Has anyone got any...

[soobeth]

easy grow seeds that can be turned into bonsai because i want to take up bonsai growing also any advice will be gratefully recived

[roitelet]

Hi soobeth, Most trees can be turned into bonsai. Obviously some are better than others! The easiest to obtain are obviously things like oak, chestnut and anything is native. You need to keep the roots restricted and they need training and pruning to get the shape right. It's a very long business and it is a long time before the leaves become small. I had a chestnut that took about 25 years for the leaves to get into the right scale. I gave it to a friend and I think that it is still going strong. It's a complicated process and I suggest that you get some books from the library before you start.

One other thing - because the pots are so small they are mostly filled with roots and need to be watered at lease twice a day in the summer but thye can be left outside in the winter if they are hardy of course!

Have fun I hope you are a patient person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[seasprout]

Start collecting conker and acorn seeds now and sow them, they will be up in the spring you can make a start with those.

I have a conker tree over 12 years old now.

[Waffler]

What fond memories... NOT!
I went through a 'phase' about 10 years back and bought myself 2 or 3 bonsais. We were then living 400 miles from our families, and any trips south involved taking the damn bonsais with us for fear of killing them!
One died and I replaced it, then slowly the rest ailed and TBH I was glad when the last of them finally pegged it! (Although knowing what I do now about plants I suspect it wasn't so much dead as comotosed).
Worse than kids!!

[JazzDuke]

easy grow and bonsai not normally found in the same sentence

[nick the grief]

Cotoneasters are fairly easy to grow & lend themselves to Bonsai. One of the cheapest ways is to buy container grown conifers from the garden centre & then shape & train them. If you go to the Library I'm sure they will have good books on Bonsai. Silver birch ar good too & if you have a quarry nearby these will be some of the first treast to colonise the derelict ground.

Failing that have a good look aroung the garden, you'll be supprised what chance seedlings you get from the local wildlife.

If you find some of the smaller flowered Fuchsia's, they make an interesting subject for Bonsai.

[soobeth]

so i was saying about SEEDS!!!!

[Earthbabe]

As suggested conkers and acorns are seeds. Or you might be able to pick up some sycamore seeds

[bramble]

Soobeth, you could planting any of the stones from fruit and shape them as they grow.

[pickledtink]

Yes. I've got lots of Tree seeds. They tend to rain down from the Oak ( acorns), Elder (elderberries), Hazel ( hazelnuts) etc etc.
That's why nobody has to buy them. They're everywhere.
Go out. Open your eyes and look!

[Crazy Chickie]

Hi, you could try orange or lemon seeds straight from the fruit. I've read they are quite easy to bonsai and they are really easy to germinate, I have a mix of citrus fruit seeds that I just popped into the pots of existing house plants (not the proper way of doing things I know, but they don't seem to mind being lifted once they're a couple of inches). Citrus trees have lovel dark waxy leaves and its fun waiting to see what comes up, some of mine have spines and some have wierd double leaves.
Cottoneaster are good little mini tree lookalikes, but the one I took inside to be my first bonsai died, maybe outdoors or in a cold porch or greenhouse.

[Birdie Wife]

I have a tiny rowan tree growing in my garden that has self-seeded, the leaves are quite pretty and the bark is an interesting glossy grey colour. I could send you some berries if you want to try? You'll have to be quick though 'cos the redwings and blackbirds are chowing down at the moment! Send me a pm if you want me to send you some.

[Nicos]

Don't know much about bonsai trees although I have one on the window sill just about surviving. (If I move it away from the sink, I'll forget to water it ...so it's in survival mode really- only cost £1.50!!!)
I am aware though that trees with smaller leaves tend to look 'real' if you know what I mean- sort of more in proportion.
I recall someone joining the Vine a while ago who is a Bonsai expert- might be worth putting in a search and pm them??

[FoxHillGardener]

No offence to all the bonsai enthusisats out there but....Is it just me or does anyone else find bonsai trees a bit, er, creepy. I can appreciate all the skill and dedication people put in to getting them to grow like that and get so old, but I still find them "wrong". Mind you, I think clowns are pretty creepy too, so what do I know

[Birdie Wife]

Clowns are totally creepy, I agree. Brrrr.

Bonsai tree are often not that old - the trick is in making them look old. You also get natural bonsai, those trees or shrubs which have germinated against the odds in some scrap of soil in a crack in a rock somewhere and must have had a punishing life to remain so small yet live for quite a number of years. Got to admire nature, it finds a way if a way can be found.

I saw a display of bonsai trees in the Gardening Show in Edinburgh, they were certainly impressive. It does seem like a lot of work though, and I don't think I'd have the patience for it, but then in this world everyone seems to want instant results and it's nice to buck the trend sometimes. Mind you, bonsai is a lot of effort to prove a point!