After pruning the second flush of growth, I add a hill to the forest floor. Check the playlist section on the channel, for previous videos on this forest.
Really enjoyed this video Nigel, the hill and the pathway add so much to the appearance of the forest, very natural looking. I have a larch hillside landscape and a 3 tree group in the works and this has given me a lot of inspiration.
That was great watching you change the landscape around! And I really liked how, at the end of the video, the light in the top of the trees contrasted with the shade beneath them :)
Nigel that is really beautiful! Not in a people kind of beautiful but in a God blessed us kind of way! Seeing the beauty God gave up to enjoy! You inspire me Sir! I watch you every night before I go to sleep.
Great video Nigel. Watching this forest composition progress is starting to make me want to tackle my own someday! Were all these trees collected? and developed prior to the forest planting? Keep up the great work!
ArkcoVerse The tree were collected as young saplings. They spent about 7 years in a training pot and then were root pruned and arranged in the tray planter. The tree have just been styled using clip and grow pruning. I really enjoy working on them. I hope you do start one, even young trees can look good in a forest planting, I have seen some nice ones using Norway maple seedlings!
Hi Nigel - love your videos, they are perfect for a newbie :) How often do you fertilize in generel and do you use liquid or solid fertilizer? Thanks :)
+Ben Barrett I do plan on putting a bog type section in the planting with some standing water. Many people put a dry stream through their landscape, a wet on would require some hardware and would be tough to keep running right.
great vid again Nigel, it looks awesome!! I have some Japanese maples as saplings at the moment, do you think it is possible to use these for a similar scene when they have developed more
Since there is no water body can we use sand as pathway it is better if we make it small rocks and soil your land scape is lush green so I have a doubt so I'm asking question don't feel bad sorry because watching your Video I'm following lessons from you thanks
Hi Nigel beautiful landscape pleas write plant name and how many are you using in a group it should be odd numbers always we have to use please explain . What is the black material with white chips please tell .have a good day.
Hello Yash, the trees are North American Larches. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larch The soil I use is perlite and turface. The forest is an odd number of trees, I think there is nine total.
+JOHN FORTH Hi John, check this thread out for some good advice on air layering your cedrus... www.bonsainut.com/threads/air-layering-a-blue-cedar-limb.17292/
Dubsy DabsterJust as the moss starts looking really good, off it goes! I think the birds are secretly trained from a rival bonsai club to do their evil work!
Great video, not too many videos or info at all I can find on landscaping in bonsai (penjing/saikei) You should do a whole series on landscaping methods and materials to use for ground cover, fake water, pathways etc. (There must be more then moss to use for ground cover, been experimenting with small ferns I've found myself) Have you considered instead of making the hill out of soil to instead put in a large rock and build up the muck/moss up on sections of it so you can have the rock exposed in different areas of the hill?
Tad R The only problem with adding large rocks is the planting gets really heavy. I have found it is better to just suggest the rock face with small rocks and keep the planting light. When you are moving the landscapes to their winter storage, after moving 30 to 40 trees, I begin to dread moving the heavy ones! Maybe I'm just getting old. I have used button ferns in the past, they look really good and some sedum can also look great. I'll be making a "Jurrasic World" type planting soon. I'll be using a variety of different ground covers for that one. Thanks for watching, stay tuned for more, Nigel
Nigel Saunders That is when you have to put your partner to work to help you carry it in, I've already told my girlfriend shes going to have to help me carry next years project into the garage next winter. ps please check out the kw bonsai facebook or your discussion page to give me some direction
ak50gunit I have thought about placing a tray of water underneath, I worry, I would get all my root growth near the bottom of the pot. At the moment it is growing all kinds of roots near the surface of the soil. Next spring, I will be re potting the trees and reducing the roots, this should help for at least for one summer. I think the last half of summer will be better for watering, the days are slowly getting shorter and the temperatures are getting cooler. Maybe I should try the tray of water and see how they do, If I can find one that fits. Thanks, Nigel
GothicSatanica I would like to get a Mulberry tree bonsai. I have a white mulberry in the backyard, next spring I'll try taking an air layer from the tree if I can't find one before then. I looked up the melaleuca tree, it looks like a really interesting tree and I would love to have one. I just have never seen or heard of them in this area!
Nigel Saunders Yea the Melaleuca is an Australian native, also known as a paper bark tree, the melaleuca linariifolia is one ive seen a few examples of on google, but i have no idea if you would be able to get them.
Kevin Blaz You can re pot your maple in summer, but it can be risky. If you can wait until spring, just as the buds are about to break, this is the ideal time. If you need to re pot in summer, be sure that you keep the tree in a bright shady location after. Be sure to water correctly, making sure the roots don't dry out. Keep root pruning light, don't cut thick roots back hard, leave that to spring. Some leaf pruning will help the tree also, just lighten the foliage to two leaves per branch tip and some of the larger leaves you can cut in half. Re potting will stress the tree, so let it recover for the rest of the growing season. Limit your pruning to some light trimming of the strongest shoots. The roots will need to stabilize and gain energy for the winter. A weak tree going into the winter, will result in poor growth in spring and you may get a lot of die back. If the pot is full of roots and watering is becoming difficult, a mid season re pot may indeed help your tree, rather than hurt it.
Juan Martinez The best time to collect a tree from the ground is early spring, just before the needles start to come out. If you have one from a nursery, the top styling can begin anytime. Make sure you leave some good healthy needles on the tree when pruning. Root work should always be left to early spring. It is possible to collect a tree other times of the year. Make sure you collect as many roots as possible and water the tree well. I have seen larches dug up in the middle of summer and they have survived, but it is more risky, you may do all the digging for nothing if the tree dies. Good luck, Nigel
Thanks for the quick response Nigel I always seen these trees people used them as Christmas trees, and I always wanted to look for other styles, and finally found your videos as same as the willows thanks and cheers from Chicago JCM
I think the best is the dwarf schefflera. These can be grown indoors by a window or with grow lights. Some of the ficus trees will grow well by a window also. Here is an article.... forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1373771/suitable-indoor-bonsai-for-year-round-low-light-area
Where do you get your moss? I've recently started growing a mango to start a bonsai along with a fairy garden and I have been looking for moss but can't find it anywhere, is it just wild moss?
Skyler Nichols Yes, the moss is collected from driveways and sidewalks. Any moss that is growing in full sun will work great. Just water and fertilize often and it will grow well on top of your bonsai soil. To keep it a nice lush green, try not to let it dry out totally. Misting and light top watering will help. Fairy gardens are awesome, our club had a workshop on them. Some of the "traditional" type members didn't like it much.
Skyler Nichols Any type of tree will grow well with the proper care. For hardy trees, it's best to start with native trees to your area. Most of the trees sold in nurseries are suitable. For tropical trees, I would recommend Ficus or small leaf Schefflera. Again most "house plants" sold in nurseries are ones that are easy to care for. Your final choice should be a tree that appeals to you. Look up the specific care instructions on the internet and good luck!
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
The forest is still magical, the pathway is really nice. Keep up the good work!
Erik Reutermo Thank you Erik, the next step will be getting it ready for our club show/ open house in September.
Nigel- Like what you did with the forest planting. The hill adds depth and dimension to the landscape and the path perspective. Another good one!
Really enjoyed this video Nigel, the hill and the pathway add so much to the appearance of the forest, very natural looking. I have a larch hillside landscape and a 3 tree group in the works and this has given me a lot of inspiration.
That was great watching you change the landscape around! And I really liked how, at the end of the video, the light in the top of the trees contrasted with the shade beneath them :)
Nigel that is really beautiful!
Not in a people kind of beautiful but in a God blessed us kind of way! Seeing the beauty God gave up to enjoy! You inspire me Sir! I watch you every night before I go to sleep.
Thank you Ashley!
No videos for a long time Nigel dada.Please don't deprive us form your wonderful work for so long.
I am uploading a video now, it should be ready late tonight or early tomorrow. Sorry for the delay!
Thanks dada.Wainting with rapt attention.
Hi Nigel, great work. Thank you for the way you share your ideas and your creativity. Jack
absolutely gorgeous Nigel
Damn you're like the Bob Ross of bonsai! :) incredible setting!
Haha that's what I was thinking!
spot on, nigel makes me want to paint i mean plant happy little trees
Another jem and good progression video, I like it.
***** Thank you Iqbal, all the best!
parabéns Nigel, perfeito, muito natural...
I like it a lot Nigel.
Thx for sharing.
Greets
Kennet
Nice forest Nigel. Love it :)
Alex Horvat Thank you Alex!
that additional hill/pathway gives the piece more depth, pretty cool
That looks awesome I can't believe how much it's grown . Can you do a video of your bonsai collection
Fred Grech Thanks Fred, I'll try to do a general update of all the trees soon. I just have to find the time!
Working my way through the Larch forest videos. I will be putting all this information to good use this year.
A lot of videos on this forest!
Best teacher!!!...
Thank you! Enjoyed your videos!
Shame you had to lose the dead tree,as they are so much a part of a natural forest. I think you were right through. Sometimes less is more.
Cheers
Sid
Nice bonsai forest
Hi Nigel awesome video love the landscape but how old are your trees in the forest
What a landscape
Great video Nigel.
Watching this forest composition progress is starting to make me want to tackle my own someday! Were all these trees collected? and developed prior to the forest planting? Keep up the great work!
ArkcoVerse The tree were collected as young saplings. They spent about 7 years in a training pot and then were root pruned and arranged in the tray planter. The tree have just been styled using clip and grow pruning. I really enjoy working on them. I hope you do start one, even young trees can look good in a forest planting, I have seen some nice ones using Norway maple seedlings!
Hi Nigel - love your videos, they are perfect for a newbie :) How often do you fertilize in generel and do you use liquid or solid fertilizer? Thanks :)
Looks awesome. Do you think it would be possible to put a little stream through the landscape? That would link amazing!
+Ben Barrett I do plan on putting a bog type section in the planting with some standing water. Many people put a dry stream through their landscape, a wet on would require some hardware and would be tough to keep running right.
+Nigel Saunders yeah a bog sounds like it would look very nice. Your probably right about the pumps you would need for a stream.
great vid again Nigel, it looks awesome!! I have some Japanese maples as saplings at the moment, do you think it is possible to use these for a similar scene when they have developed more
mick watson you can start a group planting with the Japanese maples saplings, I have few of them of different sizes/ ages of saplings .
Cool gonna be a couple of years before I can start but sounds exciting
Amazing, I am just starting to get into bonsai's. Are you from kitchener waterloo?
+Kaan Turk No, I actually live in Stratford, almost an hour away.
Since there is no water body can we use sand as pathway it is better if we make it small rocks and soil your land scape is lush green so I have a doubt so I'm asking question don't feel bad sorry because watching your Video I'm following lessons from you thanks
Yes sand will work well as a pathway. You can try planting sedum instead of moss to make it look green in hot climates.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedum
Can we leave weeping willow out through the winter?
Hi Nigel beautiful landscape pleas write plant name and how many are you using in a group it should be odd numbers always we have to use please explain . What is the black material with white chips please tell .have a good day.
Hello Yash, the trees are North American Larches.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larch
The soil I use is perlite and turface. The forest is an odd number of trees, I think there is nine total.
Hi Nigel, love your work on Ficus & Larix. I have a question for you 'can Cedrus (Atlantic) be successfully air layered?'
+JOHN FORTH Hi John, check this thread out for some good advice on air layering your cedrus...
www.bonsainut.com/threads/air-layering-a-blue-cedar-limb.17292/
Those damn birds.... Most of my trees are shohin so it doesn't take much the do some damage. This year I started tying my trees down.
Dubsy DabsterJust as the moss starts looking really good, off it goes! I think the birds are secretly trained from a rival bonsai club to do their evil work!
Great video, not too many videos or info at all I can find on landscaping in bonsai (penjing/saikei) You should do a whole series on landscaping methods and materials to use for ground cover, fake water, pathways etc. (There must be more then moss to use for ground cover, been experimenting with small ferns I've found myself)
Have you considered instead of making the hill out of soil to instead put in a large rock and build up the muck/moss up on sections of it so you can have the rock exposed in different areas of the hill?
Tad R The only problem with adding large rocks is the planting gets really heavy. I have found it is better to just suggest the rock face with small rocks and keep the planting light. When you are moving the landscapes to their winter storage, after moving 30 to 40 trees, I begin to dread moving the heavy ones! Maybe I'm just getting old.
I have used button ferns in the past, they look really good and some sedum can also look great. I'll be making a "Jurrasic World" type planting soon. I'll be using a variety of different ground covers for that one. Thanks for watching, stay tuned for more, Nigel
Nigel Saunders That is when you have to put your partner to work to help you carry it in, I've already told my girlfriend shes going to have to help me carry next years project into the garage next winter.
ps please check out the kw bonsai facebook or your discussion page to give me some direction
Nigel Saunders Hi Nigel , any chance you can do a video on how you go about making your soil mix . Do you use a specific mix for each species ?
parabot2 I have made a soil making video, check out...ruclips.net/video/p522AYawgOI/видео.html
Thanks for watching!
Why you don't put the pot on the water how you did with your willows if the trees use such a lot water?
ak50gunit I have thought about placing a tray of water underneath, I worry, I would get all my root growth near the bottom of the pot. At the moment it is growing all kinds of roots near the surface of the soil. Next spring, I will be re potting the trees and reducing the roots, this should help for at least for one summer. I think the last half of summer will be better for watering, the days are slowly getting shorter and the temperatures are getting cooler. Maybe I should try the tray of water and see how they do, If I can find one that fits. Thanks, Nigel
I've seen that you keep a lot of tropical plants like Ficus have you thought of growing melaleuca or mulberry tree bonsai?
GothicSatanica I would like to get a Mulberry tree bonsai. I have a white mulberry in the backyard, next spring I'll try taking an air layer from the tree if I can't find one before then. I looked up the melaleuca tree, it looks like a really interesting tree and I would love to have one. I just have never seen or heard of them in this area!
Nigel Saunders Yea the Melaleuca is an Australian native, also known as a paper bark tree, the melaleuca linariifolia is one ive seen a few examples of on google, but i have no idea if you would be able to get them.
Is it Pine 🌲 tree???
HI it is beautiful
those are american larch or which ? thx
Admslayer They are collected American Larches. Most are almost 20 years old now. (just babies)
how do u plant tree like this !!! its like small scale of a big tree ??
Thanks you, it's all in the techniques of growing bonsai. Starting with small trees and shaping them to look like full size trees.
What beautiful bird song in the background. I don’t mean the rooster lol 😂
I love all the bird songs too, some days it seems like you are listening to one of those nature relaxation videos!
Is it ok to repot my Japanese maple bonsai in summer?
Kevin Blaz You can re pot your maple in summer, but it can be risky. If you can wait until spring, just as the buds are about to break, this is the ideal time. If you need to re pot in summer, be sure that you keep the tree in a bright shady location after. Be sure to water correctly, making sure the roots don't dry out. Keep root pruning light, don't cut thick roots back hard, leave that to spring. Some leaf pruning will help the tree also, just lighten the foliage to two leaves per branch tip and some of the larger leaves you can cut in half. Re potting will stress the tree, so let it recover for the rest of the growing season. Limit your pruning to some light trimming of the strongest shoots. The roots will need to stabilize and gain energy for the winter. A weak tree going into the winter, will result in poor growth in spring and you may get a lot of die back. If the pot is full of roots and watering is becoming difficult, a mid season re pot may indeed help your tree, rather than hurt it.
Hi Nigel when is the perfect time to start a larch as a bonsai?
Juan Martinez The best time to collect a tree from the ground is early spring, just before the needles start to come out. If you have one from a nursery, the top styling can begin anytime. Make sure you leave some good healthy needles on the tree when pruning. Root work should always be left to early spring. It is possible to collect a tree other times of the year. Make sure you collect as many roots as possible and water the tree well. I have seen larches dug up in the middle of summer and they have survived, but it is more risky, you may do all the digging for nothing if the tree dies. Good luck, Nigel
Thanks for the quick response Nigel I always seen these trees people used them as Christmas trees, and I always wanted to look for other styles, and finally found your videos as same as the willows thanks and cheers from Chicago JCM
Nigel what's a good tree fOr minimal light.
I think the best is the dwarf schefflera. These can be grown indoors by a window or with grow lights. Some of the ficus trees will grow well by a window also. Here is an article....
forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1373771/suitable-indoor-bonsai-for-year-round-low-light-area
Good
Where do you get your moss? I've recently started growing a mango to start a bonsai along with a fairy garden and I have been looking for moss but can't find it anywhere, is it just wild moss?
Also what other trees would be make a good beginner bonsai?
Skyler Nichols Yes, the moss is collected from driveways and sidewalks. Any moss that is growing in full sun will work great. Just water and fertilize often and it will grow well on top of your bonsai soil. To keep it a nice lush green, try not to let it dry out totally. Misting and light top watering will help. Fairy gardens are awesome, our club had a workshop on them. Some of the "traditional" type members didn't like it much.
Skyler Nichols Any type of tree will grow well with the proper care. For hardy trees, it's best to start with native trees to your area. Most of the trees sold in nurseries are suitable. For tropical trees, I would recommend Ficus or small leaf Schefflera. Again most "house plants" sold in nurseries are ones that are easy to care for. Your final choice should be a tree that appeals to you. Look up the specific care instructions on the internet and good luck!
Thanks a lot, I'm very excited to start my first bonsai :D
+Nigel Saunders oh and I was also wondering, what is the best method for growing a good shaped trunk and branches?
i like......
Thanks Indra