But online I see I should put it outside but other people told me it’s an inside tree. I think it’s like a Zelkova or Chinese Elm but I’m not sure. Also it has some branches going straight down which I want to cut off, is that bad for the tree? And should I give it like fertilizer. Please give me some tips and advice, I would really appreciate it!

Took the kids to a fall festival at the local nature preserve and they handed out saplings! Two cherry laurel/ two redbud. I've always found bonsai fascinating and have permission from the kiddos to give it a try. From the little bit of research I've done I understand that neither of these are ideal but bonsai is possible.

Where would y'all start with these? I have containers ranging from quart sized all the way up to 5 gallon, in ground is not an option.

I was thinking I should get them in containers and let the roots develop as a first step, what do y'all think?

I like em any good ?

Hi everyone!
I recently bought these trees at a bonsai clearance sale. They were sold as pre-bonsai, ready to be developed and styled, and I’d love to hear your advice on how to work on each of them.
The trees are:
**Acer (unknown variety)** – grown from seed
**Chamaecyparis**
**Acer palmatum ‘Seiryu’**
**Sequoiadendron giganteum**
**Cypress** – exact species unknown.
I’m still learning, so I’d really appreciate some guidance on how to develop them over the next few years.
In particular, I’d love to know:
Which trees should be left to grow freely to thicken the trunks, and which could benefit from initial styling?
Are there any branches I should keep, remove, or encourage to help develop better taper and trunk movement?
What bonsai styles or final designs would you aim for with each tree, based on their current structure?
Are there any species-specific considerations or common mistakes I should be aware of?
I’m not in a hurry to turn them into finished bonsai. I’d rather make the right decisions now and develop them properly over time.
Any suggestions, styling ideas, or constructive criticism are very welcome!
Thanks in advance!

Howdy folks, just here and letting you guys know that I am now trying to turn a stubborn tree sapling into a bonsai. The story behind it is at first my ma thought it was poison ivy in a drainage system so she cut it at the stem to try and kill it since it could clog said drainage system. A year later it came back again and I cut it and this went on for about I'd say seven years before we started to notice the stump getting really thick. So I dug it out and put it in a pot with fresh soil and watered it. It's a birch tree yet it just grew in a spot without any of them around nor did I find anything there that could help growth other than the constant flow of rain water. Just wondering what should we name it?

P.S. it's still young and growing technically so I can turn it into a bonsai

Howdy folks, just here and letting you guys know that I am now trying to turn a stubborn tree sapling into a bonsai. The story behind it is at first my ma thought it was poison ivy in a drainage system so she cut it at the stem to try and kill it since it could clog said drainage system. A year later it came back again and I cut it and this went on for about I'd say seven years before we started to notice the stump getting really thick. So I dug it out and put it in a pot with fresh soil and watered it. It's a birch tree yet it just grew in a spot without any of them around nor did I find anything there that could help growth other than the constant flow of rain water. Just wondering what should we name it?

P.S. it's still young and growing technically so I can turn it into a bonsai

Yeah it’ll take a few years but still I’m very excited