Most difficult tree to bonsai?

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Juglans hindsii - that is outstanding bark. That is a species that I am totally unfamiliar with. I know / knew there were a number of walnuts native to the western USA, so I knew walnut species were not just the European walnut used as a nut crop and the north american black walnut used mainly for timber. You may have found the exception to the norm for the common walnuts. Keep us posted as these trees develop.

I'm all for experimenting with species that have not been previously explored for bonsai. One can make guesses about what is good and what won't work, but they are only guesses.

If I live long enough, someone will probably turn up with a Catalpa with leaves less than 1/2 inch, nice branch ramification and covered with flowers.

 

[oddirt]

Juglans hindsii - that is outstanding bark. That is a species that I am totally unfamiliar with. I know / knew there were a number of walnuts native to the western USA, so I knew walnut species were not just the European walnut used as a nut crop and the north american black walnut used mainly for timber. You may have found the exception to the norm for the common walnuts. Keep us posted as these trees develop.

I'm all for experimenting with species that have not been previously explored for bonsai. One can make guesses about what is good and what won't work, but they are only guesses.

If I live long enough, someone will probably turn up with a Catalpa with leaves less than 1/2 inch, nice branch ramification and covered with flowers.

Thanks, Leo! I'm a mad scientist at heart--mostly clinical research but experimentation is a great way to learn. I'll post some pics of the leaves and maybe start a separate thread. The leaves on mine in mid-summer are fairly large but I have noticed the leaves after a pruning/pinching are fairly small, so this may be one whose leaves respond to reduction techniques. They are vigorous growers in culture, and take well to experimentation.

 

[Mayank]

Pinus strobus. Let’s see it.
And not google images.

Look up @vancehanna on the Nut. His strobus just got selected for the nationals show in September. He's got a thread going about it.

Pinus Strobus

Most people feel they are no candidate for bonsai... They take time to develop and do have a second flush which will if carefully monitored will produce very short needles.

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I do admit, there have been one or two P. strobus that have turned out well. the Vance Hanna tree is one, this other one was at least at one time owned by Jim Doyle. I think he did the work, but I am not sure of its history. But the low number of "successful" bonsai to the huge number of us mere mortal bonsai hobby growers who own an EWP or two demonstrates that it probably is not easy to get there. Notice the aged bark all the way up the trunk into the level with the branches. This is an old tree, not young nursery material.

Photo from 2014, Carolina Expo, image appeared in Bonsai Bark, Wayne S. I don't know who owns the image.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Oh man this quarantine must be getting to me.
I hard chopped and defoliated my kalanchoe!

Since Mid winter these things keep threatening to flower, but with no avail.

I figured I’d experiment.



Some interesting wounds on some of the branches.
here’s It’s sibling showing the shoots that have looked like this for a month.
Anyways, just thought I’d share a plant poor for bonsai. Your welcome.

 

[Carol 83]

Oh man this quarantine must be getting to me.
I hard chopped and defoliated my kalanchoe!

Since Mid winter these things keep threatening to flower, but with no avail.

I figured I’d experiment.

View attachment 296885
View attachment 296886
Some interesting wounds on some of the branches. View attachment 296887
here’s It’s sibling showing the shoots that have looked like this for a month.View attachment 296889
Anyways, just thought I’d share a plant poor for bonsai. Your welcome.

Man, you must be bored. I have one in my office at work that is blooming.

 

[NHATIVE]

I love this question and perspective actually. Thought provoking and certainly brings out memories of EVERYONE'S failed attempts in the past. For me, it's Pacific Madrone, arbutus menziesii. Native to my area, and my absolute must favorite tree.

 

[M. Frary]

Full grown ones.
The size and price of the concave cutters alone keep most people from doing them.

 

[Emanon]

I'm still in the early stages of growing one out, so I can't attest to this from experience... but I have heard from a number of people that the Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) -- with its long needles that don't reduce much and its rooting characterstics -- make it a difficult tree "to bonsai."

 

[three4rd]

Are we sure that the OP was not inquiring as to which bonsai trees are easiest to grow? Seems logical....

 

[Quince]

Hickory has to be one of the worst. Large taproot, large compound leaves, extremely hard, inflexible wood, and internodes a foot long.

That being said, as a beginner, I would focus on the most amenable species. Trying to find something local that is suitable can be very frustrating, and soon leads to burnout or giving up. Start off with something known to be easy and you'll be more successful than trying to "buy local". Bonsai is one of the instances that doesn't ascribe to that ideology.

Didn't this hobby start with people working locally available material?
Wherever you live there are bound to be at least a few very suitable species for bonsai. Just need top know what your looking for.

 

[Yugen]

I'm very new to bonsai as well (have always loved the artform and got my first tree last year and have been researching a ton since).

I live in the PNW of Canada on Vancouver Island, and the tree I want the most is apparently one of the hardest trees to bonsai: Arbutus menziesii.

Apparently next to impossible to yamadori and propagate, so growing from seed is the best way, but they're also very slow growing. Fitting for being such a gorgeous tree. If you've never seen one before, Google dafuq out of it. Incredible tree.

Ive seen one arbutus bonsai in Vic but the large leafs made it look...like shit.
We have a tree here called (informally?) a strawberry tree. Grows all over our low mountains. Looks very similar to an arbutus. You should check it out

 

[Alcam]

Ive seen one arbutus bonsai in Vic but the large leafs made it look...like shit.
We have a tree here called (informally?) a strawberry tree. Grows all over our low mountains. Looks very similar to an arbutus. You should check it out

Wow! I've never heard of these before. Very cool.

 

[HorseloverFat]

The contents/discussions of thread are still quite ripe in my mind... It has me considering proposing a stated commitment of a longer-term analysis pertaining to the progression of some less-than-adventitious species...(not a contest) I could DEFINITELY have some fun with documenting a journey like that...

Even if interest turns out to be miniscule.. I’m still going for it. I will probably having to REALISTICALLY start in 2021 (if I want to collect “out of house”).. I may have some larger-leaf Acer that may serve this purpose just fine, but maybe something else may catch my eye. Maybe my tree: Filbert.. but I can NOT seem to remember his specie.

 

[Coppersdad]

I'm very new to bonsai as well (have always loved the artform and got my first tree last year and have been researching a ton since).

I live in the PNW of Canada on Vancouver Island, and the tree I want the most is apparently one of the hardest trees to bonsai: Arbutus menziesii.

Apparently next to impossible to yamadori and propagate, so growing from seed is the best way, but they're also very slow growing. Fitting for being such a gorgeous tree. If you've never seen one before, Google dafuq out of it. Incredible tree.

Like your area, the Pacific Madrone is native here. We currently have a young one in our yard. I can tell you they HATE being civilized. They die easily when a structure is built near them. Heck, they even get in a snit if you try to garden too close to one. I can see where the bark would make a very interesting bonsai but, those leaves! I suspect it would be like trying to bonsai a magnolia with the added fun of spontaneous death for no and every reason.

 

[Starfox]

Silk floss tree isn't particularly easy.

 

[Rivka]

every once in a while since I started down the bonsai path, a favorite plant pops into my head and I google them "xyz bonsai" to see if there is any references to it. I have to say as a PNW child myself I was heartbroken when I learned how cranky Pacific Madrona was. I spend many years of my child hood living inside a forest of them in Southern Oregon, we actually had a super old specimen that we found dead on our land as a "staircase/ladder" in our home. it's a stunning species.

 

[Trenthany]

Maybe because of the number of jackass answers that were provided. Real inviting!

Not all were bad, but I will readily admit I, myself, don't participate here much because of the character of the rest of the responses!

Most of the time the group here is very helpful. I almost laughed myself but I get that it’s something to wonder about.

 

[Trenthany]

I would argue that it is _you_ who are the one missing out on a lot when myself and others do not participate. _I_ am not missing out on much at all...there is a wealth of knowledge publicly available across the internet and in journals that I have access to. You, on the other hand, do not have access to the private knowledge those of us that get chased away have but don't contribute.

The way the OP was initially treated in this thread is telling proof that there are some in this community who feel themselves above others. These people just want their ego stroked. Were this question posed by Sorce or Lance or yourself, it would have been greeted with an entirely different caliber of response. That's pretty much the definition of a closed community. People can't freely participate without ridicule until they've been inducted by the powers that be...

Honestly this is kind of fair. I haven’t found the community that way and people would have known that a regular poster was going for curiosity. It’s like Asking what the hardest fish to catch is though. You aren’t going to try and catch one but go to the pier with no fishing gear and ask that question. You’ll get a LOT of sarcastic humorous response like they gave. I do think in any community first timers need to be welcomed gently. Let them settle in before we pick on them.

Just my two cents as a Floridian but I’m going with poisonwood as my pick. How does lifetime scarring sound?!?!

 

[Trenthany]

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos). Roots do not much care for Bonsai training restrictions.

I found out that it can be done! Didn’t read article. It may be a journey of torture but the preview showed some nice trees!

Manzanitas – Good or Bad Bonsai Specimen??? – East Bay Bonsai Society

www.eastbaybonsai.org