Sumac bonsai?

Jzack605

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Anyone do it? Might have an opportunity for some Yamadori ones, granted it’s not the poisonous type.
 
i typed the same response as 0so an hour ago, and then said... let someone else deal with this guy i’ll stick to maples.

valavanis has a well known sumac, and a search on this forum will yield much information

your question is “anyone do it?” You have to appreciate that it is an absurd question given the context of this forum, and the tool you are using to even ask the question whether it is a phone or laptop.

do you have any specific questions? (after having read through much or most of what is already out there, i mean)
 
Funny to not see the same responses to the thousands of Fukien teas/maples/JBP/etc posts. Didn’t think Sumac would be such a trigger word.

If it makes you guys feel better I did in fact do a few quick searches to start my research, and figured why not throw up a post among the pondering. Most of the posts here are mostly just images of “look at my tree” without much else, as was the example.

So.... anyone growing one?

*runs for cover*
 
Sorry for such negative responses. Personally do not have one of these but one Literati Sumac seen online is most inspiring however would take some years to grow.

Most of the posts here are mostly just images of “look at my tree” without much else

Funny:oops:I come here mostly for the pictures of something unusual and see exactly the opposite. Not enough interesting unusual trees. Usually more of the same boring JBP and maples:confused:
 
Sorry for such negative responses. Personally do not have one of these but one Literati Sumac seen online is most inspiring however would take some years to grow.



Funny:oops:I come here mostly for the pictures of something unusual and see exactly the opposite. Not enough interesting unusual trees. Usually more of the same boring JBP and maples:confused:
Yep. I don’t find the typical trees boring but love unique trees that are lesser utilized. Which is part of the reason I posted. Definitely not enough variety it seems at times.

It seems literati, or maybe forest, would be the only styles sumac would lend itself to.
 
I think the elephant in the room that may not be known by the op is that sumac, like a pecan or walnut, has a massive compound leaf longer than the entire height many bonsai -this is always gonna be a problem
 
I think the elephant in the room that may not be known by the op is that sumac, like a pecan or walnut, has a massive compound leaf longer than the entire height many bonsai -this is always gonna be a problem
I’m aware of the compound leaf size. It’s hard to miss on sumac. Not all varieties have large leaflets, in fact the ones I am eyeing are smaller.
 
Sumac has always been a tree that is on my short list of "cannot be made into a bonsai". I have yet to see an truly effective one. Even the best in the business have struggled. I look at a couple of examples (like Kimura's) and think "that is the best SUMAC bonsai I have ever seen" not "that is the best bonsai I have ever seen".

Some of the challenges: large compound leaves that do not reduce well, spindly trunks that do not like to increase in caliper, first to drop leaves in fall, last to push leaves in spring.

However probably one of the most beautiful trees for fall color :)

For starters, I think you have to think in terms of large scale bonsai in order for the leaves to look somewhat smaller in perspective. Otherwise... I keep hoping someone will prove me wrong :) There is a dwarf sumac down here in the SW that I picked up from a native nursery. Looked more like a desert scrub than a genuine tree, but had compound leaves that were only a couple of inches long. It was just a small thing when I picked it up, and I was never able to get it to thrive in my garden. So as you pointed out, there may be some interesting dwarf varieties that are out there. For me, if I am going for the compound leaf look, I have had more success with Brazillian rain tree, or Texas ebony, but that is probably due more to where I live than anything else.
 
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Well sounds to be a challenge in the least. I actually like the spindly, leggy look on them as long as they have some movement.

Do they respond well to hard cut backs?
 
The Montreal Botanical Garden North American collection has one, this forest. I like it a lot, but yeah, it is huge (something like 1,2 m tall by 1,5 m wide). Might need to go see it in the fall, it hadn’t occurred to me that sumac have bright red leaves then.

IMG_20180902_111704.jpg
 
I can get you like 10 of these every three months. No idea where they are coming from.
I prefer my invasives to be Australian.
 
Okay. You are lazy and must be spoon fed.
I posted this previously on BNut.

It is part of a larger thread that you should have found on your own.

This is the sort of post that scares off new members. Fortunately, Jzack was not frightened. As a result, we have a fascinating photo of a bonsai Rhus to look at. Certainly not to everyone's taste as it pushes the boundaries of bonsai style.

Here in Texas there are two species, Rhus aromatica and R. triloba, that have much smaller leaves and twiggier growth habit than the Montreal example. I've never seen either grown as bonsai, but they might be more suitable than the large leaved sparsely branched species. R. aromatica is reported to be native in NY.
 
I’ve seen a couple of Tiger Eye sumacs that looked pretty cool as bonsai. The one thing I noticed is that not only were the leaves deciduous but the young branches also fell off in the fall.
 
Well sounds to be a challenge in the least. I actually like the spindly, leggy look on them as long as they have some movement.

Do they respond well to hard cut backs?
they do. that ghetto palm aka as sumac is a plague in Denver. Almost imposible to kill, it send suckers for many many yards away from the parent tree, colonizing everywhere and wrecking my lawn. I freaking hate them. And to kill them, you need a 3 year process, because the little bugger will come back even from the tiniest piece of root left in the ground 🤬🤬🤬
 
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