Un-bonsaiable Species

Attila

Hi guys,

I was just reading OMC's comment on regretting the wasted time spent on species not suitable for bonsai.

Since I am a naturalist at heart (allways had a keen interest in botany and zoology) I just can't help but experimenting with every imaginable material. That's just the way I am. I do it for the sheer joy of getting to know each individual species, enjoying the richness of shapes, colours, textures. I've heard on occasion people using the term "pioneer species", and while I know that there is such a thing, it still irks me when I hear it.

I've allways thought that each species is unique in it's own right and aside from the idea that the ones with big fruits or flowers can only lend themselves to large bonsai (leaf size can allways be reduced to a fraction of the original size), there is really no reason to exclude any of them. As long as you can replicate the conditions required by each species, personal taste is the only limiting factor.

Anyway, I would like to know if any of you guys worked with species that you now believe is a big waste of time and recommend that it should not be attempted.

Kind regards,
Attila

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TreeBay

You might try here:

http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=1404

There are exceptions to every rule. Some species make poor shohin, or don't survive in certain areas, are slow growing, too fast growing, or don't take certain styles well.

I think species is just one of several criteria in judging the appropriateness of stock as bonsai.

Regards,

Matt

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Carl_Bergstrom

Hi Attila,

Interesting question. I think that most of what I was annoyed with myself for doing was trying to develop basic skills on challenging material, not for working with challenging material period. To develop those basic skills, I would have done a lot better working with

1) Species that are easier for beginners - see the thread linked above.

2) Multiple plants of each given species, so that when things went wrong (or right), I'd have some clue about why.

Indeed, I still have lots of species in my garden, and I take great pleasure in exploring the potential for some of the more exotic maple species - if I can identify one really great and previously unused species, I'll consider the experiment a rousing success.

Still, there are some species that seem really, really tough. Let me give you an example. I love the incense cedars (Calocedrus decurrens) that grow at the base of some of the world's best climbs in Yosemite, so I've long wanted to work with that species. But I've got a big old cedar growing in the ground here, and darned if I can figure out how I'll ever turn it into bonsai with its big floppy foliage and its thick soft bark and its general refusal to hold any sort of wire-induced shape. My past efforts with this species were failures, and I'm starting to think that this current one is a waste of ground space and a tree's life. Can't even use it as a landscape tree because it'll be too big for my small lot long before I get around to moving!

Best wishes,
Carl aka Old Mister Crow.

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Attila

Matt, thanks for the link, this forum has a wealth of info, much more than I have initially thought of.

Carl, thanks for sharing your experience with the incense cedar, I also have one (name one species and I have it), but it's still too young to cause any of the problems you mentioned. I will keep in mind though what you said about it and will let you know if I hear about somebody sucessfully "taming" one.

Regards,
Attila

FredL

A species that I have given up on is Sugar Maple (A. sacharum). It seems like the leaves don't reduce very well and it wants to create long internodes. I decided that Amur Maples and Red Maples were so much better, why bother? I think Silver Maple and Box Elder are even worse.

I could mention some others as well (most Eastern Oaks, for example) that I, personally won't fool with, but if somebody else wants to try them, "God bless, Brother". There are just too many other species that are known to respond well to Bonsai development, many of which are not in widespread use, for me to invest in them.

Fred