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Hello All!

I have a few question for everyone today. This weekend I will be looking for young trees to possibly become bonsai in a few decades. I am not completely sure which trees I am looking for, as it is my first time at this specific nursery. I am looking for sub-tropical trees, possibly a juniper and it would be lovely if there was a pin oak(thrives in my region). That is not the point however of this page.

What criteria should I be looking for when I am looking for trees. Should I be looking for different criteria in different trees? There have been many people on the forum who have bought unbonsaiable trees and I don't want this to be me. The style of trees I am looking for is semi cascade and an upright. Onto the checklist!

What should be on my checklist for my trees?
Any specific leaf formation?
Maybe branch formation?
Amount of foliage?
Trunk formation?

I might sound very uninformed, but what I am asking for is tellers for a good bonsai. I am new to buying baby trees. If you have anything to add to my checklist feel free to do so(it will help me for sure ).

I am not however only buying baby species, but possibly a bit more mature tree. However, I don't think I'll need help on that :silly: .
Well, that is all for now, I can't thank anybody enough for the help.

Many thanks,
Josh

JoshSiegel wrote: This weekend I will be looking for young trees to possibly become bonsai in a few decades. I am not completely sure which trees I am looking for

I could give you some hints, but it has been done before and probably better than I could do it, so I'd suggest to Google:


You will find several articles that describve what to look for.

It does not have to take decades. True that the real masterpieces are many decades old, but you can create a small size tree from a not so old juniper (for example). I saw a really lovely tiny one yesterday at the club (but it was created by a real master, so yeah... that makes a difference )
What you will need is a good trunk and enough branches, if possible at the right location, secondary branches and ideally tertiary branches.

I highly recommend to not make quick decisions. Even when our club goes bonsai hunting at a well known grower of bonsai-material, I can spend hours just looking at every single tree, trying to see what I can make of it. If I cannot find anything suitable, I just don't buy anything.

Better to spend a bit more on good material, then buying a lot of plants that do not have a lot of potential. Of course your budget plays a big role... you cannot buy real good material for a few bucks.

Do read the articles you find and study them. It takes time to learn what you need to look for - and a lot of looking at examples, potensai, pre-bonsai and real bonsai. You need to understand what makes a good treee.

If, after studying the articles, you have more specific questions, please ask.

One thing I think about is the interplay of the following 3 questions.
What is the size you intend to have the mature/"finished" tree?
Does the species backbud?
What is the low branching like?

If a specific tree is not likely to backbud and doesn't have branching at a height suitable for the 1st/lowest branch (based on the intended height) something will always look off about it. The remedy for this would be air layering, but I do not know how well all of the species take to this.

Another thing to consider is the taper of the trunk, but that can be dealt with if you are planning to put decades of work into a single tree.

Thanks for the great advice Auk, I will make sure I find an acceptable specimen, which I should, because its not Home Depot or Walmart . I have been waiting for a while to go to the nursery, because I want it to be a nice tree. I don't look to find multiple trees, but one that fits my wants. Thank you for improving my checklist and for the advice!
Josh

Bunsen33 wrote: If a specific tree is not likely to backbud and doesn't have branching at a height suitable for the 1st/lowest branch (based on the intended height) something will always look off about it. The remedy for this would be air layering, but I do not know how well all of the species take to this.

Another remedy could be to choose a specific style, like Literati. Still, good points. It would typically be conifers that will not bud back easily (though there are exceptions).

I am not completely not sure how large I want my bonsai to be finally, but probably Chiu. Thanks for the suggestions of air layering, as I will probably have to do this. But, I never know and might just have to play it by year, once I get the tree. I haven't decided on a specific species, so I don't know about back buds or low branching. Thanks for the response.
~Josh

JoshSiegel wrote: I am not completely not sure how large I want my bonsai to be finally, but probably Chiu.

That's a large size and I think that's a good idea. Personally, I like working with larger size bonsai. I think it is easier, it gives you more choice and more room for errors. (Very) small size is harder, you don't have much material to choose from and it is harder to make a realistic impression of a real tree, I think.

Yes. I personally like bonsai around that size. I think I can't handle a bonsai larger than around a meter, so that should be good. Thank you for your advice, it is great to have a person with more experience than I giving me help.

One of the often forgotten points are the roots. Everything starts at the roots. If they are not good, the whole tree looks off. What exactly the roots should look like depebds ob the style. In moost cases you want a good number of eoots at the same height, evenly spreak around the trubk. You will have to really dig into thee pot to see where the roots are.

So.. species, leaf size and reducability, trunk shape, taper and roots are the main criteria for me.