Which rosemary variety is best for bonsai? Creeping/Trailing or regular?
- Thread starter lorax
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milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
I would ask what kind of tree to you want? Upright? Cascade? Something totally different? There is a variety that will match what you are looking for. Or find one with a nice trunk and roots that just says, "buy me and make me a bonsai". 
Brian Underwood
Chumono
You're going to have a hard enough time finding a nice Rosemary. Focus less on varieties and more on finding a quality piece of material. Spend the money and get something nice.
lorax
Sapling
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Rosemary is extremely common where I live so I can be somewhat selective in the phenotype. I am new to bonsai so Ill keep that in mind though. Ill make sure to prioritize good quality plant over phenotype.
with that said Im leaning toward the creeping variety because the shapes seem to get more interesting on their own. Im not experienced at bonsai so if the plant grows in interesting ways on its own I figure itll be easier for me to see a good shape when its time to trim. Also I am going to wrap some of the lower branches around a rock and a creeping rosemary does this amazingly naturally; root over rock is great but why not branches trained around rock too? So I figure itll be easier to train in this regard.
I see so many absolutely beautiful rosemary grown in so many different styles. I do not have a set style yet (I guess Im waiting to get inspired from the natural shape the plant grows in). All I know for sure right now is I want it to wrap around a rock.
with that said Im leaning toward the creeping variety because the shapes seem to get more interesting on their own. Im not experienced at bonsai so if the plant grows in interesting ways on its own I figure itll be easier for me to see a good shape when its time to trim. Also I am going to wrap some of the lower branches around a rock and a creeping rosemary does this amazingly naturally; root over rock is great but why not branches trained around rock too? So I figure itll be easier to train in this regard.
I see so many absolutely beautiful rosemary grown in so many different styles. I do not have a set style yet (I guess Im waiting to get inspired from the natural shape the plant grows in). All I know for sure right now is I want it to wrap around a rock.
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jk_lewis
Masterpiece
And where is that? Fill out your profile with your general location.
Rosemary is a tempting plant for bonsai, but they are VERY temperamental, and tend to not like us fiddling with them. So, unless you are VERY experienced with plants and bonsai, there may be better plants to look for.
lorax
Sapling
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southern california area. ive grown a lot of plants in my life time. Ive done a lot of my own landscaping (including a sustained living choi pond which is probably my most ambitious project to date). Ive worked with rosemary a lot its one of my favorite plants to landscape with. With that said, im new to bonsai.
I love rosemary because it has everything I want in a bonsai.
1) evergreen
2) flowers
3) smells nice
4) great looking bark
I love rosemary because it has everything I want in a bonsai.
1) evergreen
2) flowers
3) smells nice
4) great looking bark
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Bunjeh
Chumono
Herbs
On the topic of bonsai rosemary, I would go with the upright (Rosmarinus officinalis) for the reasons listed above. However, this brings up the bigger topic of herbs as bonsai. I have seen rosemary and thyme as accepted material. What about lavendar, or sage? A lot of mediterranean herbs are woody evergreens and would probably take well to bonsai culture. Thoughts? I know that when I lived in Monterey, CA I would often see lavendar used as a hedge.
On the topic of bonsai rosemary, I would go with the upright (Rosmarinus officinalis) for the reasons listed above. However, this brings up the bigger topic of herbs as bonsai. I have seen rosemary and thyme as accepted material. What about lavendar, or sage? A lot of mediterranean herbs are woody evergreens and would probably take well to bonsai culture. Thoughts? I know that when I lived in Monterey, CA I would often see lavendar used as a hedge.
milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
I would say anything woody is okay to try... That's just me though... Who cares what is "acceptable"?
Brian Underwood
Chumono
Good to hear you have such an abundance of quality material around, and being a landscaper will make it even easier. Choose a tree with an interesting, curvy trunk and go from there. Since it's so available to you, probably start with a few trees so you can experiment. For me, the most difficult thing with rosemary is the wiring. Since WIRING IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL IN BONSAI, this can be problematic. The older growth is very brittle, so new shoots must be wired when they are still young. There are many quite charming examples of rosemary in our local club ranging from bunjin to cascade, so there are a lot of possibilities. Try to find a club/teacher in your area to join and learn from. Good luck!
Bunjeh
Chumono
Got Wood?
Looks like you are right. Woke up way too early and started researching this. Essentially if you type anything and put bonsai after it in your search engine an image will pop up. So,..I guess if it's got wood,..it's good!
Looks like you are right. Woke up way too early and started researching this. Essentially if you type anything and put bonsai after it in your search engine an image will pop up. So,..I guess if it's got wood,..it's good!
