Making literati style Camellia bonsai

In this video, Terry creates bunjin or literati styled bonsai from Camellia nursery stock.
Featured products:
Raffia: www.bonsaitree.co.za/products...
Scissors: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Branch cutters: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Grafting knives: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Sealers: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Aluminium wire: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Kanuma: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Clay development containers: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
Sphagnum moss: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti...
On a mission to provide plant enthusiasts with resources to take their growing enjoyment to the next level! To find out how, visit our website: www.bonsaitree.co.za

[@shawnhelfrich4956]

Great demonstration Terry - love using nursery stock myself as you can build structure and your own feel to the tree - it takes more time but to see it develop over time is part of the reward. Great wiring tip will definitely use it with my next project.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Shawn. Yes, what you wrote is spot on. I do like to buy trees too which are highly developed for that “instant gratification” fix though 😉 Glad you found the wiring tip useful. Thanks for commenting

[@alfaqir4755]

Thank you so much Sir for very detailed tips and clear demonstrations for beginners like me to produce bonsais.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you Al! I am very glad the videos are useful to you.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

A nice thorough video Terry, can't wait for the day to see the bandages removed!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Nigel, I certainly intend creating a video on that. Thanks for your support by watching.

[@craighunter3273]

Thanks for that demo. I have four camellias in a forest format that I’m not overly happy with. I’m keen to reuse the container they’re in hence your video provides the ideal answer. Cheers for that…. Craig ps looks like your gloves have seen better days.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Craig. I don’t recall ever seeing a camellia forest, perhaps they’re not the most suitable species for this. It’s difficult to get them to ramify and although if using a small leafed variety the leaves can be quite small most species have large leaves. I go through a lot of gloves, they don’t last that long. Keen to sponsor some new ones? 😉

[@craighunter3273]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai I agree with you on that. They were only nine dollars each - kiwi each - I got carried away and bought too many. Anyway, three years down the road I’ve finally reached that conclusion. I’ve spent a long time thinking what I could do with these trees and reclaim my large bonsai pot - and your vid has provided that answer. Thank you for that. In New Zealand - we are on the cusp of winter so I’m tossing up when to move the trees. The climate change issues in New Zealand issues are probably the same as you maybe experiencing in the northern hemisphere … so I not sure weather i wait it out until late winter or do it now in the final weeks of autumn. I intend to use the pot for a large 'group planting' of Melia trees ( chinaberry) … cheers again for your informative video. All the best. Craig ps i wear similar thin gloves. I know what you mean re wear and tear. But at least they’re inexpensive.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@craighunter3273 I hope to see you then next year in NZ as I will be there. My climate is the same as you, Southern Hemisphere. I’d repot them in spring if I were you.

[@grahamleonard8060]

Never had a camellia in my collection but your video inspired to get 2 today 😊

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

That’s wonderful Graham. I am so glad. Not the easiest species I think but they have some beautiful attributes; the beautiful flowers, glossy dark green leaves and of course the stunning smooth bark. Enjoy!

[@digitaIgorilla]

That tree looks beautiful. And quite a respectful transformation. Thank you for sharing.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much. It’s just the start of the road for these trees, a long road ahead.

[@kimberlyduncan1053]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much Kimberly for the kind words ☺️

[@gusvietnam5086]

Great video! Very informative, and I appreciate how you explain everything you're doing and why. 1st video of yours i've seen. I subscribed and look forward to continue learning on my bonsai journey. Thank you! 👍

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much Gus. I do hope you find a little time to take a look at some of my other videos too.

[@mcbabs7495]

C'est avec un grand plaisir que je vous regarde travailler. Un grand merci à vous pour tous ces précieux conseils!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Merci beaucoup d'avoir regardé, et je suis si heureux que l'information vous soit utile!

[@BlueJayBonsai]

Fun video Terry! Wearing all denim is called a Canadian Tuxedo! 🐦💙

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Ha ha. Thanks, now I know.

[@rinan6184]

Thank you for all the great tips. I learn a lot watching your videos! I have grown 3 Camelias from seed and did some good bending while they were young and I must say that they retain the bends very well, but I struggle with the ramification and have long branches with leaves at tips.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Rina! Bending camellia when they are young is the best, they quickly become very stiff and brittle so that’s great that you did that already. Ramification on camellia is not easy. Depending on the variety you are using the leaf size will differ. Big leaf size means you need to make a bigger tree. However I have built good ramification through pruning combined with partial defoliation (cut the leaf in half). This allows more light into the tree and stimulates back budding. Feed yours well, then after the tree has gained sufficient strength prune back hard and you should get new buds. Could also be your trees are in too little sun. I have mine in morning sun. Moving to more sun in autumn when the sun is weaker.

[@finnsbiavl7483]

Another super video, thanks 🌳🇩🇰

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much Finns.

[@BONSAIenCORTO]

Thanks great tips easy for everyone and easy for those starting this hobbie.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement!

[@darrenfisherman3838]

Love your videos it’s so nice and so easy to understand

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Darren, I try to make them like this to make bonsai as accessible as possible. I am thankful I am meeting some success in that regards.

[@alfredgrechbonsailicious4827]

Simply bonsailicious.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much Alfred!

[@Gianni88]

Lavoro veramente ottimo . Complimenti ! ---- Really good job . Congratulations!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Grazie! Sei molto gentile.

[@viethoang9571]

Wonderful tutorial, Terry. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Can you please recommend some other bonsai styles that fit with the Camellia? Especially the larger leaf varieties .

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thats a great question. Firstly, the larger leafed varieties are better suited to being styled as larger trees. This is about the most important consideration. After that the actual style is very open to personal choice as you can pretty much use any style - a personal favorite is cascade but do not try to make small clouds of foliage as the species will not really easily allow you to achieve that degree of ramification.

[@BlueNoseTrading]

Great video, thank you!!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Glad you liked it! Thank you.

[@jiijino_bonsai_ch]

美しい樹形ですね😍😍😍

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

美しい樹形ですね!

[@shivangnisharma9448]

Great tips, I’ve only recently learnt how to keep one alive after killing a few, styling is a distant dream but a beautiful one nonetheless

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Fantastic. One never stops learning in bonsai.

[@BonsaiCornwall]

Really useful and informative video, thank you 💚 I find it funny that auto captions can’t distinguish South African accents, of course I mean no offence just makes me smile when it says bins on screen when you say bends! 😂😆 thanks again Terry very useful as always

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much! No offence taken at all. Worst part is that I don’t think I have pronounced South African accent, so I’d love to know what my pronunciation must be in order for auto caption to accurately present the subtitles! 😁 thanks for watching. Appreciate the support.

[@ketutardita955]

Great....

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you for watching!

[@jjz3192]

Hi Terry, what is your opinion on the large sized leaves of camellia for literati style? Don't you think they're a bit large for such delicate style with slender trunk? It seems no matter how small the leaves get, they feel large compared to other trees with more tiny leaves for literati. Thanks for the vid.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for the question. Well I guess the obvious answer is that it doesn’t bother me if I’m making lots of them 😉. However to answer your question seriously, no the leaves don’t bother me as I love the flowers. I’m not trying to capture the magnificence of an old oak, or the ruggedness of an old pine - the elegant simplicity of the camellia trunk with smooth pale bark, deep bottle green leaves and then red, white, pink etc flower is elegant and emotive and I love it.

[@magdamaritz6370]

Hi Terry, thank you soooo much for so readily sharing your knowledge and expertise - it helps me tremendously. Just a quick question - after having gone through the process of what you've done in this video - when do you (or how long before) you remove the wiring? I suppose one tries to check for possible bite-in? Kind regards

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Magda! Yes, you want to avoid wire bite on any species with thin bark if possible. I would imagine the wire can stay on these for a full season as I doubt they will grow so strongly that wire bite will occur. To an extent the raffia wrap will also protect the plant.

[@magdamaritz6370]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai thank you. I also saw (after my comment) that you plan to do a video on this. Much appreciated!

[@simonedevito1119]

I discovered your KZbin channel a few minutes before writing this comment, I also found this video very interesting and I want to ask you, when should I do this repotting practice, in what season... and I also want to ask you if i can put it together with other substrates kanuma, for example akadama

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Welcome to my channel and I hope you have subscribed and will share it with others who might like it. There is some flexibility with repotting camellia. You can do so before or after flowering. These were done after flowering. Yes you can definitely mix in akadama, this will make it less water retentive. Many growers don’t use Kanuma and the trees grow fine. But I find Kanuma to be great tor me.

[@simonedevito1119]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai I really appreciate the fact that, even though the video is from a year ago, you took the time to respond to my comment. I will continue to stay tuned to your videos because they are highly informative. By watching some of your videos, I have learned new things. Thank you very much.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@simonedevito1119 no problem Simone. I am glad you have learnt something.

[@bulebonsaibatam1758]

Great tutorial Terry. I see that the direction of the Rafia & Wire are the same. Is this a must? Max

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Wow, you have an eye for detail Max! Actually that was something I did on auto pilot. I believe it’s better this way because if you do opposite then when you the twist the tree while bending it, it will loosen the raffia instead of tightening it.

[@alessandromezzavilla9487]

Hey Terry, great video as always. I was thinking about trying something similar to some oak material, but how I would go about developing the trees kinda bothers me. After trunk shaping, would you just focus on ramification or you would work for at least a couple of seasons on trunk thickening?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Alessandro! Nice idea, actually it’s quite fashionable in Japan to use oak for this style. Thin trunk, tall and elegant with interesting non repetitive movement. After styling just grow, don’t focus on trunk thickening. Work on a simple branch structure. Allow it to age.

[@alessandromezzavilla9487]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai thanks for the advice, I'll go pick the trees up tomorrow and see how I do, then :)

[@Ashley-ti6mp]

Were this done in the Autumn before the flower buds formed?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

It was done immediately after flowering. Thanks for asking.

[@TeamFishweights]

Amazing timing! I just got a setsugekka camellia yesterday. It was marked 90% off at the nursery because the trunk had snapped off about halfway. Would it be safe to trunk chop it even further once I'm sure it's healthy and happy?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Yes that’s fine. That’s great you got one and at a big discount too!

[@TeamFishweights]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai great, thanks for the reply 😀

[@DenisBecon]

Привет. Скажите, пожалуйста, в какое время года лучше пересаживать камелию?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Just before flowering would be best

[@rosabenson4094]

Great video - where can I get the root sickle?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

We sell it here www.bonsaitree.co.za/collections/sickles. However we are waiting on more stock to arrive from Japan and this will only be around December I am afraid.

[@rosabenson4094]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai Thank you - will then wait for December.

[@BonsaiCornwall]

Me again Terry 😆 so, I’m seeking your advice if you don’t mind. I have a large camellia air layering that I will be removing the coming spring (for us) would you still recommend kanuma?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Yes! It’s truly the best medium for them. If you’ve never used it before then you will love the results.

[@BonsaiCornwall]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai brilliant, thank you mate 🪴 I will tag you when I make the video come spring time

[@joelreyes8329]

So, fall is the best time to work on camelia?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

No Joel. Why do you say that? I’m in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s spring here.

[@cullenbatsel]

Come on Joel you know better

[@timmywood9677]

I made a root over rock Camellia

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Sounds great! I’ve never seen one. Their roots are very fragile so I’d love to know how yours develops.

[@timmywood9677]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai it been about two years and it growing very well

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

That’s great news. Thanks for the feedback. Just to confirm, the roots are exposed on the rock? And then of course grow into the soil.

[@timmywood9677]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai yes it growing on top of this feather lava rock exposed roots. Hopefully it not too much of a challenge to repot it. Also I really love the white flowers it has on it

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

That’s very interesting. Where in the world are you situated? I assume you have relatively mild summers as lava stone can get pretty hot and a lot of roots would struggle with that.

[@user-ww6ts2uu4f]

I like your videos, however I would like to see a mature specimen in your videos at some point to see what we are trying to achieve. For example, a ten year old bunjin camelia.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for the compliment. Great idea and if I had one I would show you. Is your opinion then that I rather not do videos like this and wait 10 years? There are over 100 videos on my channel and most feature very old trees. However the unfortunate reality is that most people don’t have such trees. This is why I felt doing videos of projects like this would be appealing as they would seem more achievable, besides it’s a load of fun doing them.

[@user-ww6ts2uu4f]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai Perhaps you could use pictures or do a drawing.

[@user-ww6ts2uu4f]

Anyway, keep up the videos. I really do appreciate your work.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@@user-ww6ts2uu4f good idea.

[@lamontjackson6971]

You should listen to your self

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

I listen to myself the entire time when I am editing. Is there something specific I should be listening for?