Beginner Maple Bonsai: What to look for in Garden center material | Little Princess Japanese maple

When you look in a regular garden center for bonsai material it can be overwhelming. Here some information on what to look for when you select a plant for bonsai from a garden centre.
See how I put this regular 'Little Princess' dwarf Japanese Maple on track to become a small bonsai.Everything I do can easily be implemented for larger material too, if so desired.
0:00 I forgot this tree!
0:41 What to look for in a garden center when searching bonsai material
3:00 Repotting Japanese maple into substrate
5:40 Pruning and wiring nursery stock Japanese maple to start a bonsai in winter
Background music and some stock video kindly provided by mixkit.co/free-stock-music/

[@matthouck9707]

Thank you for including the accidents along the way. It makes me feel better about my own wiring mishaps. Love the channel!

[@GrowingBonsai]

:) Yes, I include the 'accidents' in the video, especially for that reason. Something goes wrong every once in a while to all :).

[@backbudbonsai]

I’ve watched this video at least 5 times, but that unfortunate “snap” gets me every time!! I know that “snapping” sound all too well while working on my own bonsai…….. luckily maples are tough and sometimes the snapped area can be kept alive by wrapping grafting tape around the area, sometimes…….. Thank you for sharing this video, Jelle!

[@sbragaglia]

I also love that you give advices and then you do the opposite! 😅👍

[@GrowingBonsai]

I'm so glad! I try to stick to my recommendations, but .. You know.. Often you know something *can* be done differently, it just poses a slightly bigger risk.

[@BonsaiStyle]

Hey Jelle A very pretty little (princess) tree. Sometimes it's good to "forget" about a tree for a while. So it has enough time to develop into something very beautiful. But Jelle, now please do not forget it another year 😉😅

[@GrowingBonsai]

haha, we'll see whether it stays with me, or moves on. I have my eyes on a not-so-little princess!

[@sbragaglia]

Thanks Jelle, really appreciate the part about choosing material in a nursery. Other creators spend so many words that by the time they have finished explaining their selection process, you’ve forgot the beginning.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Glad it was helpful! Of course, you know what to look for!

[@acer_p_bonsai]

Great video Jelle. Showing new hobbyists how they can find accessible material is a win! Just wish rooted cutting stock was that easy to find in the U.S. I guess I’ll have to keep making my own! 😂

[@rebeccahunter725]

I think that "snap" was a happy accident! And that blue pot as a plan is perfection. (But then I am a sucker for a JM in a blue glazed pot . . . ) I love the direction this is taking, and while it might be another 5-10 years, it will look great when it matures!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thank you so much. "accident" 😏🤐 yeah. I do hope that this tree will not be in my garden in 5-10 years though! It will move on in a year or so I am sure.

[@FrostBiteBonsai]

Almost spilled my coffee when I heard that, SNAP! Very nice end result!

[@GrowingBonsai]

:D That was the idea. Grab attention. I do admit to tuning the volume so it is a clear crack!

[@jeffhurst4744]

Good video showing how you selected the future growth/design of the tree. Everyone, especially myself, have had OOPS moments, even well learned Bonsai practitioners. But showing there is still potential is what helps us learn and progress in this living art hobby.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Well said! I feel that people need to realize that the incidental break is just a moment to redesign and not a problem, so I included a break.

[@sadoldgit313]

I get most of my “nursery stock” at the end of the season when they are on sale! Some of them need rescuing with a bit of TLC. Just this morning I bought a grafted Deshojo in an identical blue Bonsai pot for €15 in the bargain basement clearance. Needs repotting out of the muck the growers use but it’s a project which wont break the bank if it fails!

[@ishamakkusu]

Thanks for this helpful video. Little Princess seems to be one of the most commonly available JM cultivars in UK garden centres that doesn't cost the Earth... I have one that was one of the first pre-bonsai I bought, last spring, when it was too late to re-pot. I'm looking forward to February/March to give it a re-pot and initial shaping as you did - it's got a nice bit of trunk movement and root flare so has the bare bones! Slow growth is OK - patience is core to bonsai, even if it's anathema to KZbin's 'instant results' preference. I managed to take two successful cuttings from it too, so it can be done! Happy growing

[@GrowingBonsai]

Sounds like you are on track for some great trees! Do not make the mistake of putting it into a small pot too soon. Bigger pots are good for development. (Soon I will share a video about this mistake!)

[@meushicow]

I've been growing a Little Princess since around 2009. As you have noticed, the branches are very brittle. They also like to snap off at the trunk junction. I grew mine in a flat growing box, then 5 years in the ground before going back to a growing box last spring. After almost 14 years of culture, I have a decent base for a sumo mame or shohin... I will start rebuilding the branches next year. It is a very slow growing species, but you can get incredibly short internodes with the proper techniques and culture.

[@GrowingBonsai]

It is great yet challenging indeed!

[@Bonsaiandknives]

Very nice cat! You should do a video together with the cat! … Thanks for the very interesting video

[@GrowingBonsai]

Hahaha, the cat says no!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Great little future bonsai Jelle.

[@GrowingBonsai]

I think so too! It might not be with me very long though. I am still thinning out.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

@@GrowingBonsai Winter appears to have helped mee thin out a few of my old shop purchased scarred chinese elms. I discovered 6 yesterday are without green life blood. Thankfully I have grown several replacmeents from my own cuttings. that's bonsai for you :)

[@GrowingBonsai]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat so sorry to hear. I must say.. I just forgot to water my cork bark oak, which I put in a shelter for the first time ever. Now it is dead. Keeping an eventual replacement outside again. Much safer. But besides that.. No casualties

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

@@GrowingBonsai It is still a little frustrating when you see them die. Hope work hasnt kept you too busy and away from your trees :)

[@jaiprakashpathak8974]

Broke one, explored many styles !! Fantastic !!!

[@GrowingBonsai]

:D Thx

[@alucardone5321]

Mein lieblings Niederländer 👍. Du machst das super. Weiterhin viel Erfolg

[@GrowingBonsai]

Danke dir!

[@gloriablanco7856]

Thank you 😊

[@GrowingBonsai]

Hope it was helpfull and fun for you!

[@bobcatbonsai]

Great video Jelle. I have to go get a lace leaf japanese maple for my big garden. But I will take cuttings off it!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Go for it! I am not sure they root well from cuttings though!

[@wshow11]

Cheers Jelle! Thanks!

[@GrowingBonsai]

my pleasure!

[@SJKurd]

amazing

[@GrowingBonsai]

hahaha

[@leotenhoeve5109]

vind je filmpjes erg leuk. ben vandaag weer gestart met bonsai na 18 jaar niks gedaan te hebben en met een acer die ik gratis mocht uitspitten. zal nog wel wat meer info komen halen van je kanaal want ben er te lang uit geweest. helaas kan ik niet ff een foto uploaden :)

[@kurtdebree]

Great video again. Suggestion...next time you break a branch, show what can do to save the branche if it is an important one

[@GrowingBonsai]

Great suggestion! The things is though.. I normally do not try to save the branch as it will always remain weak, it often gets a bulge and -certainly on a plant this size- regrowing is often a good option. :)

[@MARYANNE269]

Thank you for your video.. Interesting and helpful even if you are brutal with your cutting.. not a technique I've seen 😅

[@GrowingBonsai]

Hey! What do you mean, brutal with my cutting?

[@mick681]

I really like the little princess variety but I find that they are notoriously slow to back bud, if ever and are very brittle. Because of this I'm quite reluctant to do much pruning and wiring. Looking forward to seeing an update of this tree.

[@Ramalito]

I don't think little princess is a very healthy variety. I never saw an old one. Not in a garden and not as Bonsai. I think I killed a few in the past. I like sharps pygmy very much. They have also fine leaves and grow very slow. Got two in the garden for 20 years. But no chance to make cuttings... They don't root.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Hi Ralf, here in a garden centre they have a 3m tall little princess. Interesting that they do not root. Al the ones I have seen have been rooted cuttings here. Maybe a different technique?

[@Ramalito]

@@GrowingBonsai maybe they can do it with professional root hormones, but they are not available for private persons in Germany since a few years.

[@GrowingBonsai]

@@Ramalito Lets see what my cuttings do. So far, there is foliage on them.

[@theboyberm]

Hi what are the soil covers you use made of for stoppingthe birds disturbing the soil

[@GrowingBonsai]

I use several types of mesh. The simplest is construction mesh. See also kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKCUqJ6we6-GZ5I

[@theboyberm]

Great thank you.

[@brucedeacon28]

👍👌👌🙂🙂

[@GrowingBonsai]

🤗

[@maryweber4176]

Could you repot it now if you didn't touch above the roots?

[@GrowingBonsai]

Main question is, why repot if you do not do rootwork. I am a big believer in working the roots every time one repots. Is there an urgent need to repot, or is it just to "do something"? I do repot in summer too and have not had problems. But it does pose a bigger risk than early spring repotting.

[@maryweber4176]

@@GrowingBonsai Bad choice of words on my part. It is a pine that has been growing in my yard for several years, not in a pot, and I would like to try to bonsai it. I don't recall the name but it is a very soft pine, and the candles come out in the spring as pink, then turn to red, before green.

[@bonsaiprospek127]

Indonesia Bonsai present

[@GrowingBonsai]

Selamat Datang!

[@sajikl4243]

Can I graw it in south India?

[@GrowingBonsai]

I think south India is still tropical right? Japanese maples do not do well under permanent warm conditions. So I doubt it would work :(

[@bartstellink307]

I think japanese maples are the worst, bad grafts and really expensive for what you get...

[@GrowingBonsai]

So sorry to hear this. I for one, love them. But I try to avoid grafted specimens, or I layer off the graft!

[@bonsaikastur]

I'm sorry but you did it completely wrong. It's not cut cut cut, it's air layer, air layer, air layer 😘 specially when you get a new species

[@GrowingBonsai]

maybe. But when you have 140+ trees and some 150 cuttings/seedlings...

[@bonsaikastur]

@@GrowingBonsai yes, I should do the same, but strong on me Diogenes syndrome is