Bonsai - Fruit Trees as Bonsai

BonsaiNM

Bonsai - Fruit Trees as Bonsai

While conifers and some deciduous trees make up the majority of bonsai, there are several fruit tree species that make delightful samples. These species are not dwarf varieties but, like other bonsai trees, carefully crafted miniatures of the standard tree.

Apple, lemon, peach, cherry and several other fruit tree species make excellent bonsai. As with the full-sized tree, it's important to select the species suited to the climate in which the tree will grow.

Citrus trees don't thrive in Northern Idaho, but apple trees do extremely well. The cold winters and hot summers produce abundant, well-formed fruit when autumn arrives. Cherry trees will do well in parts of the Mid-West and the South where there's lots of moisture in spring and fall and long, cold winters. Lemon and peach flourish in dry, sunny California.

Chinese Sweet Plum make excellent bonsai. With pink and white flowers and purple fruit they brighten up any collection. Though most bonsai are outdoor plants, these will do well indoors provided they have adequate sunshine. Give them full morning sun, with shade in the afternoon and evening.

Quince is among the more exotic choices for a bonsai, but with proper care they can make a wonderful sample. They produce tiny flowers with yellow fruit. Similar to pears, they can tolerate full sun, but should have at least partial shade in hot summer periods.

Even grape vines can be made into a miniature bonsai-like plant, though they don't grow in the same form as trees. They enjoy very hot weather, thrive in dry, sandy soil and produce fruit clusters and leaves just like the full-sized style. Beware, though, grape vines and the fruit can grow quickly and you must take care not to have them overwhelm the pot.

While you're thinking of vines, consider a black olive tree. In the wild these evergreens can grow to 50 feet with a full oval crown. But they can be easily encouraged to spread out, making for a beautiful display. Their bluish leaves can lend a dark color contrast to some of the brighter fruit trees in your collection.

Figs are one of the more popular choices for a bonsai fruit tree. The tree, often known as ficus, can grow to enormous proportions - 60 feet high and 60 feet wide in some instances. This makes shaping them into bonsai a wonderful challenge. Keeping the canopy under control requires much dedication.

Of course, the humble cherry tree continues to make one of the best choices for a bonsai. Their lovely and abundant pink flowers and red fruit are a delight to the eye and nose. They do well in full sun much of the year, but will need a partially shaded area during the hot weeks of summer.

Cherry trees will take as much water as they're given, though less is required in winter. As with any bonsai, good drainage is important to prevent root rot. Avoid watering the flowers.

Many fruit trees are sold very young, some no more than a root and small trunk. Like any bonsai, you'll want to get them into water immediately, then plant the next day. Prune, soak, then place in the container with the usual bonsai soil mixture.

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anttal63

i think apricot has great characterisics for bonsai hard one to beat.

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Antonio . . .
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zen

Wonder how wild plums do? They have smaller fruit,that is somewhat brighter red in color than the dark purple of the commercial variety. We have quite a few growing right behind the house and the fruits are starting to ripen, they are just as sweet as the big ones.
We also have tons of blackberries (which we use in pancakes and ice cream) as well as a grape vine with quite a few droops, that should be ready in late August to mid September,...oh and the pecan tree.

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"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

http://www.bonsaiswap.com/

Graydon

Why are we continuing a SPAM thread? Well written but SPAM none the less...

By the way Zen the Chickasaw plum does very well as a large bonsai...

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Myrtle

Ban Really

BonsaiNM is just trying to help people grow fruity bonsai. I'll show my support by purchasing a new hard drive just for those free ebooks. What will you do?

FlyBri

What will I do? I'll sign up!

Once I've given Mr Niall Mehaffey my email address, I will be linked to this page, where I shall see that the information that Mr Mehaffy offers is not entirely free, but drastically reduced in price!!! Then I'll find out that it's absolutely crazy but [he] want[s] to reward [me] for being a loyal reader of [his] and let [me] grab this material for much less than the public will get it for. Will I be able to believe my eyes when I read this?!!

Next, I'll nervously check my Email, wondering whether it was wise to give away my Email address so readily. My fears will be laid to rest when I find that Mr Mehaffey has promptly sent me a friendly Confirmation Request, so that he can send me the FREE Bonsai information he mentioned in his thread here. I will be pleasantly startled by Mr Mehaffey's work ethic when I return to my Inbox to find that he has Emailed again, this time with a link to the FREE Bonsai information!!!

Then I'll peruse the Publication Information on the FREE Bonsai Info PDF, and find a lot of names listed that aren't Mr Mehaffey's (and in fact that none of the names listed are his), and that the information the PDF file contains was originally published in 1973. I will then Google some of the names listed in the Publication Information, and find that this FREE Bonsai Information is available quite readily all over the Internet without the need to give up an Email address. (I will also be amazed that some genius worked out that he can SELL this FREE Bonsai Info on eBay!!!)

What will I do next? Hmmm... I think I might try to contact the author(s) and complier(s) of the PDF ('Growing Bonsai.pdf') and ask them if they're aware that Mr Mehaffey and the eBay genius are using their freely distributed article in an attempt to make money.

Finally, I might just burn the Email account that I used to sign up for the FREE Bonsai Information - not that I'm saying any of this has to do with SPAM. You can just never be too careful, you know...

Oh yeah - I might just banninate BonsaiNM for laughs.

Thanks.

Fly.

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pootsie

Bannination accomplished.
Isn't bonsaiTalk all the free bonsai info anyone needs anyway?

As to the topic, I've never grown a fruiting bonsai. I killed a crabapple once, though. Poor thing

pootsie

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p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

BONSAI_OUTLAW

LOL....FLY...I have to thank you for once again for being my "bonsaitalk condom". You are the man.

Myrtle

Well, maybe them arthurs and compliers just don't like money. I've heard of that....

Awfully nice of them to let that one feller make a little money though.

Maybe everybody should do that. World might be a much better place.
Heck we could even go back to not wearin' clothes, make friends with all the wild animals again.

Only thing, is space aliens. What if they see all this fun we're havin' and wanna come down here and live.

I don't know, maybe it ain't such a great idea.