Pyracantha (or other option) for beginner?

[SevenOaks]

Is Pyracantha considered "hard" for a beginner (thorny, yes)? I am looking at other options since my oaklings are too young yet, and the Acer Pseudoplatanus isn't suitable as a bonsai because the leaves will be too big. Been thinking of Dawn Redwood, European Larch, Pyracantha or Buddhist Pine, along with the option of another Acer.

 

[Hartinez]

Hey Seven oaks. Pyracantha are pretty darn tough but are susceptible to different fungus and the thorns of course. The rest you listed I wouldn’t call beginner material. If I were you I’d order a few different elm species from Evergreen Garden works. Elms are quite literally bullet proof and can handle so many rookie mistakes we throw at them. In terms of different acer varieties, Trident and Amur maple are both very tough.

 

[BrianBay9]

Pyracantha are easy to grow and propagate. They have a great flower show, with red or orange berries in the fall. They have a few peculiarities that you need to learn to work with:

Growth is STRAIGHT. That combined with brittle branches once lignified, means that you need to wire branches while they're young and green.

Large cuts don't heal over. If you chop a larger tree down, that chop will remain essentially forever. So, you need to either disguise the cut, or carve it out to make it a feature.

 

[sorce]

IMO....

It seems this list is compromised of things found in a book, online, or at a "bonsai nursery".

"Easy" for a beginner, and what I call the best for single tree development, collection development, and personal sanity all together...

Is a list of trees compromised of the first 10 trees and shrubs you encounter when you walk out your door.

Sorce

 

[Hartinez]

IMO....

It seems this list is compromised of things found in a book, online, or at a "bonsai nursery".

"Easy" for a beginner, and what I call the best for single tree development, collection development, and personal sanity all together...

Is a list of trees compromised of the first 10 trees and shrubs you encounter when you walk out your door.

Sorce

I think that makes sense in many cases but certainly not a fast rule. There are a number of shrubs trees that thrive here, right out my door, that have done nothing but hate being in a pot. Then again, maybe I just suck at horticulture.

elms on the other hand!

 

[Cadillactaste]

Pyracantha develop a bit differently. Brian Van Fleet explains this in post #14.

Pyracantha that arrived today from Jason Schley...

Repotted it...took very little roots off. Was surprised by what was under the dirt. Adds crazy character. Love it! Love it's not a stick in the pot. Tried for a few years to find one of these...still can't get over a zone friendly tree is unable to be ordered by nurseries up this way...their...

www.bonsainut.com

Mine this year.

 

[SevenOaks]

IMO....

It seems this list is compromised of things found in a book, online, or at a "bonsai nursery".

"Easy" for a beginner, and what I call the best for single tree development, collection development, and personal sanity all together...

Is a list of trees compromised of the first 10 trees and shrubs you encounter when you walk out your door.

Sorce

I had been thinking about these things yesterday, and started writing ... but never posted that list. The idea was looking out into the garden and seeing what grows there, basically: common hornbeam (carpinus betulus), apple tree (malus something), pyracantha, thuja, the (european) larch that I can see through the binocular from the kitchen window ...

 

[HoneyHornet]

I had been thinking about these things yesterday, and started writing ... but never posted that list. The idea was looking out into the garden and seeing what grows there, basically: common hornbeam (carpinus betulus), apple tree (malus something), pyracantha, thuja, the (european) larch that I can see through the binocular from the kitchen window ...

Hornbeam n larchs out the window? Go dig something out big hoss! Very little of my collection is even purchased (just to illustrate that there is free sample material all around you!!) There are some larch growing in this abandoned parkinglot turned into wildlife near me ove been meaning to snag one..but monkey with what you can before some redwood lol or hit any nursery and browse through the junipers, those ground mounders usually havr a cool hidden trunk u can reveal!