What happened to him

Thank you Margaret. Get out those cutters and do some chopping!

Thank you, That's a really nice thing to say. much appreciated bruh!

I just go for it John, and I seem to have been lucky so far!

Thank you for the message Craig. I really appreciate your positive feedback. I try to make a mixture of content. Some are like this, and some are a bit more just me waffling on while I work on my trees. You're the first to ever comment on my lapel mic. I have recently switched from a foam cover to a furry cover so that I can film on windy days. They don't look particularly cool, but one thing I can't be doing with is poor audio. Have a great day!

Absolutely...you just said what has been on my mind

Morning Guy! Yes, I thought that the maple would divide opinion. I think both options were definitely workable. It's a shame I didn't have two so that I could have done both and compared the two as they developed. These field maples are pretty tough and I'm confident that it will produce plenty of buds in the future.

Thanks Peter. I love creating videos like this. As you say, we definitely have to be brave and chop them down if we want them to become something on the future!

Thanks Michael. I think that bonsai should be available to everyone, so I really appreciate your comment.

Thank you. It takes me a while to get round to answering comments on older videos, but they are very much appreciated cheers

Thanks Jason. Yes, the idea of instant bonsai is nice, but the danger is that it leads us into short-sighted choices. I'm a lot more brutal now than I was twelve months ago, and hopefully, I'll have some trees like yours down the line!

@@TonysBonsai all my nice trees I bought 😂

🤣🤣

Thanks Matt. yeah, I definitely have more fo an idea than I did twelve months ago, but still on the steep part of the learning curve

Thank you Xavier. I really appreciate that feedback. I've been doing the same thing, but I haven't had my trees for as long so there isn't the same attachment. It must be a hard thing to do with trees that you have been caring for, for 10-15 years. Good on you though for doing what you know needs to be done! Which cut sealant do you use?

@@TonysBonsai ive got the grey putty type paste for these sort of cuts and a tube one for small cuts. Both japanese makes.

Thanks. I'll have to look into getting some of that putty sealant I think!

Ashland. Never heard of that place, but it sounds nice!

Thanks Lorenzo. yes, I'm decsovering this more and more as time goes on.

Thank you Steve. It takes me a while to get round to answering comments on older videos, but I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks Joe. Appreciate that mate!

Excellent! It's great when we make a big decision and it works out. Nice one

Thank you. I appreciate the feedback and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it

Thanks Thor. Much appreciated mate!

Cheers mate. That tree was a bit of a revelation considering I was just going to chop it low down!

Thanks Wullie. Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you Thomas. I'm glad you appreciated this video as I spent a bit more time than usual planning and then filming it

Thanks Rhys. Yes, I was surprised how much I like that tree. Might be a decent bonsai in the future fingers crossed!

Thanks Sal. Glad it was of some help to you, and hopefully we'll both end up with some trees with nice taper in the future!

@@TonysBonsai hopefully 🤞🏽😊

🤣🤣 You sound like someone at a bonsai seance!

Thank you. I'm definitely improving and learning all the time, so if it can help people that's great.

My pleasure mate

Thanks Shane. Sounds like you had the same idea as me with your maples. I'm sure they will look great in a couple of years, and that's how we have to think in bonsai.

Thanks Tatar. I think I might revisit that hawthorn and look at chopping it back further!

Cheers mate!

Hi Rocardo. Great idea about the saw cut first. I'm going to do that going forward thank you. I'm lucky to have so many trees to play with/experiment on!

Thank you for the kind comment Gurinder.

Thank you, Andrew!

I'm no expert, but the problem of repeated chopping as I see it, is that each time you do it, you are weakening the tree and taxing it's stored energy reserves, so better to wait until the tree is nice and healthy with lots of stored ebnergy in the trunk and roots, then chop back to where you want to. In todays video I chop back a turkey oak, and I don't chop back all the way, but this is because I only collected that tree last spring and I also applied some heavy wire and a big bend, so instead of chopping back all the way, I left some extra length with some strong buds on for the health of the tree

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it mate!

@@TonysBonsai 👍👍

Ah yes, excellent idea. Thank you for that tip!

Yes, that was definitely a good option, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to create a compact tree.

Hi Robert. Yes, I chopped this just a few weeks ago. I have quite a few beech which I want to work on, but I will be waiting until next February before I undertake any big chops.

Thank you!

Thank you Anna. Very interesting thoughts. I'm going to pop and take another look at that hawthorn now!

@@TonysBonsai so tony waddaya say? choppin?

It feels strange, but It just has to be done mate!

Thank you Louise!

Thanks Lynn. It;s since sent out some new shoots at the bottom, so I think It's going to develop ok this tree!

Hi Matthew. I do actually have a few small ash on the go myself, more for the challenge than anything else. the leaves are quite big and the internodes are long, so they are not generally rated as good material for bonsai, but like you I say they have to be worth a go!

Hello. That is a good question. With maples I now definitely cut back much higher up, but I have found that oak, beech, birch and hawthorn all do just fine being cut right up to the branch. Perhaps I have just been lucky but I've never really had any trees die back yet.

It won't stop thickening, but it will definitely slow it down quite a bit.

@@TonysBonsai ahhh okay i understand thank you! So cutting and creating a new leader everytime is to get movement in the tree and not necessarily to speed up thickening correct?

Kind of yes. It does add movement, but the main reason is to make the truck thinner as it goes up. If you just leave a tree to grow, it will be say 5cm at the base, and 30cm up it will be 4cm and 60cm up it will be 3cm. This is too gradual for bonsai. By cutting the trunk, we can get it 5cm at the base and at 30cm up it might be only 2cm which is much better.

Yes, it definitely feels like that.