has anybody tried a manzanita as a bonsai?

B.adair

I was out and about in the mountains in which I visit alot for my bike rides, and hunting trips and a lot of manzanita trees in some spots have nice single trunks and decent foliage, they are the bushy tree that has a red wax like bark they are decidious also. Also has anybody tried using mullberry trees?
Thanks
-Brad

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bonsaial1

Many have tried manzanita, but have mixed results. I have heard that there are tricks to keeping them alive in pots and then there are those that swear that it can't be done. While I have seen many in bonsai pots and at exhibits, I can also say that I have never seen the same tree twice!

Mulberry, compound leaves! Poor specimen. There are many trees better suited. Why work with stuff that others have already found poor.

The one key I have heard with the manzanita is to get smaller specimens. Most I have seen have not been much over a foot tall. Maybe they have a better root system or something that makes the smaller stock easier to handle. I have seen manzanita in gallon cans for sale at the local nurseries in Fresno from time to time, but the trunks have nothing on the stock found at 4000 feet and twisted by nature.

If you have access to property that has many specimens, I would dig a few and run some experiments. You could be the next person to write a set of notes on their care.

Anyway, here is a picture of a couple I have seen in the past year at exhibits.
Enjoy!

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CD one

It looks somewhat similar to an Arbutus tree which grow all over the coast up here. I recall reading somewhere that they like to be pot bound and actually thrive in that condition. I picked up a couple at the local garden center and have begun training them, they seem to bud back well although not sure how much the leaves will reduce, guess we'll see in 5 years or so.

Colin

Attila

That could be an excellent suggestion, thank you for that. My Arbutus always ends up waterlogged, even in the best draining soil. They are very slow to take up water. A smaller pot could prevent wet feet.

With Manzanita, it may also be true. This year I've found out that the best time to repot/collect them is late fall, here in L.A. I have a few growing in my backyard, and I will dig them out in about a month. I am planning to grow them in pure pumice, same as my California junipers.

I've seen a giant, five-feet Manzanita bonsai at the yearly Nisei-week exibition in Little Tokyo about 3 years ago. That was the only time I've seen one.

I am also very curious to find out what's the secret of growing them successfully.

Attila

Attila

Al,
are you sure you are talking about the mulberry?

Morus rubra

Morus alba

No compound leaves there.

Harry Tomlinson's the "Complete Book of Bonsai" has a stunning mulberry bonsai on the cover. You can see it here.

The leaves are not as small as, say elm leaves, but I managed to reduce them quite nicely.

Regards,
Attila