Peter Chan made me do it

[rockm]

So for my “zone” what would be the easiest specie be for me to cultivate/find to develop? I have lots of area to go forage.

Anything I could keep in my office over the winter? I like the concept but don’t know Jack about what I’m doing.

I plan to have all my plants outside generally speaking. But I’m getting at this late and winter is so long!!!

At this point in the year, foraging outdoors as a beginner looking for something to collect is futile and probably deadly to anything you bring back, particularly if you want to keep it in your office.

Collecting trees from the wild is not really a great place to learn to do bonsai. It's a specialized PART of doing bonsai that requires skills that don't necessarily have to do with bonsai. It's much more effective (and takes less of a toll on your trees) if you learn bonsai FIRST, then move to collecting, not the reverse.

If you want to "do" bonsai this winter, get a tropical tree preferably a ficus, to work on and futz around with. Save the stuff in the woods until you know how to care for it.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

So for my “zone” what would be the easiest specie be for me to cultivate/find to develop? I have lots of area to go forage.

Anything I could keep in my office over the winter? I like the concept but don’t know Jack about what I’m doing.

I plan to have all my plants outside generally speaking. But I’m getting at this late and winter is so long!!!

Personally my first year I had no really valuable trees that I cared all that much about, so I left them out exposed all winter. I wanted to see what would survive in my micro climate so when I had stuff I care about I know how much the trees can handle.

 

[queenofsheba52]

Hi @w0wly , glad you found this most excellent bonsai site!

I am in the same zone as you, in Southwest Michigan. I have had good luck with azaleas, Dawn Redwoods, American Beech, garden center cotoneaster, wild crab apple, landscape quince (not Chinese), lilac, backyard maples just to name some of my more successful ventures. I know that some of these -- especially the backyard maple and landscape lilacs -- have leaves that are considered too big for 'real' bonsai. The thing is, they give me pleasure, so I keep them. If you succeed with your locust, it might be the same for you. Every spring my son digs new "yardadori" for me from our woods.

This is a good time of year to check out Big Box stores with garden departments -- Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Most of the stores in my area have lots of stuff 50% off right now. I picked up a little burning bush for $2 and a quite large Pyracantha Gnome for $8. These plants I picked up will overwinter before I do anything to them.

Over winter, you might like to check out Brent's Evergreen Gardenworks and William Valavanis' International Bonsai site. On FaceBook you'll find many vendores such as Kingsvillegrower, 99 cent bonsai auction, and bonsai pot auction. I hope other Nuts join in with their favorite sites. BonsaiNut also offers a location for sellers.

I wish you much enjoyment with your new hobby!

 

[queenofsheba52]

Agree with Trevor: that is how I found out what I could leave outside over winter, and what I needed to put into my unheated garage, and what just wasn't possible (satsuki azaleas, sadly).

 

[TCEvan]

So for my “zone” what would be the easiest specie be for me to cultivate/find to develop? I have lots of area to go forage.

If you have bogs in your foraging area, larch (tamarack) and thuja (arborvitae or northern white cedar) are both somewhat easy to find yamadori that grow in NY bogs and can make great bonsai. The roots are usually pretty compacted because they grow in pockets of sphagnum/peat moss, and the extremely poor nutrients and high acidity of peat bogs keeps them stunted and lets them develop great bark while still small.

You can usually find bogs pretty easily on Google maps/earth. It's often a creek/stream/river headwater or terminating tributary, or the edge of a lake or pond. The water develops a very lacy pattern and disappears, not unlike the silhouette of tree branches. The best bogs have small green dots all over on google maps. See, for example, this bog near me has thousands of excellent larch and thuja in it, which you can see as tiny green dots all over the place.

I'd suggest getting some waders if you go hunting for trees in bogs.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Bonsai attempts to teach us patience, most of just fill our time with more trees and more waiting. Welcome to the insanity.

 

[w0wly]

At this point in the year, foraging outdoors as a beginner looking for something to collect is futile and probably deadly to anything you bring back, particularly if you want to keep it in your office.

Collecting trees from the wild is not really a great place to learn to do bonsai. It's a specialized PART of doing bonsai that requires skills that don't necessarily have to do with bonsai. It's much more effective (and takes less of a toll on your trees) if you learn bonsai FIRST, then move to collecting, not the reverse.

If you want to "do" bonsai this winter, get a tropical tree preferably a ficus, to work on and futz around with. Save the stuff in the woods until you know how to care for it.

Appreciate this

 

[w0wly]

Personally my first year I had no really valuable trees that I cared all that much about, so I left them out exposed all winter. I wanted to see what would survive in my micro climate so when I had stuff I care about I know how much the trees can handle.

This is the kind of experimenting I figured might be valuable with getting started this time of year. Thanks!

 

[w0wly]

Hi @w0wly , glad you found this most excellent bonsai site!

I am in the same zone as you, in Southwest Michigan. I have had good luck with azaleas, Dawn Redwoods, American Beech, garden center cotoneaster, wild crab apple, landscape quince (not Chinese), lilac, backyard maples just to name some of my more successful ventures. I know that some of these -- especially the backyard maple and landscape lilacs -- have leaves that are considered too big for 'real' bonsai. The thing is, they give me pleasure, so I keep them. If you succeed with your locust, it might be the same for you. Every spring my son digs new "yardadori" for me from our woods.

This is a good time of year to check out Big Box stores with garden departments -- Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Most of the stores in my area have lots of stuff 50% off right now. I picked up a little burning bush for $2 and a quite large Pyracantha Gnome for $8. These plants I picked up will overwinter before I do anything to them.

Over winter, you might like to check out Brent's Evergreen Gardenworks and William Valavanis' International Bonsai site. On FaceBook you'll find many vendores such as Kingsvillegrower, 99 cent bonsai auction, and bonsai pot auction. I hope other Nuts join in with their favorite sites. BonsaiNut also offers a location for sellers.

I wish you much enjoyment with your new hobby!

Thanks for this most thoughtful response. Long term I have about an acre fenced area that we are going to make into a sort of “garden” area to enjoy. I also plan to have “bonsai” if you can call it that around our house instead of standard landscape bushes etc. sounds like I might be on a wavelength near yours

 

[w0wly]

Agree with Trevor: that is how I found out what I could leave outside over winter, and what I needed to put into my unheated garage, and what just wasn't possible (satsuki azaleas, sadly).

This is a great idea

 

[w0wly]

If you have bogs in your foraging area, larch (tamarack) and thuja (arborvitae or northern white cedar) are both somewhat easy to find yamadori that grow in NY bogs and can make great bonsai. The roots are usually pretty compacted because they grow in pockets of sphagnum/peat moss, and the extremely poor nutrients and high acidity of peat bogs keeps them stunted and lets them develop great bark while still small.

You can usually find bogs pretty easily on Google maps/earth. It's often a creek/stream/river headwater or terminating tributary, or the edge of a lake or pond. The water develops a very lacy pattern and disappears, not unlike the silhouette of tree branches. The best bogs have small green dots all over on google maps. See, for example, this bog near me has thousands of excellent larch and thuja in it, which you can see as tiny green dots all over the place.

I'd suggest getting some waders if you go hunting for trees in bogs.

View attachment 511140

We do have bogs around! Great idea! I’ll look into that for sure.

 

[JackHammer]

I don't think anyone mentioned it yet but, put those oak trees outside. They will grow faster in larger pots so no need to limit their growth right now. I think you chopped up you hibiscus? That will probably be just fine but it should go inside next to a bright window. Yew should also go outside.

 

[w0wly]

I don't think anyone mentioned it yet but, put those oak trees outside. They will grow faster in larger pots so no need to limit their growth right now. I think you chopped up you hibiscus? That will probably be just fine but it should go inside next to a bright window. Yew should also go outside.

Thank you! I appreciate this. I was wondering.

Just as a matter of proximity I also have maple seedlings if anyone passes through fredonia…