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Want to make a bonsai.

carnivoure12

Hear the Call of Nepenthes
Hi everyone, i'd like to ask the bonsai community, what type of tree would be the easiest for a bonsai?

Around here there are lilac trees, maple trees, crabapple trees, and few more, are any of the mentioned easy? Which one would you recommend? What time of year is the best to take cuttings? Which is the mest method for rooting? Can I take cutting now, the tree are just coming out from dormancy.

Please help me, and thanks in advanced.
 
I'm not into bonsai, but know that you have to consider a plant's annual cycle. I think the ones you listed need four distinct seasons, like a lot of our CPs.

As for how to start them, either search for a plant propagation webpage (there are plenty) or find a book at the library. Many plants have very specific requirements.
 
I'd be interested to know about cuttings too.

Yeah, I remember the seasons thing from my old Bonsai books (which I sold on ebay in one huge lot a decade ago and now wish I hadn't). Most true Bonsai trees gotta be kept outside to experience the weather (since they are actual trees) unless you use some kinda tropical plant like a Ficus (some of these look great like a mini-banyan tree) or even a large Crassula (succulent) can be made to look like a pseudo-bonsai tree after a while and they can be kept indoors year round and need to be kept from frost unlike a maple or oak which has to go dormant.
 
I must mention all the trees I listed grow here in Toronto Canada, we get spring, summer, winter, and fall. They're growing in my backyard.

Even though there are sites out there I want some input from here :D
 
Chinese elm, fukien tea, azalea, ficus, pines, maple, cyprus, wisteria, english ivy, grape and countless others work well. Any plant with a semi woody to woody base can in theory become a bonsai. My personal favorite bonsai starters are plants that grow wild in Virginia we call them "free shrubs" but they are actually a type of English hedge that was introduced a long time ago and went wild. I'll see if I can dig up the real name.

I never have good luck with cuttings to be perfectly honest. I either start with nursery stock or wild collect "weed trees" off of my own property. The benefits are that the plant already does well in your area, the weedy ones now have a use or maybe will tolerate harder pruning, and you have tons of free start up while you are learning. The latter is nice especially when you start trying out jin and shari techniques. I have the luxury of being in a wooded part of the back country. Those in the city I would recommend looking for small plants at nurseries or seeing what you can get in gardening magazines. Some magazines sell hedging plants really cheap in lots of 5 or more at heights of about 8"-12" which is perfect (for me).

Easiest bonsai? hmmm. Depends on the climate. Like I said go with whats thriving outside. Pines are hard to prune for me as are ficus. Pines because needle pinching is a pain and ficus because they don't bud back on old wood without complete defoliation and that's if you are lucky..

And my biggest advice - go easy on the wiring... What they don't normally say is that it should act like a cage not a straight jacket. You can do some serious damage to your plants that takes years to go away. I tend to try and avoid wiring unless completely necessary. Formative pruning is more of my thing.
 
I'm interested in bonsai too. They're pretty cool, but I've read they require a bit of special care to keep them their small size. Something I'd like to see turned into a bonsai is a Cherry Blossom tree. We have those growing all over in Washington. They grow tons of small, pretty pink flowers in the spring, and look like normal trees the rest of the year.
 
Lots of pruning... I have heard rumors of people using some growth regulating hormone on their plants to keep them small but that's just not right. With the cherry blossoms the size of the flower limits you (technically) on how small you can make the tree. Leaves can be shrunken by complete defoliation (in some cases) but flower size pretty much remains constant. I don't doubt that it's been done though.
 
I like the larger size bonsai which is good for the blooming trees who can't be shrunk down too small. I'd like to try a weeping cherry maybe 18"-24" high. Looks like a cross between a weeping willow and blooming cherry. Although most weeping bonsai I've seen in books don't look as good as the full sized. They always seem to look rather sparse.
 
I'm a fan of the deadwood and literati styles myself :)
 
  • #10
Yes, I do love that deadwood look myself!
 
  • #11
I am a fan of the Ginkgo biloba myself. Informal uprights.

You can't kill them with city pollution, they don't catch many pests, and when cramped they stay small.
 
  • #12
I've been doing bonsai for 13 or 14 yrs, tried various species and my favorite by far is still the Shimpaku Juniper. I have had one since I started and have gotten more since. Can't ever have too many Shimpaku. :)
 
  • #13
Are those your bonsai in your photo gallery? If so very nice!
 
  • #14
Though I usually condone friendly chit-chat, can you guys please answer my questions :p
 
  • #15
you`re on the wrong forum for this detailed info carn, bonsai forums will give you all the info you need, just a little research needed. :)

pm`d links
 
  • #16
Are those your bonsai in your photo gallery? If so very nice!

Thanks. In my main folder, yes, but not in the Satsuki exhibition folder. Those are from a Tokyo bonsai show that a friend attended.

My Shimpaku looks naked compared to how it was yr before last. It got red spider mites and neem oil killed them very quickly, but the damage was done. That was the first trouble of any kind in 12 yrs at that time. Can't get much more trouble free than that.

can you guys please answer my questions

Shimpaku
Shimpaku
Shimpaku LOL

From my experience Lilacs suffer a lot of twig die back, maples are very choosy about water and light, and crabapples take too much care in seeing that fruit load is limited as to not break branches. Get a nice Juniper, maybe a Shimpaku. ;)
 
  • #17
Hi everyone, i'd like to ask the bonsai community, what type of tree would be the easiest for a bonsai?

Around here there are lilac trees, maple trees, crabapple trees, and few more, are any of the mentioned easy? Which one would you recommend? What time of year is the best to take cuttings? Which is the mest method for rooting? Can I take cutting now, the tree are just coming out from dormancy.

Please help me, and thanks in advanced.

There is no "easiest" type..
I consider deciduous trees easier than conifers, in terms of shaping and ease of maintaining shape..

lilac = No good IMO..leaves too big, flowers MUCH too big..there are dwarf lilacs though that might work...but a "normal" lilac is a poor choice for Bonsai..

crabapple trees = good choice! flowers and leaves are good size..(small)

maple trees = Japanese maples are excellent..a Bonsai classic..

"regular" maple trees, such as sugar, red, canadian red maples, not so good..leaves too big, hard to reduce the size.

contrary to popular belief, the "Red Maple" is NOT the one with the solid red leaves!
Red maples have green leaves..they look nearly identical to a sugar maple..
Red maples have green leaves with red stems..Sugar maples have green leaves with yellow/green stems..Red maples turn red in the fall..Sugar maples turn yellow in the fall.

This tree:
http://www.gardencenterejea.com/fotos/productos/1581.jpg
is the "crimson king" Norway maple"..sometimes called the "Canadian Red maple"..
although thats not the proper name..

Trident maple is good for Bonsai.

Im not sure if cuttings work well in very early spring, before leaves come out..
I would wait until they are in leaf..take SMALL cuttings, only 3-6 inches long, keep only 2 or 3 leaves..if leaves are big, cut them in half..

Scot
 
  • #18
If you must go with either of those, make an air layer of sphagnum early in the spring before the leaf buds break and use a strong hormone such as Hormodin 3. Place the layer so that it's around a node. The growth surge that causes the leaf buds to grow also induces rooting.
 
  • #19
Well I chose a crabapple cutting. Does it have to be air layering, as all the trees are in public spaces, people might be tempted to remove them. I just got some root hormone, I will try rooting it in normal media.
 
  • #20
In addition to the crabapple cutting, which I notched, dipped in rotting hormone and planted, i got this nice sappling, though I don't know which tree it is, can anyone identify it?

DSC01733.jpg


DSC01734.jpg
 
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