anybody know about growing bonsai trees?

[Peter_t]

i want to try growing bonsai trees as a hobby. i found an old book and am reading up on the basics and want to try and grow some from seedlings. my grandmothers lawn has got a few small english oak seedlings growing on it, are these suitable for bonsai? does anybody know of species of trees that are easy for beginers? iv also found hazel, birch, holly and scotts pine.


thanks!
pete

 

[spiritofold]

Box, as in hedging is a good one. If you can find a baby yew its good as well....

 

[Bernie Garland]

i want to try growing bonsai trees as a hobby. i found an old book and am reading up on the basics and want to try and grow some from seedlings. my grandmothers lawn has got a few small english oak seedlings growing on it, are these suitable for bonsai? does anybody know of species of trees that are easy for beginers? iv also found hazel, birch, holly and scotts pine.


thanks!
pete

Hi Pete i used to grow them,wouldent bother from seed as it takes years, your better of buying some Japanese maples a few year old and work with them first

Bernie

 

[DKW]

I agree with Bernie.

You could use different species aswell.
Malus, Box or Yew is quite frequently used here in Denmark as "begginers trees"
A Dwarf-clone of Elder is very easy to start with, as it actually from nature grows much like one would want. Just needs the shaping and the "soul".

 

[Peter_t]

Hi Pete i used to grow them,wouldent bother from seed as it takes years, your better of buying some Japanese maples a few year old and work with them first

Bernie

roughly how big is a tree that is few years old? iv got my eye on a few rangeing from about 4 inches to a foot.

pete

 

[Bernie Garland]

roughly how big is a tree that is few years old? iv got my eye on a few rangeing from about 4 inches to a foot.

pete

I'd say start with one about a foot,but if its a maple keep it in the greenhouse and put a sack round the roots from now till spring, I'll try to dig some photo's out of the ones i used to have

Bernie

 

[Prawnster]

Oak and pine can make excellent bonsai but if they don't have the form you roughly want it can take years to train them. Same goes for maple. If you can get landowners permission to look for wild trees then you can get some good specimens with nice aged trunks, particularly in places where roots have been restricted. I collected a lovely scots pine that was growing in some limestone.
One of the easiest ways to hone your skills at training is to get pot grown stock from the garden centre. Conifers make easy subjects and you can quickly train them into something quite impressive. The species I would go for are Junipers, especially needle junipers, larch, cedar, false cypress, redwood. With a little artistic inspiration and some tlc you will quickly have a bonsai.

Cheers
Sean

 

[Peter_t]

probably a silly question but how big do you let it grow? and say i wanted a small 6 inch bonsai would i still start off with a larger 12 inch tree and prune it smaller?
also is sycamoor a good one to use, its in the same family as maple (acer) and i find loads of them! should have mentioned it erlier

pete

 

[Prawnster]

I've seen beautiful bonsai a metre tall and then I've seen some equally as good that are 3 inches tall so it depends on the effect you are going for. The smaller you go the harder it is to make it look right though.

As for making a six inch tree out of a twelve inch one, you have to make that decision based on each tree. Some trees might just need wiring and minimal pruning whereas others might have a limb that says "cut the trunk above me and I'll make a new crown". You will get that instinct from experience.

Any tree that reacts well to pruning will make a good bonsai so sycamore (being a maple) would fit the bill. You also have to bear in mind the leaf size though. Large deciduous trees like sycamore, norway maple and horse chestnut have very large leaves and it would take many years of pruning to get the branch ramification fine enough to make the leaves reduce in size. Even then you would need the bonsai to be large enough to look in proportion.

Not being funny but the mods might want to move this to the other chatter forum as this isn't really bushcraft flora we're talking about.

 

[Singeblister]

I have a Japanese maple in my garden in a pot , its been out there for about 15 years in the same pot , I never do anything to it but it gives a great show every year great colour on the leaves , Should I re pot it or just leave it well alone ? I would say it is a bonsai tree but I thought you had to trim their roots , I would hate to do something to it and kill it love the tree

 

[Prawnster]

I have a Japanese maple in my garden in a pot , its been out there for about 15 years in the same pot , I never do anything to it but it gives a great show every year great colour on the leaves , Should I re pot it or just leave it well alone ? I would say it is a bonsai tree but I thought you had to trim their roots , I would hate to do something to it and kill it love the tree

Is it in a deep pot or a shallow pot? Bonsai are usually kept in shallow pots and do occasionally need their roots pruning but not so much when they're older. A deeper pot means that there will be more soil obviously, so the tree will cope better in adverse conditions (cold, dry) so repotting is not so much of an issue. Either way the tree will let you know when it needs repotting,(it just won't look as happy) it's just that with a shallow pot it could already be too late so this is done regularly as a preventative measure.

If you are not bothered about keeping it small you could just put it in a slightly bigger pot with some fresh compost. That would be the safest thing to do if you're worried about losing it.

 

[Singeblister]

Is it in a deep pot or a shallow pot? Bonsai are usually kept in shallow pots and do occasionally need their roots pruning but not so much when they're older. A deeper pot means that there will be more soil obviously, so the tree will cope better in adverse conditions (cold, dry) so repotting is not so much of an issue. Either way the tree will let you know when it needs repotting,(it just won't look as happy) it's just that with a shallow pot it could already be too late so this is done regularly as a preventative measure.

If you are not bothered about keeping it small you could just put it in a slightly bigger pot with some fresh compost. That would be the safest thing to do if you're worried about losing it.

Its in quite a deep pot it doesnt seem to have got much taller since I got it though it has got wider, thanks for the advice I will keep my eye out for a slightly larger pot.

 

[Seagull]

Peter t.

The best advice I can offer, is to get yourself in a position where your enthusiasm isn't going to be squelched by failure due to lack of knowledge.

Gathering from the wild, seedlings and such.. seems so straightforward; but it needs knowledge.

Practically, get your hands on two-dozen Larch seedlings about 2 feet tall. Garden centre material.
Plant half of 'em in the garden and leave them alone.
The other half, are your practise pieces and with these you can learn the rudiments of pruning, feeding , potting , training and design.

Meanwhiles, read up all that you can...

You will be very lucky not to lose some of the practise pieces, but, it aint the end of the world.
By the time you've really got your teeth into the techniques, you will have a dozen sturdy Larch to really go to work on.

Join your local club and get on a www bonsai forum.


regards
Ceeg

 

[Pignut]

Any Plant in a pot or tray that has been pruned or trained is a Bonsai

Oak, sycamore etc are better suited to "larger" Bonsai (I have seen them up to 6' in height)

Smaller "Bonsai" are better suited to smaller leaf species, Cotoneaster are very good and very forgiving!

Growing from seed is slow work, however dont buy "Bonsai" seeds, these are just normal tree seeds with a fancy package!

You will loose a few so dont be worried if you do! buy cheap garden center stock, and look for plants/shrubs with a single "trunk" dont be tempted by multiple trunks to start with!

Hope this is of help (Been at the bonsai game for a good few years!)

 

[Peter_t]

cheres for the advice
roughly how much will some larch cost??

thanks
pete

 

[MSkiba]

Im looking to get oak and scots pine bonsai going.

Is it best to keep them indoors? Or indoors just during winter? or are they OK to throw outside?

 

[Shewie]

I've had three and managed to kill them all after about 12 months

 

[JonathanD]

They don't do well indoors. You can get indoor ones, but they don't look anywhere near as nice. Oak and pine would need to be kept outdoors.

 

[MSkiba]

I have no problem keeping them outdoors, just wondered where to start. Your usual bonsai forums dont really do normal tree's us bushcrafters prefer.

Many thanks JD

 

[Paul_B]

As a kid I tried growing a bonsai. A kids programme showed you how to make one out of a young oak sapling. It had loads of "here's one I did earlier", but obviously a lot earlier as they were proper bonsais. Anyway on a walk we "obtained" a small oak sapling and followed the show's instructions. They were to grow it in half the skin of a grapefruit as the pot. Anyway I planted it in the grapefruit and left it outside and lost interest. Did better with cacti. Grew them from seed and everything. Best thing about them is they take at least 10 years to kill them by not watering. Usually up to about 8 years without water they can be revived, although won't look as nice.

Anyway that gives you the level of care I have for indoor plants. Bought a Ficus (weeping fig) once. didn't read the instructions about watering and the leaves fell off within two weeks. Nope, I have good reasons to not get into bonsai and to have a lot of respect for those who make a good job of it.