My Douglas Fir Forest, The Bonsai Zone, Jan 2022

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

Bears look cool walking in the forest.

[@user-id3pl7uy4j]

Haha, when working on bonsai, i often find myself saying out loud or in my head 'so here i go'. Love this channel and i'd also recommend Peter Chan's Heron Bonsai channel!

[@joelhiggins6156]

Hi Nigel, just a thought have you considered taking these out of the bonsai pot and put into a nursery container to gain vigor for a few seasons?

[@DavesBonsai]

Nice music in the fly in! Sounds familiar. Trees look ready to push out nicely.

[@craft-o-matic2377]

I love the smell of the Douglas Fir! They're looking good Nigel!

[@mattbrennan647]

They’ve come a long way since getting pulled out of that suitcase. Thanks, keep growing

[@katifalcon]

Beautiful Nigel🌳 The bears look like they are in their natural habitat. So believable!

[@DOOMBASSIST4]

The video i needed for my grand fir yamadori! Collected last year

[@austinjk24]

Those trees will be really interesting in the near future , I often find that collected trees take a couple years to get truly healthy, but it’s worth it !

[@ricklandaubonsai5506]

13 years old wow. Also, the wide rings are a definite proof that bonsai growing it's not turturing trees to keep them small. Thanks for the vid!

[@anthonygawron7251]

Think about it too. That 13 rings he could count is on a stub cut off the top of the tree. The more accurate ring count is at the base of the tree. It could be 20+ years.

[@emmitstewart1921]

I remember reading one book back in the nineties that said the goal in bonsai is not to make the tree small. The goal is to grow the biggest and healthiest tree in the pot you have.

[@ricklandaubonsai5506]

@@anthonygawron7251 Amazing

[@ricklandaubonsai5506]

@@emmitstewart1921 Right! Ryan Neil from Bonsai Mirai also says you gotta keep the tree in "optimal" health so that it can survive in such a small space. Truly a beautiful artform. Cheers!

[@emmitstewart1921]

@@ricklandaubonsai5506 This is true of every potted plant whether in the house or patio. A pot is a hostile environment. The trick to keeping house plants is to maintain the health of the plant. That is why I watch bonsai videos. The Chinese and their Japanese students have thousands of years maintaining the health of container plants.

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

I think that this is a fascinating old world forest look you have. This is a great pruning tutorial on your Douglas Fir trees.

[@mattbrennan647]

I’m curious, is there a reason why you didn’t prune all those dead branches off? Thanks

[@user-id3pl7uy4j]

Possibly future jins/deadwood features.

[@GrimsleyAllyn21]

Another great video! Thanks for always sharing your bonsai journey!

[@bradleyc9538]

Those bears are great for adding a sense of scale 🙂cheers Nigel!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Fun too!

[@BlueJayBonsai]

Thanks for the updates Nigel! Not much carnage, but a great video anyways. 🤣 I’m really liking the wild tree on the left.. You are showing such restraint. I would probably have killed them by now. 🤪 Stay warm my friend.👍

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

A great demonstration of patience. I am curious what you will do with these at the next repotting. Lots of potential here.

[@Derrick8WLee]

Another great video. Pruning master class!!

[@andyhansen3117]

I really like the forests!!! Thanks Nigel!

[@Aganamusicproject2]

Yesss sir nice bonsai tree

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

With you cold nights, how to you keep your chickens and ducks from freezing? Just wondering.

[@RyanFish825]

Great to see you working on these doug firs, I've been patiently waiting since '18 for this because I had no idea how too approach me tree. It's hard to find any solid info on this species regarding pruning and bonsai. I'm curious to see how these develope and I think I'll try to do the first clips on mine soon.... Wish me luck! Thanks Nigel!

[@randyhenderson2377]

Nigel you've done very well with the Frasers. That is a very tough tree to transplant and they are beautiful. Nice job!

[@BonsaiLearner]

Good work

[@JackC1961]

Hope the foam worked and its warmer in the plant room and your house.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

It did help!! It still got cool in the basement, down to 8 C!

[@AtypicalPaul]

So amazing

[@RonMaurer]

Hi Nigel, Love this video as I have a number of small pine, spruce, and a sub-alpine fir. I am concerned about the timing for trimming. Good to see that even someone with your years of experience is as well. Have to be more careful with these compared to a ficus I gather? On a separate note: I had a thought when watching that it may be fun for you to get a bird feeder or house that sticks to the outside of the new greenhouse. The kind that you can see into when you are inside working on your trees. Who knows, maybe "Robin" will come back. 🐦

[@wsliu360]

Nigel, sorry if I missed in another video, can you give an update on the Brazilian rain tree?

[@marysoldeeley2218]

I can't believe that was 4 years ago already!

[@hewitt4008]

Amazing, when are you going to start repotting some of your pines? Looking forward to those videos!

[@sophiaangelini4368]

The Bears are enjoying their peregrinations through the Firs of British Columbia.

[@jballenger9240]

Had to look up “peregrination”. Thanks for the new word. What a great title for something, a poem, painting or small monograph: "Peregrinations through the Firs".

[@hsvfanjan17]

Maybe a deeper pot would help the trees to gain some vigor? Always time to put them in a shallower pot afterwards :)

[@Holla.Die.Waldfeee]

i'm admiring your patience with'ese trees :D i think i couldn't bring it up and chop too drastic xD therefore i've got only 2 needle trees in my collection and i'm pushing boundaries with'em :s

[@Liisa3139]

Conifers need an acidic soil. So, for example a good layer of pine needles would be good for them.

[@Groglor]

Im interested in douglas firs. they are in western ontario as well. I want to collect some.

[@kendallmallon1763]

Douglas-fir have juvenile and mature buds, which means that if you cut back to a juvenile bud, i won't grow until the following season. The Mature buds are the larger, pointy, cone-shaped, ones. After their spring flush you can cut back to the juvenile buds forming on the new growth or old wood and they should develop into mature buds for the next growing season.

[@davidrocque1587]

Hey Nigel do you have any Hemlock bonsai? I'd love to see you do a video with them... We have some property in northern Michigan with little Hemlock, Beech & White Pine everywhere.

[@hyperionhelios190]

How have I missed so many premiers in a row? That old bark on the primary tree is outstanding. As a newbie Nigel, what is the easiest conifer to keep?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

I'd go for an Austrian Pine, they are very hardy!!

[@hyperionhelios190]

@@TheBonsaiZone thanks. My mother in law did pick up two clearance mini Christmas tree arrangements for me to work on. Waiting to get them in my hands to confirm species.

[@davidrocque1587]

So were these trees smuggled into Canada? lol

[@bastiv7806]

Honestly Nigel, evergreen elongating species you can not cultivate as a Bonsai without some use of wire. I also use wire sparsely but when it comes to firs, spruces and pines I see no other way than to wire them. Just my two cents.

[@paulschaefer5241]

I son't think it's Ontario that is the problem. Douglas firs grow in many places that get colder than that such as Alaska. More than likley the reason is how far the trees were transported. Ususally thay say not to move a tree more than about 200 miles or about 240 KM from the place it grew. This is the most likely issue you are dealing with here. If you've been growing them since 2018 and they are alive, I do believe they will adapt .

[@meuxtag]

If they reached that height 13 years ago, your trees might beat least 50 years old. You could have 100 years old trees without knowing it! ;)

[@justlucky13]

Foist

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Nice Scott!!!!

[@kevinrandell5189]

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