Trees for Bonsai Saplings

A poorly developed sapling makes a poor bonsai tree.

Some beginning bonsai growers erroneously assume that any old tree saved from the trash pile of a nursery would make a good bonsai tree. Nurseries discard trees away for a reason. Water stressed, diseased or broken trees will not make good bonsai trees. A bonsai grower should start with good healthy sapling. Healthy saplings make for healthy bonsai trees. Trees that fall within a specific parameter make better specimens for bonsai than other trees.

Proportion

All parts of a bonsai tree must be in exact proportion to one another. Because of this, trees that have small needles or leaves are often chosen for bonsai because they can be made to look like taller trees of another species. Trees, such as maple and oak as well as plum, cedar and cypress, all develop smaller leaves in reaction to bonsai training and pruning.

Roots

Trees with a spreading root habit make good trees for bonsai structure. Avoid taproot trees because the trees will usually die if a taproot is bent or pruned. Trees with taproots to avoid include hickory, hornbeam, walnut and butternut. Choose trees with flat root or heart root structures. Trees with a heart root structure include honey locust, pine, red oak, basswood and sycamore. Trees with flat roots include sugar maple, birch, fir, cottonwood, spruce, silver maple and hackberry.

Appearance

Bonsai may be evergreen or deciduous. They should have attractive bark well-formed roots and good twig structure, especially if they shed their canopy seasonally. Bonsai should also respond well to extreme pruning. Trees in this criteria include quince, wisteria, arbor vitae, pomegranate, pyracantha and junipers.

Dwarf trees

Americans have adapted the process to plants that the Japanese have not used. These include dwarf trees and scrubby or shrub sized trees. Dwarf trees and shrubs such as low-growing juniper, dwarf jade and dwarf forms of Japanese maple already have a small growth habit and require less pruning to achieve the bonsai look. Additionally, plants such as dwarf jade require less care than most bonsai.

References

• Iowa State University Extension: Tree Roots; Paul Wray; January 3, 1997
• Washington State University Extension: Bonsai; December 2003
• AgriLife Extension Texas A&M: Bonsai
• Univeristy of Georgia Extension: Bonsai
• University of New Hampshire Extension: Beginner Bonsai

Resources

• Bonsai Dreams:Bonsai ... What is the Best Bonsai Tree Selection?
• Joe Bonsai
• Bonsai Boy