Think I could get into this !

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSnRm7PicYs[/video]

its a great hobby – and even better for me – its my living, been a professional bonsai artist for over 20 years now !

heres some pics

Small juniper

Japanese satsuki azalea

shishigashira maple group planting

if you have any questions just ask

website plug – http://www.bonsai.co.uk

I was into bonsai years ago as I loved it, still do, but I could never keep them alive for long! They either dried out or I drowned them 🙁 the above look amazing!

Cozz, they are amazing 🙂 Singletrack is a broad church !

I will check out your website.

One of the reasons I was looking is that I saved a willow tree that was wrapped around a leylandii a few years back and it is now flourishing, but a bit stunted. I now have a quite young olive tree, that is almost dead that I was thinking of saving.

olives are great for bonsai, some real character – search for olive on the website – you will see some examples

willows are very difficult, as they grow so quick and can be fairly uncontrollable

you are right about singletrack – you never now whos on here ?!

Cozz, I am loving your website! What artistry! Respect sir.

I’ve long admired Bonsai and would love to start learning.

Your next intro class clashes with my trip to do the Passportes du Soleil! When might your next series of classes be please?

Cozz i have bought stuff from you ever so often.
If i ever win the lottery i want to come buy half the trees you have got outside at the shop 🙂

I have given up buying indoor ones as every time i get one i kill it within a month or two, having much better luck with outside ones, they all survived this winter where last year frost killed a few.

thanks guys,

yes, outdoor bonsai are generally easier to deal with, and its a split market, most indoor bonsai are sold for gifts and to beginners, most outdoor to collectors and enthusiasts

Intro courses, I schedule them a few weeks ahead of time so, at the moment only have the next one in June, am waiting to fit in a date in July /Aug sometime – it’ll be on there soon

its a very creative and hands on hobby, and a course is so much easier than just reading books/looking at videos etc

Got a nice Oak in the front border that I will be lifting this Autumn. Won’t be anything like the famous Oak that Cozz’s dad produced but I’ve got high hopes. 🙂

I have got 3 favourite trees at the moment, a larch i found in Wales on a holiday, and a little silver birch which i got from a hole in the concrete on the old railroad bridge in Sansom wood (cozz should know where that is) and a little windblown spruce from the West Coast of Denmark where i am from, given some time they might end up looking nice.

I can highly recommend on of Cozz’s into days. You will learn far more in a day than you’ll ever learn trying to follow stuff on the internet.

Great value and you end up with 2 decent trees to kick you collection off with (or more if you end up buying some starter stick whilst you’re there).

Cheers

Danny B

£2500 for a tree – you could buy a bike for that. 😉

Mikkel – rode over that bridge tonight !!!

Those are lovely… Love the maples, absolutely gorgeous.

My bonsai that I bought when I was 10 has both succeeded and failed, in that it’s 10 feet tall- we thought it had died so stuck it in my folks’ garden But still it is a nice tree.

Today I ruined a tree.

cozz,

this is very exciting. Mrs aa is a bonsai grower. I will point her towards your website. And may visit as we’re not far away and have friends in north notts!

righog

a few pointers, you dont need the very low branches, seems you rwire is too thin for the thickness of branch you are bending, try to get all the wires running the same way, you have a lot in the upper section that are crossing

the pine is quite coarse in habit, at thos time oyu need to reduce the length of the new candles by breaking them over in half to keep it compact.

see how you go – at least you have had a bash, and hopefully enjoyed doing the styling, its not the best time of year to have potted the tree, as its in active growth at the moment, but hopefully you will get away with it, bonsai is about patience often, and not rushing things

of course you know where I am, if you visit my nursery – bring the tree, I can give you a few more pointers

Cozz

Thanks for all the advice, I will take away some of the lower branches.

I realise I have rushed into this one, it was really an exercise in capturing the enthusiasm, so I now have something to remind me to continue doing it 🙂 I hope it survives !

DP

Here is the Birch from Sansom Wood.

IMG_1031 by msh_sco, on Flickr

For now its just waiting patiently for it to grow while trimming of new shoots at the top so it doesn’t get too long, and hopefully it will get some more shoots of the sides further down. Amazed at how much a birch that size can grow in a year.

When our tom cat #benson died some years ago,i decided to buy a tree to nurture in memory of him… After a few years it too sadly dried up & died… But i did love it.. Must get another tree(s) to look after,as i love the shape & look of the little beauties!… The shallow pots are great too eh! :)….off to visit cozz’s site for a butchers!

Here’s my Juniper from a Greenwood session about 15 years ago! It needs a bit of work.

Cottoneaster on a rock, from a garden seedling.

Scots pine collected from a bog.

very nice cottoneaster, i want to try create somthing on a rock too now 🙂

funny, how much time I spend talking bikes to bonsai customers, now talking bonsai to you lot !!

Mikkel.. I love that Birch, it will really mark the passage of time.

JohnJohn, some good stuff there 🙂

I guess it is obvious that I am new to this stuff, is there a branch of Bonsai for larger trees but still potted ?

I can see how the amateur, could have a few building site / Garden center finds sitting in a corner of the Garden maturing, for a few years to keep the interest up.

Just noticed that i posted a pic of the back of the cottoneaster, here’s the front.

Blimey, the things you learn about your local Bonsai nursery!!
I was given a copy of DK’s Pocket Encyclopedia of Bonsai years ago by my mum after I started showing an interest in it!! 😉 😳 😀
Great book, and a much used reference!!

cozz i will remember to talk bikes next time i come out, will pop in next time i bike to work (work in Calverton)

and a question for you about birch, how old before they start turning “silver” ?

silver birch are tricky for bonsai, they grow very quick and take a lot of controlling

a common misconception with bonsai is that people think its about getting a small tree and keeping it small by witholding water/nutrient/keeping it in a small pot

THAT IS WRONG

its about growing/nurturing and styling to produce a living sculpture

birch will not go silver in pot, as they need a quick growth rate for the bark to split and mature

heres another pic – Shimpaku Juniper – imported from Japan about 4 years ago

those Junipers look really nice.

And yea its all about keeping the birch in size for now, while hoping for new side growth or whatever you call it.
The lower branches are more or less 1 years growth from last year.