From October 28, 2018.

I got this nice honeysuckle for about $8 at Evergreen during their fall sale. I was excited by the nice trunk, small leaves, and bendable branches. No brittleness here!

I got this pot at a leftover estate sale, that I found on Craigslist. It was a wild experience. All the ad said was that anything after 9am was free to take, a general lists of items, and to please not block the driveway. Plants were on the list, so I gave it a try. I got there a little before 9, and the entire street was packed. As I approached the house, people were already clearing out furniture and other large pieces. Apparently they opened the house early due to the street chaos. All I got was this little pot. Hey, it was an experience. Almost like Black Friday, with people aggressively walking towards a table with a “that’s MINE” attitude.

After inspecting the trunk and its various angles, I decided on the front. I trimmed a significant portion of the foliage off, bye bye leaves. They were mostly on the top.

Lookie there! There is a pre-bonsai! Amazing what some chopping and wire can do.

A general rule is that branches should start at one-third of the tree’s height. Following those rules, I should chop those right two branches. I like them there though, for now, I want to see how it fills out with foliage.

Also, there is a common technique used in bonsai known as a sacrificial branch. If you want a trunk to fatten up, you leave a branch on the lower trunk. This sends energy, insert science here, and the trunk gets thicker, and you chop it off once you are satisfied. Makes sense. So if anything, they are acting as sacrifices for now. Thanks, guys.