Growing Oaks

rockm

"Colorado Blue Spruce, any reason I never see them sold as bonsai?":

They aren't common bonsai material in general. There are many trees that can make good bonsai that aren't used as often as they should be. This can be simple economics, what's "in style" or what's "rumored not to work," or a variety of all these.

For what it's worth, those that have Colorado blue spruce say they aren't very easy to maintain as bonsai. Don't know if it's true or not. I don't have one. I would tend to think with the way the tree grows, I would tend to believe it's not the best species to work with.

Doesn't mean you can't try any of these trees though. You've just managed to choose some of the most difficult species to start with

If you're into native trees as bonsai, Carolina hornbeam (carpinus caroliniana) grows in your area, as does pitch pine (pinus rigida), American beech (fagus Grandfolia), any kind of native elm. The easiest non-native tree to work with as bonsai is probably Chinese elm. It is fast growing and hardy and readily available.

Rule of thumb, if you like starting from seeds, you will have to wait a very long time before you begin making a bonsai. Starting from larger stock can give you vastly more experience working on bonsai than tending seedlings (which is mostly watering or fertilizing). Starting a bonsai from seed is generally a bad idea for those just getting started in bonsai, as you learn very little about bonsai and a heck of alot about growing seeds.

Growing from seed can be an enjoyable passtime in and of itself, but it's the slow boat to bonsai..

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bulldogges

Thanks for the info.

Donr really have anything for native trees, they're just the ones im exposed to the most.

Growing from seeds was just something i thought would be fun to try. I hope to get least three starter bonsai over the next few months. A friend of mine who is into bonsai got me a boxwood which he has started to train for me, unfortunaltely, he lives several hours away and I havent gotten the chance to get it from him yet.

Thanks again for all the info, I'll definitely check out the trees you recommended

Aaron_K

Hi Bulldogges,

On my travels online I have, to my recollection, only seen 2 Colorado blue spruce bonsai.

One is owned by Vance Wood



The other I saw years ago on Indybonsai.org




I bought a 2ft tall tree about 14 months ago with the intention of making a bonsai from it. The trouble with them is that unless you shape and position the branches from scratch, they have an incredibly annoying tendency to ping back into their original position soon after the wiring has been removed.

They are difficult to work with, and there are far better species out there, that lend themselves much more amicably to bonsai techniques. Mine sits in the corner of the patio, pretty much an orphan lol.

All the best,

Aaron

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bonsainotwar

Agreed western live oaks are the best for bonsai!They are, however difficult to establish in a container.and the leaves are prone to drop,if the temperature drops below 20 degrees farenheight.here are a couple of wild photos of the tree I have(quercus turbanella)

bonsainotwar

Oak is in center.Cool innit?

Sterling

I was wondering, are Live Oaks, the same as the Oaks that grow around Southern California? The leaves on the quercus turbanella look like the right ones but the bark doesn't look right. I was wondering if there is a differce between the two areas because I've wanted one to model after some huges oaks on my campus at Occidental College.