Best beginner plants for Bonsai??

[Delilah]

Hi

What Bonsai plants have you had the most success with in terms of...

a) Not killing them. i.e. They are quite resilient plants that tend to cope with occasional non-ideal conditions such as being forgotten for a few days, or being watered by the neighbours when on holiday, etc.

b) Quick(ish!) results. i.e. They start looking like a bonsai quite early in life.

Thanks


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[taffyman]

Hi Delilah.

Not Killing them.---------- Ficus

Quick(ish!) results.--------Ficus

Best are Australian Ficus species - in particular ones that are native (or sort of) to your area.

Most suitable species would be Port Jackson (Ficus Rubiginosa) and Queensland Small Leaf (Ficus Eugenoides and Ficus Obliqua). The more you feed them, the quicker they will grow.

Another very good one is Ficus Microcarpa var: Green Island - grows pretty quick and looks good.

All the above strike very readily from cuttings.

I would advise against the stuff you can get from the B - store and most garden nurseries. They are generally Ficus Benjamina species (not a native) - and there are literally hundreds of cultivars of the things. They aren't as 'forgiving' as the other three above and require a lot more work to get them to look anything near decent - and prone to discarding all low growing foliage and branches (especially if they are stressed at all).

If you're interested, try and get hold of someone from your council parks and gardens. They may have seedlings or cuttings in their nurseries. Another good source is if you look around your area and see figs growing in someone's garden or something, and ask if you can have a few cuttings.

Failing those options, you could try your local garden nurseries - they may have some. If all else fails - and you're prepared to wait a few months (because it's too cold to take cuttings at the moment, send me a pm and I'll be happy to do some cuttings and 'root them up' for you - of all three species if you'd like them.

Another option - although not a native (and some cultivars are declared noxious weeds in some states) is small leave privet (Ligustrum Ovalifolia). Again, if you have a look around your area, you may see hedges of it in someone's garden. These also strike readily from cuttings.

Hope this goes some way to answering your questions.

[Oluve]

What would you say about Olives as a beginner plant for Bonsai? I have heard they are very good trees to try with. They are my favorite tree.

[taffyman]

Good material, but if they are your favourite tree, you'd probably know they are reasonably slow growing. So you could expect to wait a few years to develop a good tree from them. If dug from the wild (Japanese name for that is Yamadori), they will develop a lot quicker.

[dolicus]

If you are ever up in the new england area you will find privit growing along fence lines which
devides some of the old stock routes.
They have usually been cut or somthing has tried to eat them and they are old and have a lot of character.
Easy to dig out and privit is such a weed that it would not be missed.
Great start for a Bonsai.

[taffyman]

For Bonsai, privets are excellent Dolicus - almost bullet proof. That's evident by the way they spread in the wild.
There are quite a few different species of privet (Ligustrum) and not all are declared noxious weeds. Personally, even though I have some myself, I think all species should be declared. Birds love the fruit and of course, that's how they're spread. At least in a Bonsai environment - and mainly because we are continually pruning, they seldom set seed. Mine never do, because if I see any flower heads developing, I remove them straight away.

[Elijah Magarey]

-Olive
-Mango
-Lemon
these are some of fast result providing seasonal fruits bonsai tree, apart from these bonsai of vegetable are also good for beginners.

[Pam]

I find it difficult to imagine that mango or lemon would be suitable for bonsai. Do you have any pic ?

[tam]

Google mango bonsai Pam, I did. It's hard to imagine but they look good.

[Pam]

Well there you go! You learn something every day.