AVOID these 4 Simple Bonsai Mistakes in 2025 (Growing Yamadori)

[@marosbonsai]

Great tips for collected trees 👍

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thanks for watching Maros - tips i am sure you already knew well :)

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

Birch tree is coming along nicely.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I really am hoping to see a lot more positivity from it next year :)

[@Bonsaicrazy]

Great video Xavier mate 👊👊

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Cheers Andy

[@oachkatzlsmum]

Right in time before nightshift. 👍 Thanks Xavier 😘

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Don't work yourself too hard. Have you got Christmas off this year?

[@markjagger7139]

It’s looking really good, a long way to go but it’s going to be worth it.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

i think you have summed that up perfectly Mark. Cheers

[@itisjustmedude]

Your content just keeps getting better. I’m learning a lot vicariously. I was wondering if you have any Pinus picea trees? I just found a couple seedlings, 1 year-old trees, at a local grocery store and I had to save them from under watering. I need to get some wire un them while they are still supple.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I have a few Picea and would definitely agree that you should get some wire on them. it takes ages for the branches to set though :)

[@lorenzoveronese6608]

Great video, and you were able to give us greate tips and a big overview of the history of this plant. Thank you so much!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment

[@misupport6735]

Very unique countdown method! 😆 All kidding aside, thanks for all the tips! Your vids are packed with loads of info!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Just glad you are part of the community :)

[@houghtonbonsai]

Great Tips Xav, very interesting video thanks for sharing m8 ;)

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

My other tip was to not buy anything from you :)

[@houghtonbonsai]

@ 😂😂

[@PhillipWaterman-f9u]

Very interesting video of your birch thanks xaver keep up the good work my friend

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Cheers Phillip - I hope you are all set up for Christmas cheer :)

[@BuffaloBonsai]

Very nice xavier! I look forward to digging up my yamadori Experiment in a few years if it grows!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

That sounds like fun ahead

[@Jacob-yb6bv]

Please continue with these timeline style videos. It’s so much more rewarding to see what happens next in “tree years”. I get an awful lot from your effort in doing this.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I do enjoy these but it is always the balance of having the time to do the extra filming. I have done this for 5 different Root-over-rock projects. I will release one video a year so the last video will show 5 years of progress hopefully :)

[@joegarland4885]

Hi Xavier, some good advice about treating and looking after collected material. That large dead branch looks like a candidate for shortening and some carving work, I think it would look really good. I received a mugo pine from eBay the other day, not grown for bonsai, these things you pays your money and hope for the best, it cost 30 quid and I could put it in a bonsai pot and have a credible bonsai but of course I won't do that, it will be planted in better soil and potted in the right growing pot. A tip to give is to always check how far down into the soil the trunk goes before you come to some surface roots, I gained about 4 cm which can make a difference in the final design, the tree will be left now to recover from the potting in better bonsai soil without cutting the roots. Thanks my friend always good advice that beginners need to know before collecting trees. Ps you don't have to use loads of fresh bonsai soil, I keep back good open soil from previous work and just freshen it up with some fresh open substaight or even grit, it isn't the final soil mix but good enough to keep the tree healthy until it feels right to start getting it ready to place in a bonsai pot. Rant over.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Spot on as always Joe :)

[@hypolardnb]

forever learning from your videos Xav! is there anything else you could recommend for yamadori after care? fertilise or not fertilise? any specific spots in the garden to put them?

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I think jelle and I covered quite a lot in the original colab we did together. I had slow release fertiliser 'oceana' in the soil mix. I kept it semi-shaded most of the first year...it all depends on how much new growth you start to get.

[@hypolardnb]

@ thankyou sir, i’m still new to all things bonsai so i’m soaking up all information i can get! 😊

[@massimiliano.giacometti]

Thanks Xav, great video and suggestions as usual. What's your plan with that big stump?

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Once the tree feels more solid in the soil I will take a handsaw to it and then perhaps do a little bit of carving work to make it look like a dieback. I just want to be sure the roots are strong enough to put up with me sawing away

[@TOMSAI]

Thx for that 4 Good Yamadori Tips ! 👍 nice Birch . I think you must cut that thick Deadwood of or make a little jin of it . But the tree Looks Great and healthy 👍 Good Job xav 🍻 cheers

[@malsrfun2956]

Great tips. I like the back view a lot better. Looks windswept. Still wondering why everyone lately wants such large trees, but to each his own. 😊

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I have a mixture of stuff in my yard but only a few that i would consider big. It isn't something I actively look for though :)

[@greasylimpet3323]

The tree wasn't dying, it was resting, Norwegian Blue Birches do that! 😅 You've put a lot of good advice into that video, and the way the tree looks now is evidence it works. I'd love your weather - it's supposed to be 40⁰c here tomorrow 🥵

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

That was the temperatures I used to sleep on the tiled bathroom floor as a kid!

[@Donpapibonsai]

Thought you was hovering at the beginning I couldn’t see the stool hahaha Great video thank you learning a lot from you

[@zen-da-bonsai-ko]

Very promising project your are working on ... and honestly I think it will look better without that big dead branch.

[@Donpapibonsai]

Thought you was hovering at the beginning I couldn’t see the stool hahaha Great video thank you

[@andrewclack4881]

Iv'e had almost zero bugs this year. Maybe they all went to France in small boats! The only thing Iv'e had is tiny caterpillars munching new buds on my Scots and Black pines. One benefit of this is that most of my denuded trees threw out a ton of new buds which has given me more options.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

It is funny how the trees can cope with natural issues on their own :)

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

For Info: The big dead branch will be removed once the roots become more stable / or I can get a mini chain saw. It's an eye sore but I will wait until I know I won't damage the new root system :)

[@brucedeacon28]

👍👌🙂

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thanks bruce

[@andrewwinslet]

Great video again Xavier although you had me feeling anxious around 18 minutes with the branches uncomfortably close to your face.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I did get poked a few times :)

[@angry9901]

🥛

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Hi angry...not sure what the emoji is? Pleased or not pleased :)

[@sharonbuckley4591]

Are you planning on taking off the dead branch any time soon. It is a bit of a distraction from all the new growth.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I think I mentioned in the video that I was holding off until the tree felt a lot more stable with the roots. I don't want to risk any unwanted movement right now :)

[@sharonbuckley4591]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat sorry I must have missed that.

[@dkstott29]

Nice looking tree...way too big for this old man....I'm more Mame or Shohin size....

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

It is the only one I have of this sort of size - definitely a 'one off' challenge for me. It's going to take years...

[@nicoc357]

You Little rascal you! Hooking us with your mistakes like that… and did you just show us the finger with your countdown just now?! 😜

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I'm sure it wasn't deliberate :)