Hi. I'm a complete beginner.

Can someone post links for photographs of training a Bonsai
tree from start
(ie buying seedlings or planting seeds) to finish? (The tree
ready for
display). I have difficulty visualising some of these steps,
and although
I've seen photos of wired trees, for example, there usually
isn't a photo of
what it looked like before.


I'm not at all sure what that would teach you. First, MOST
bonsai are not started from seed or seedlings. Many of our best
bonsai were collected from the wild as mature trees; others are
started from larger nursery plants (10 gallon pots, etc.).

I suggest you go to our gallery. Access it from the link below.
There, starting in the "potensai" (potential bonsai) gallery you
can see some beginning trees, and in our "main" gallery, some
older trees that are approaching the "finished" stage -- though
we like to say that a bonsai is never really "finished."

Next, try books. They're still better than the WWW, since you
can hold them in your hand and study them without going blind.
Almost all bonsai books have start-to-"finish" picture sequences
of wiring. Basic books you might look for -- at your bookstore
or the local public library -- would be by Harry Tomlinson, Herb
Gustafson, Colin Lewis -- all of whom have posted here at one
time or another, but not lately -- or Peter Chan. I'd recommend
you buy a book by one of these authors and study it hard.

Another good source of information and help is a local bonsai
club. You can find lists of local clubs at the ABS web site
(www.absbonsai.org) or the BCI site (www.bonsai-bci.com).

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Ken Rutledge++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++