On 2/29/09 I stopped by Little Five Azalea, located in Ashland off of Rt. 1, to take a quick look and see if I could find any prospective bonsai material. It was close to their 5 pm closing time for winter hours so looking would have to be completed quickly. I ended up taking home an older mugo pine and a Juniperus chinesis. I am not at all sure of the variety of mugo however I believe it to be a dwarf variety since the needle length is approx 3/4". The juniper was located off to the side, away from the general stock, is a twin trunk and contains a fair amount of deadwood. Once the weather settles down the material will be repotted into grow boxes and once established will be fed heavily over the next two years to build up vigor of the tree. Little 5 "typically" prices their older material by container size, so that the mugo in a 3 gallon container was $20 and the juniper, while not appearing as robust as the mugo, although in a 3 gallon container, was a steal at $10!! The juniper was unmarked as to price and was 'staked' to the ground to avoid it being blown over. Little 5 is an excellent nursery for scouring for nursery stock. Patience is required as is a check or cash since they do not accept credit cards. The nursery is family run and is extremely friendly and helpful.
When you go:
* Check out the information on the Knowledge of Bonsai Forum, Article titled Collecting From the Wild, the article includes pictures and tips to remember when looking through nursery material. The last few pictures address what to look for when evaluating “trunks” and how to locate the root system of nursery grown stock. http://www.knowledgeofbonsai.org/collecting/basics.php
* Time- allow lots of time to comb through their multiple hoop houses
* Clothing – old, old clothes. The older azaleas are 'packed' in hoop houses and walking through may be difficult. Since you are looking for bonsai material, you will be traveling through hoop houses on your hands and knees! You may want to take along gardener's kneepads
* Shoes - the land around the back hoop houses may be wet due to less than ideal drainage and the run-off from watering in the hoop houses. Be prepared for muddy/swampy footing between the back hoop houses.
* Money - REMEMBER Little 5 does NOT accept Credit Cards
* Vehicles - If you are taking your material home and you have over purchased based on the size of your trunk, backseat, or truck bed...PLAN for this.... be sure you have a tarp in the car to protect your new purchases from the wind as you transport your material home.
After you get your material home, don't just delve in and start chopping away to reveal your next masterpiece. FIRST evaluate the health of your tree and always err on the side of caution. Make sure your tree is growing robustly – remember it has been in a nursery environment! Consider the stress you place on the tree by styling. And remember...you really DO NOT want to style, repot and wire in the same WEEK. When repotting from heavy nursery soil to fast draining bonsai soil evaluate the roots and then make the informed decision as to how long you need to wait before styling.