I posted on a thread somewhere about the work required to maintain a finished bonsai, and it made me think about the whole bonsai creation, development, and maintenance process. Most of the threads on this forum pertain to the creation of bonsai from raw material. Little is written about long term care and maintenance. I suppose that's because that most of us don't have finished trees, yet. I am lucky to have a few, and enjoy the challenge of keeping them in top condition.



But, the focus of this thread is the phases of bonsai creation and development. I think one of the things that confuses people when they begin learning bonsai and learning the techniques is knowing when to apply the proper technique based upon what phase their tree is in. So, let's try to identify the phases:



1) Propogation:



Some choose to bypass this phase entirely. Propogation is basically starting with "nothing" with roots, and creating a plant. This process includes starting from seeds, cuttings, air and ground layers, and grafting.



If you choose to start trees this way, there are skills you must learn to be successful. Getting the tree removed from where it was growing, saving sufficient roots, and aftercare skills are required.



2) Collecting:



This has a couple of variants. A) collecting Yamadori from the wild that have been untended by man until the time of collection. This is how bonsai got started. B) collecting old landscape material. Many old shrubs and trees from gardens can be repurposed into wonderful bonsai. Many of the same skills needed for Yamadori are needed, but usually, it's easier to collect old landscape material than Yamadori, and aftercare is easier.



3) Purchasing starter material:



Again, two variants: A) material grown specifically to be turned into bonsai; B) material found at a general purpose landscape nursery, or "big box" nursery.



The material grown specifically for bonsai will be easier and faster to develop into bonsai. Or should be! Lol!!! A couple of reasons: Bonsai specific material will be species sland cultivars known to have desirable characteristics for bonsai. Some of those characteristics include: propensity to build trunk quickly, produce interesting bark, have short internodes, have small foliage, or the foliage reduces in size with proper care, is hardy in a pot, grows quickly, has "character", isn't "fussy" about its roots, responds well to pruning, tolerates wiring, etc. I'm sure there's more, but that gives you an idea.



It, material grown with bonsai in mind, should been grown with some attention to avoid obvious flaws, and have desirable features for bonsai. For example, if the material is grafted, the graft should be placed low, near the nebari. And speaking of nebari, trees grown for bonsai should have had some attention placed there.



Obviously, it takes more effort to grow bonsai stock, so expect prices to be higher than similarly sized landscape material.



The trees sold at landscape and big box stores are grown to be landscape material. Duh! Once in a while, they will have trees that have desirable bonsai characteristics, and are absent the flaws. This is the treasure hunt goal, find those few. Many revel in the hunt, maybe enjoy the hunt more than the bonsai! But, most of the trees sold at these places do not make good bonsai. The cultivars grow long internodes, the grafts are high, the foliage doesn't reduce, etc. Treasure hunting can be fun, but make sure that treasure is something that will still be suitable. There are lots of threads in this forum that start off with "I bought this at Home Depot, now what to I do?" And it's a Bloodgood maple. They just never make good bonsai. Plant it in the garden.



A word here about Mugo Pine. Mugo can make great bonsai. The Nursery trade in the US treats these as shrubs, and when they grow them, they prune them the same as they would a round boxwood shrub. There is foliage on the outside, and the inside is bare, all the interior growth is shaded out. These trees need major rehab work.



Regardless whether you are buying bonsai stock, or landscape stock, you have to develop an "eye" for good material.



4) Development: now that we have acquired our tree, we need to send down the path to become a bonsai. The most important part of any bonsai is the lower trunk and nebari. This part is always visible so your first attention should be placed on developing that first. Many new to the hobby start with picking branches and ignore the nebari. Years later, they find the nebari is poor and has to be reworked. Don't let that happen to you.



Develop the trunk and nebari, then branches. Different species of trees require different techniques. Maples are developed differently than pines. Many techniques are used here: sacrifice branches, grafting, proper pruning, fertilizer, pruning for taper, how to "heal" (or cover) wounds, nebari development, wiring, etc.



5). Refinement: we have our structure. Now we want ramification (lots of twigs and branches) small foliage, old looking bark, pads of foliage, depth, movement. Here the techniques of decandling, needle pulling, defoliation, grow and cut back, wiring come into play. Pot selection is more important.



6). Maintenance: one of the key things is once the tree has settled into a permanent design is the ability to keep it healthy. Periodic repot things keep the root system young and growing. The foliage will grow a little longer every year. It must be thinned to keep interior foliage alive. The foliage "close to the trunk" is the future of the tree. Do not allow the exterior foliage to get so thick and dense the interior foliage dies out, or else you'll have nothing to cut back to. Always nurture interior growth.



7) Cut Back and restyle: when I say "restyle", it may not be a drastic restyle, it's just shortening old branches and wiring those interior branches to take their place. Sometimes it is a drastic restyle. Maybe a branch died, and the whole styling of the tree has to be changed.



Old wire is removed, and new wire placed. This is a tedious process. There are lots of branches that have to be wired. If branches have gotten too long, and new branches placed, there must be a plan for the next time!



Here, to do this well, you have to have an eye as to how the tree will grow over the next 5 years. Which parts are weak, which are strong, how to maintain balance, health, and ensure there's a way forward for the tree.



Trees in Phase 6 and 7 need a lot of work two or three times a year. But their daily care is minimal: sun, water, fertilizer, and pest control. But when they need work, say, rewiring, it might take 2 or 3 full days to wire!



Anyway, the purpose of this post is to get people thinking about which phase of development each tree is in. And then, to execute that phase, what skills and techniques are necessary.



As an example, if you're trying to grow out the trunk to develop girth, defoliation is not appropriate. Yet many do, because they see others doing it, and think that's the right thing to do. It might be the right thing to do later, when refining, but not during development.



Hope this post wasn't too boring, and gets you thinking!