Introduce yourself

Hi all. My name is Nick, a recently retired property conveyancer in Adelaide SA. So, I now have time to take up bonsai, in which I have always had a latent interest. Being an 'old guy', hearing statements along the lines of "just put it in the ground for 10 years, then it should be ready to turn into a bonsai" is a bit overwhelming. However, I am sure that it can still be a rewarding pursuit, and look forward to blogging with you all.

Welcome to the community Terri. We all make heaps of mistakes at first but that's how we learn. I hope you maintain the enthusiasm, it sounds like you will, and enjoy this beautiful hobby, art for a very long time.

Aloha All

I am Terri from Ewa Beach Hawaii. I am a retired plant enthusiast, I got into Bonsai a few months ago when it was time for me to slip pot all my plants once again. My plant collection has been in the "development" stage for decades. So, I decided to go small. I went on YouTube to get some advice and found a wonderful resource. I made many mistakes and then I came across Josh, an excellent Sensi. I have taken his beginners course and am chopping at the bit for more. Looking forward to interacting with the community.

Hi all,

Greg here. I'm a 50 yr old enthusiast who has been seriously into bonsai for the last 5 or 6 years after a neurodegenerative condition changed my life and has left me unable to work and in a wheelchair. I thank this incredible passion for changing my life and helping me keep sane and positive. I have to thank Josh for this fantastic website and working on courses and more. He has allowed Australian bonsai enthusiasts to have a forum that we can assist each other with ideas, problem solving and more. One thing I have noticed is that it appears some people may be posting to promote ads rather than bonsai related topics, may I suggest that we keep this forum bonsai focused as it was designed for.

Hi all,

Matt here from Melbourne, I’m 37 years old and just getting into the art of bonsai. I recently got a juniper tree as a gift from my wife and have loved interacting with it ever since. Being new to bonsai I am trying to get as much information and guidance as possible and interacting with like minded people. I am really enjoying the content that Josh puts out (YouTube and podcasts) and have learnt so much from him, looking forward to getting even more guidance through this forum

Hey BEC, I'm a knowledge hoarder in Canberra, I love leaning new things. I'm 47, married with 3 very cool kids, 12, 13 and 16. Have been getting into Bonsai for a few years, and have reached the point of having too many trees in development. For the 50 odd trees growing up, I have 6 mature trees I purchased from a retiring member of the Canberra Bonsai club that are excellent and teaching me about development. Absolutely love the Bonsai-En You tube library. Up there with Ryan Neil as a quality source of "Why". I love the why. I also despise the "That's the way Ive always done it" answer.

Hey yall,

My name is Shane but all my friends call me Merlyn. I am 50 yrs old. I live in Georgia, USA. I have been into bonsai for about 25 yrs. Although for about the first 15 yrs the only references I had to learn from was what books I could find in local book stores. Needless to say I killed ALOT of trees in the learning process. After I learned how to use the internet ( yes I am that old. Lol) that's changed alot for me. But when I discovered bonsai on YouTube, it changed my life. That was about 7 or 8 yrs ago. I still try to learn new stuff daily. I have never gotten the same pleasure from any other Hobbie that I have had over the yrs. I look forward to seeing everyone's work and learn more from you all.

Hi! I'm Jake I'm 21 and I got my first bonsai just over a year ago now. I got my second one only a few months later and I've loved it ever since. I really want to get better at understanding the techniques used to shape bonsai and how to care for multiple types of bonsai. I really would love to learn most about the juniper and how to properly care for it. Can't wait to see all the amazing trees everyone has :)

Hi, all!

I'm Omar (55) and I've been living in the south of Italy for about 15 years.

I have a fair amount of projects that are constantly struggling with having to thrive in a windy area and in my balconies 😬

Some of the species I have I don't know what they are since I love collecting seeds from trees I like everywhere I go 😅

I also have some tropical and semi tropical species (tamarind, flame tree, ficus, bougainvillea, wisteria), some fruit species (almond, fig, vine, chestnut, olive), a cypress, a Japanese juniper, some oak trees, an elm and lots of who-knows-what 😂

Most of my guys are very young (1-2 years old).

I'd love to learn more about root pruning, because I'm always scared of pruning too much so I know I'm not doing it the right way 😬

I'm glad you guys came up with this fantastic idea of creating this forum. And I also want to thank you for your great videos on YouTube 😊

hi I’m martin and I reside in the uk. I started the hobby during lockdown so only a year now. Most of my trees are in development stage and a few coming up for refinement. I have about 50 trees in total only 6 are tropical the rest are all outdoors.

Hello All,

My name is Oscar 36 and I live in Denver Colorado. I have been into bonsai for three year now. I found bonsai while looking for method to relax. My collection has grow so fast over the years and half about 100 trees. Half are tropical trees and the other are outdoor trees. (Conifer/deciduous) I as well have a lot of ficus cuttings, and have been using them for project ( root over rock, aerial roots, crazy bends). Most of my trees are smaller and still in development, but I do have a few I picked up that are more in a refining stage. Glad this form was started and I will be here a lot.

Hi all, I'm 50 and from Adelaide. Just been getting into this over the past year and have basically a collection of stuff to work on from Aus.Natives, Fiscus, Trident Maples etc etc as well as a couple of purchased trees. Looking forward to learning from everyone.

Hi all

Jason 39 from South Wales in the United Kingdom. I have a couple of trees not your biggest collection. One I am currently looking to refine and 5 others that I developing and learning on.

Looking forward to learning.

G'day BEC, I'm TK, 29 year old just getting into bonsai... been hugely inspired by the content provided by Josh, I've learned a lot! I've just put 30 tube stocks (all native varieties) into air pots to try and get some initial development going, look forward to the years to come.

Hi BEC (Bonsai En Community) 62 year old in Sydney area. Been into Bonsai for 4 years, still alot to learn but it has been made less harder with good blokes like l

Luke and friends. Hope to gain more knowledge in this forum.