Making a Bonsai Christmas tree!

Рет қаралды 65,352

Күн бұрын

Christmas trees are great fun to work with - but challenging too! In this video we show how to create a Bonsai from this young Picea material, which is a very cheap way to start with Bonsai.
Bonsai Empire is dedicated to share the living art of Bonsai - we created this video as a DIY tutorial to help and motivate beginners. The video is part of the online courses that we offer, for more free videos go to:
www.bonsaiempire.com/courses
Bonsai techniques explained:
- Pruning: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/s...
- Tools: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/g...
- Wiring: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/s...
- Repotting: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/b...
- Substrate: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/b...
- Bonsai care: www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/b...
We like to thank:
Clingendael (Japanese garden) and Bob Ruitenbeek (Technical supervision).
What you're seeing in this video is a two year project - if you repot and style the tree in one go, your tree will die. So take it slow, step-by-step, and you'll do fine! Oh and the app we mentioned is the Bonsai Care App:
www.bonsaicare.app
Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction to the material
1:10 - Pruning and repotting (March 2023)
5:21 - Pruning (November 2023)
18:15 - Wiring (November 2023)
Serious about growing your own Bonsai trees? Then consider enrolling in one of our online Bonsai Courses, taught by expert teachers. For the curriculums and free lectures, go to:
www.bonsaiempire.com/courses

Пікірлер: 91

@nanda483 3 ай бұрын

I can't wait to see what this tree will look like in the future 🤩

@ReinierKorth 6 ай бұрын

Wow the Bonsai Care App looks very interesting! I have been waiting a while for an app like this.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Hope you like it! ;-)

@oscarvazquez7751 6 ай бұрын

Everyone should buy and style more of these trees 🌲

@grumpyoldjohnny 5 ай бұрын

Perfect. Looks already amazing and is the ideal tutorial for me. I repotted last year and now pretty much have a plan, thanks very much 😁👍

@bonsaiempire 5 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@mikec3820 6 ай бұрын

one of the nicest picea demos on youtube. great looking tree too

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Glad you like it!

@mattbrennan647 6 ай бұрын

Very nice and attractive transformation. The key takeaway for me is patience. Do not overwork your tree. Spread the work over several growing seasons. Thanks, keep growing

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Well said! That should be the takeaway for most work done on bonsai, especially if its a first styling.

@josepbarba3657 6 ай бұрын

bonito te quedo saludos maestro.

@norahsm1les89 6 ай бұрын

This is awesome! Loved your video and I learned a few things about Bonsai as an art as well. The transformation was magical, too.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@freaking_natureBoy 6 ай бұрын

Fabulous! No words to describe.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Glad you like it :)

@givetanks 4 ай бұрын

I just did a video on what this looks like 5 years later - they can make great trees just patience and you can get a bonsai out of these guys.

@DeciduousSnurb 6 ай бұрын

I've been learning bonsai for over a decade now and I have to say, this Dwarf Alberta Spruce is probably one if the most realistic spruce stylings as bonsai I've seen. Well done 👍. I love the slight lean it has as many spruce do and I can just imagine the side most dense with foliage is the side facing south with the most sunlight. 😎

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@user-mw4fx7uw5p 6 ай бұрын

Очень красиво!

@utarmandoenchicago 6 ай бұрын

Stunning job, very well done. congratulations.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thank you very much!

@zbarcalab4390 6 ай бұрын

Hi Oscar, I bought a living chritmas tree this year for bonsai purposes aswell, it will be kept inside for only 3 days and a window will be always open in it's room so it stays a bit more chilly, I hope it will do fine. It is an abies nordmaniana / Nordman Fir, it is really big, I will only cut off the branches that cause big problems and repot it. I hope it lives because it has a very nice trunk and from what I can see right now, it's nebari isn't bad either.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Sounds good. Often these larger Christmas trees have some roots but not a lot, so chances are it wont survive no matter what you try. But... go for it and hopefully in spring it will start growing again!

@zbarcalab4390 6 ай бұрын

It's more wide and thick than tall, it is maybe 20 cm taller than the spruce in your video. I have also taken a look at the roots, kind of, I scraped a lot of soil from the top and I have also moved it into another pot since the one it came in had no drainage holes on the bottom and there were quite a lot of fine roots, especially near the base of the tree, so I am really hopeful it will make it. And as a bonus it's soil is pretty fine and crumbly so it wont be hard to get it off the roots.@@bonsaiempire

@DnHVid 6 ай бұрын

Hey! We have had a Christmas tree for a few years that we always brought inside for about a week during Christmas. Then after we would put it back in the garden. Watering it a bit shen needed in the house as well. It seemed perfectly fine with it. We didn't prune it or anything. It did survive, which was very nice. Good luck and enjoy yours!

@cyndydejoy6129 6 ай бұрын

Love it! Beautiful work!👏👏👏👊👍 Had to subscribe!😊

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Awesome! Thank you!

@jude1515 5 ай бұрын

Beautiful!

@bonsaiempire 5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@viktorsbonsai 6 ай бұрын

Nice tree Oscar! Merry Christmas!

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Happy holidays!

@WanderingBobAK 6 ай бұрын

New to bonsai. I bought two of these from my local garden center. One, I very excited about, it was a twin trunk. I tried to bend the trunk just a bit and broke it! Then tried to separate the trunks a bit and split the tree down the center! Ahhh! These are so brittle!!! It died. And, I was way out of my comfort zone. The other, I repotted in a training pot and did some basic pruning. So far it is surviving inside and hopefully will be ready for some refining cuts and wiring this spring. Glad you posted this video and as always, look for to the progression down the road.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching. You might wanna check out the care guidelines for the spruce, they should not be kept indoors.

@WanderingBobAK 6 ай бұрын

@@bonsaiempire My apologies, I was speaking of Monterey Cypress. I'm just so limited to plants that can survive Alaska winters. Will investigate the Spruce guide. Thanks you.

@FaridSultonik 6 ай бұрын

Ikut belajar om..

@manueltrejo2390 6 ай бұрын

Gracias maestro por los subtítulos

@gavinhartley5454 5 ай бұрын

Alberta conica. Good for content creation and nothing else.

@sandhiya_sri 6 ай бұрын

🥳🍃Wow.. awesome bonsai Christmas 🎄 tree.... first time I see for your video... I want to grow a bonsai tree. I can now. because, your tips.. thank you so much...💐🥰

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks and welcome!!

@jezinperth1 6 ай бұрын

You have a beautiful home. Where do you live. Very nice videos as well. I get a lot of ideas from your work.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much 😊 This was recorded in Clingendael, the Hague.

@SpeedyGonzalesCZ 6 ай бұрын

Nice!

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thank you! Cheers!

@jacktaylor6190 6 ай бұрын

Great video and what looks like a great app!

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks! Try it out, its a free app (for the first few trees), check out the app store / play store for 'Bonsai Care App' !

@jacktaylor6190 6 ай бұрын

@@bonsaiempire I already have even before I made my comment. Shared the information with two of my bonsai clubs I attend.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Wow awesome, thanks! The app is in beta now, meaning we will add a lot more functionality to it as we go.

@BonsaiSerBull 6 ай бұрын

🌳 Buen trabajó. 👍

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@johnc6228 6 ай бұрын

Dwarf Alberta Spruce are container grown since they are a 2 or 3" pot liner. Very few growers will place a B&B spruce in a container and ship it.

@user-bx8dp2cc4i 6 ай бұрын

Thank you so much very beautiful❤❤❤ 9:40 04:08-05/01-24🌿

@katemass6898 6 ай бұрын

Hi Oscar, thank you so much for putting the effort of recording such a detailed video, especially given the time gap between the repotting and pruning. My husband and I are huge fans of your videos and courses too (we did the beginner ones). I'm curious, what is the approximate size of the training pot you're using, and could you recommend a place where to order them? We now live in France, recently moved here from Ukraine.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks Kate! The pot is a standard plastic bonsai training pot, if you search online you should be able to find some. This particular one was about 25-30 cm wide. Thanks for following us!

@mikeswain9085 6 ай бұрын

Another really helpful video Oscar, thanks for sharing. When you mention you use Akadama, Lava and Pumice, are these mixed in equal parts of each please?

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks Mike! Glad it was helpful. Piceas are sensitive trees - at around 2 minutes into the video you can see how little roots these Christmas trees have when bought at a garden center. So anyone trying to style these trees should first focus on growing healthy roots in proper soil. We indeed mix Akadama, Pumice and Lava in equal parts. Really, anything that drains well is a big improvement compared to the organic soil these trees are sold in :)

@mikeswain9085 6 ай бұрын

Thanks Oscar, really appreciate the help.

@jackbennettsr.3792 5 ай бұрын

Great video. Can I do this now,?(January in Southern Ontario Canada) Thank you.

@bonsaiempire 5 ай бұрын

I'd wait til early spring actually - repot it then and wait until the tree is healthy (at least 6 months, maybe a full year) before doing anything else.

@gariktv8756 6 ай бұрын

Do you have any video where you stilling bllauw juniper from nursery stock?

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Not that specific one, but several about Junipers

@oscarvidalquist 6 ай бұрын

Een mooie boom!

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@SullyMac83 Ай бұрын

Where can I find a trainer pot like the one used in the video? I just bought a tree like this yesterday. I’m going to use this as a guide. I can’t wait to see what the end result is on the tree in the video.

@bonsaiempire Ай бұрын

I buy them online, various online stores sell them (plastic bonsai pots)

@SullyMac83 Ай бұрын

@@bonsaiempire is it too late to for me to do the first repot part of the video? I have a Alberta spruce same size as in the video and I live in Michigan.

@darklingleroy 5 ай бұрын

can i prune and repot this tree in Januari or should i wait till spring?

@bonsaiempire 5 ай бұрын

Early spring is much better. And dont repot and prune a lot at the same time - this video tells you to spread out the work over time :)

@thegreatb7085 6 ай бұрын

Hi Oscar, may I ask you, where have you kept that tree till march, before repoting ?

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

I had it indoors for a week or so (Christmas) and then kept it outdoors, without any winter protection (no cold frame or whatever).

@aaronbolivar2947 6 ай бұрын

Dears, Im new and i want to make a bonsai using the same tree. I wonder if i can make the whole process on summer. I do live in Chile and we are starting finishing springs; also there are a lot Christmas trees around of me, and i would like to make one bonsai with it. So, can i make it on this time or i have to wait untill Fall to make the pruning? Thx.

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Well, I would follow our approach; repot first and wait until the tree is very healthy, and then wire/prune it!

@brucedeacon28 6 ай бұрын

👍👌🙂

@markwoodard659 6 ай бұрын

I’ve heard they are not good trees for bonsai because branches will not hold shape after wires come off

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

That's true. I like them anyway - but yes it seems the wire needs to be on forever. Cut and grow is also recommended, as wiring is less efficient.

@zimartiste1 6 ай бұрын

👋👌👍

@markfrisbie1587 5 ай бұрын

Can you discuss an approach to Christmas tree stock wherein you remove all of the main branches and wire up the remainders. I’ve heard some artist argue that this approach leaves a better scale and train easier. Is there a consensus about this approach or is considered to be radical or inappropriate?

@bonsaiempire 5 ай бұрын

Not sure I understand you - do you mean removing the large/thick branches and working with the younger branches instead? That makes a lot of sense as younger branches shape much better than old/stiff branches.

@markfrisbie1587 5 ай бұрын

@@bonsaiempire yes, exactly. It would take a little longer to look like a true bonsai, but the scale would be different because the trunk would look bigger in relation to the smaller leftover branches that would be styled.

@jpineapple9495 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for saving this piece of life, but it looks better in its conical form.

@phildelaney8614 20 күн бұрын

Imagine watching bonsai KZfaq and posting comments like this😂😂

@jpineapple9495 20 күн бұрын

@@phildelaney8614 imagine being named phil

@phildelaney8614 20 күн бұрын

@jpineapple9495 mmmm that's the best you have??? Better leave it that lol pineapple 🤣🤣🤣

@kustorez_kurganinsk 6 ай бұрын

Привет. Подскажи состав грунта

@DraxTube 6 ай бұрын

👍 Excellent video, and thanks for the BonsaI Care app. If I may make a comment though, the music in your video is inadequate, neither for working on a bonsai nor for this time of the year. I'm not saying you should put Mariah Carey on repeat but it's still Christmas. 😃 🎄🎅🤩

@bonsaiempire 6 ай бұрын

Haha I see your point :) And most welcome, hope you'll like the app and if you have any feedback do let us know ok?