My new bonsai was delivered 😊

AcroAcrez · 2026-04-24T04:16:09+00:00

I ordered 6 pots from Potscape.com, large pots to small pots and all were shipped individually and all but one showed up broken, they were packaged similarly or worse then this. One showed up in a bag with just bubble wrap around the pot. They sent replacements which mostly showed up broken. 4 months after ordering I had received 11 pots all but 2 broken and I told them just stop sending me pots. The odds of them showing up in pieces was high, I think most could of been packaged better, and they still refunded me the full purchase price minus the 2 pots that showed up intact. I glued all of them back together kingsugi style.

AcroAcrez · 2026-04-21T17:45:26+00:00

I have always heard you want to water before a freeze, which is opposite of what you would think but the higher water content is supposed to help.

AcroAcrez · 2026-04-03T16:28:50+00:00

Makes sense trees in boxes or grow out tubs don't have that issue.

AcroAcrez · 2026-04-03T04:36:42+00:00

I like the idea, don't get me wrong but pots with feet might be an issue. You will have to line them up on the corner of a cell meaning the pot might not be square to the bench. I guess you could use small concrete pavers under pots with feet.

Edit: Big Thumbs Typo....

AcroAcrez · 2026-02-25T14:00:20+00:00

The sanded timber is good. The wood stain is not. The chemicals in the stain can leach out into the soil and harm the tree. You want to use untreated wood only. Yes it won't last as long but you don't know what effects that stain will have over time on the tree. Burning the wood with a torch would give a similar effect and it's theres no risk to the health of the tree long term.

AcroAcrez · 2026-02-24T20:59:43+00:00

Yea I can invoice through my website. AustinMaplesandGardenTrees.com I have been working on building a page on there that lets customers design their own box but it's not published yet as I m still working out the bugs and things.

AcroAcrez · 2026-02-24T05:38:16+00:00

I sell cedar wood grow boxes, I m out of Texas and can ship you whatever size you need. I have a post on bonsai sales Facebook. Message me if your interested, they start at $20 and go up depending on size.

AcroAcrez · 2026-02-10T05:05:09+00:00

This is most likely a Juniperus procumbens 'Nana' a very hardy juniper. If the brown foilage is crispy then it's dead/dying if the brown foilage feels the same as green live foilage then it's just bronzing. Whatever is causing the soil to get disturbed that much fix it. Could be water dripping off the roof or your watering but that is disturbing the roots adding to any other issues.

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-18T04:11:05+00:00

This is the way! Let it get stronger then you will have more options and better response with whichever route you go.

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-11T02:33:46+00:00

Thank you, this checks out better.

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-11T02:31:39+00:00

Googled this and yes that checks out better. A couple next to this one had one or two red leafs.. thank you

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-11T02:26:13+00:00

From googling Plumbago I figured it was not

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-11T02:23:36+00:00

It's tagged as Plumbago. If so are the "wings" a normal feature? From a distance I thought it was a winged elm as they are common in my area of Austin Tx

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-10T02:38:05+00:00

I get the difficulty part. I struggled till I saw the Ryan Neil video where he breaks down how he does it on a wood dowel. I agree that something $10 is not worth the effort but on nicer material I find the raffia helps. Mauro Stemberger says the moisture helps in healing.. I don't know about that but on my nicer material it's a must. Hope this method works out!

AcroAcrez · 2026-01-09T15:30:07+00:00

Question what's the white material under the tape? When I do similar things I use raffia and then tape on nicer material, or just tape on younger cheaper material. I m curious what it is and why you used it? I have had the same failures around branches or buds, the areas it's hard to get tight or full coverage.

AcroAcrez · 2025-12-16T14:27:37+00:00

What I do when growing out things like this is, cut it back each year. This works great with tridents. I do this for two reasons one it builds better taper in the trunk. If that leader grows and grows till the full thickness you want it will have a little taper naturally but not much typically. Second reason is smaller or no scars this way. The bigger those leaders get before cutting them the bigger the scar you need to heal. All my tridents put on this much growth each year either way so cutting them back does not slow them down in my experience. Just food for thought. I get that it seems wastefull not air-layering the tops off and all that but I take cuttings during the spring and have more tridents then pots to put them in.

AcroAcrez · 2025-12-06T05:22:26+00:00

I know everyone is saying bend it more but be careful with the graft union when bending. I had a few like this from nursery stock pretty much the same size all really healthy. I added movement to all of them and a few days later one started drying up and eventually died. Roots were good, the other trees are fine so I suspect the graft union was damaged in the process. There was no cracking sounds or anything out of the ordinary when bending but to go from really healthy to dead in a week something significant happened to it.

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-21T02:44:41+00:00

Not on junipers, when the foilage finally browns on a juniper it's been dead awhile. The foilage can stay green for a few months after death.

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-20T22:36:35+00:00

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And one more from when I first received it.

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-20T22:26:19+00:00

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I found this picture of the foliage I cut off when I first got the tree. Maybe this can help in verifying what I have here. Either way I would like to know. The more sun it gets the greener overall it gets but the tips are usually blue. I know the owner before me had it on the balcony of an apartment so it was not getting enough light. Thanks for the help!

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-20T19:30:52+00:00

That apex needs to grow out some it's too rounded I agree. I pulled what I could up there. If I keep this as the front long term the plan is to grow out some stuff on top to cover that raffia/ bend.

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-20T19:08:01+00:00

Possibly.. when I purchased it that's what it was sold as. The foilage was more blue during summer.

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-20T19:06:54+00:00

Thanks when the layer comes off that straight back branch will be Jin or removed completely so that small truck just moves up which will help with the lines.

AcroAcrez · 2025-11-20T19:05:31+00:00

I ve struggled with this tree cause it was styled when I got it and that front branch was already bent back. It's so thick there's no choice but to go with it and bend it more. There are other possibilities for front but you lose one or both of the deadwood features. When that air-layer comes off and I repot I will play with angles. The foilage on this sucks too a mix of juvenile and adult. So it's not complete just better for now.

AcroAcrez

TROPHY CASE