I haven't really seen people try to make a black cherry-plum (prunus cerasifera nigra) into a bonsai and in my opinion when they flower the contrast between the dark purple leaves and the pastel pink flowers looks amazing and I also think weeping willows are underappreciated
great choices! I grow pomegranates from seed but not on purpose. The birds eat the seeds and spread them all throughout my backyard and potting soil. I also grow them by cuttings both regular size and also dwarf size. I live in Las Vegas, NV area and they love it here. I also experiment with other plants that adapt well to this harsh climate, most are grown from seed and a few from cuttings. Such varieties are : 1) African Sumac (Rhus lancea), 2) Chinese Pistache/Red push Pistache (Pistacia chinensis), 4) Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus), 4) Mesquite hybrids (Prosopis chilensis hybrids), 5) Palo Verde (Cercidium/Parkinsonia varieties and hybrids.) - Most of these I grow from seed or they are blown in and self-sow. This is just a few different things that are well adapted to my climate but I mess around with so many different plants. Whenever I travel I always pick up seeds from many different places to experiment with. - Thanks
Very interesting content. I’ve been working a lot with Thuja recently. Not normally popular in bonsai but I find them beautiful. I also love all of your 5 picks. I actually have a few myself. Thanks, keep growing
@@GrowingBonsai ,, I live in Connecticut so it’s a native species and responds well to bonsai practices. Very hardy, beautiful bark texture, and the foliage is quite unique. It grows constantly during the growing season so it needs a bit more pruning and pinching than other single or double flush species. Give it a try. Thanks, keep growing
In my opinion, birch is an underrated species. It grows very quickly, the leaves can be reduced to small ones. The only drawback is that they sometimes kill their branches, but only with poor care.
@@GrowingBonsai The main thing is watering, birch needs a lot of water. (I use a mineral substrate). When pruning, I always disinfect the tools and cover the wounds with paste.
I totally agree. Birch is in my opinion one of the most beautiful species for bonsai. They look amazing when the bark turn white and look like a fullgrown tree in miniature.
I Love Potentilla. Maybe my favorite deciduous species. I have Potentilla in 3 different colors. Yellow, White and Purple... unfortunately they truly thicken veeeery slowly and they need a ton of water. Your Potentillas look amazing. I'm quite jealous. I'll have to search some gardens for thicker ones.
Sorry. I should have shown a little cutting. Did not want to frustrate you! They are VERY thirsty, and are my indicator species for watering: Once potentilla hangs, I am too later wtaering!
@@GrowingBonsai Not frustrated at all. Just in awe of these two beautiful plants. Do you use the same substrate for them as for the other trees? I started using more organic parts (coconut or pine bark) in the substrate for them. Just to keep them from drying up.
Yes, if you can get a big one from a garden, that is amazing. I missed one on a local advertisement website by half an hour. It was gone when I responded.
I was in California on a trip and sat down in the shade of a pomegranate tree and thought, this would make a good bonsai candidate. I get home and this video pops up in my feed. I’ll be searching the stores for pomegranates and another tree I want to try, quince. Thanks for the content.
My favorites that not many people use: 1. natal plum (flowers smell very nice and it is blooming all the time), I havent managed to get fruits on mine yet. 2. citrus trees - small/smallish fruit varieties such as kumquat or tangerines. Lovely smell of flowers, plus fruits. Leaf size can be reduced with time. Then I love succulent/semisucculent shrubs - 1. plectranthus ambionicus fast grower and nice smelling foliage, thickens up like crazy, also makes nice aerial roots, if you like tropical look on the trees 2. geranium it takes time to thicken up, but the results can be very nice plus the flowers bonus, 3. kalanchoe bossfeldiana - sold as ordinary house plant, super easy to reduce the size of foliage and basically shape as a tree again flowers can be very nice - all of these species are best grown by clip and grow, most of these are very accessible and cheap.
I love Cornus. I think one of the main reasons people don’t think they are suitable is that they are hard to collect so slow pot development is the best way. Personally I love black cherry, sweet gum, and loblolly pine.
Yes, I had the luck of a fairly young one in the garden. but Cornus.. Great! Black cherry? Which species is that? Sweetgum I have been eying, but I understand they are prone to die-back and produce long internodes?
@@GrowingBonsai black cherry is a us native cherry varietal, same with sweet gum. There are some really good developed sweet gums in local club members collections. Black cherry is an experiment. It has a bad rap for the same reason as cornus. Hard to collect older specimens. I’m working with a bunch of 5-10 year old collected trees and saplings from scratch.
As a greek living in NL, props to you for proposing pomegranate! Indeed the small variety doesnt grow NEARLY as fast as the big variety but I got both in the making, lets see in a few years :D
One species I have never seen discussed in bonsai videos on TH-cam (and I must have watched hundreds) is Celtis Australis. Birds poop the seeds and I regularly find seedlings under hedges and in wilder corners of the garden so I decided to keep and grow some after Google results showed that the species can be turned into bonsai. From what I can see it has smallish leaves, medium fast growth, flexible branches. On the minus side the foliage is dull green and rather coarse with no seasonal color so perhaps that’s why it’s not popular. However since I have it for free it’s worth a try.
I agree this is a good subject with seemingly little information. The Celtis australis is extremely similar to the common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). So much so that one could be forgiven for mistaking them for each other. There is at least some information about on growing Hackberries. There's also Celtis sinensis that I've seen been grown in China (in books and magazines) and Celtis africana grown in South Africa as bonsai. In my opinion, information available for any of the Celtis would be applicable to any of the variants of Celtis, but applicable to your climate too.
@@GrowingBonsai I was until my brother passed away, we had to take him to our reservation located on another state, waited for special permits to have him cross state lines to be buried. The time I was gone I lost everything including my pride in joy that started my bonsai journey the yamadori big basin sagebrush thats in my icon, my wife didn't water any of them very well, so they fried in the triple digit heat wave. I don't know if grow the amount I had right now that I just collected is 2 austrian black pine, 1 silver mound wormwood that i made into a massive tanuki, 1 silver sage. And a bunch of Eastern redbud seeds.
Interesting concept. I will be honest and am not a big fan of herb bonsai. Most of them forego bonsai status to me :). Exceptions of course confirm the rule here!
@@GrowingBonsai I have a red maple where the sacrificial branch need to go and do some other heavy pruning. When would you do such work? Right now temperatures is dropping but it is still growing. Shoul I try it now or wait until mid winter?
A great production Jelle. Darn - you've beaten me to the races again, but still nobody has mentioned my two favourite under-dog bonsai. As you know from my videos (and titles) - I have loads of Potentilla. Well, I thought I did :) But then I thought I had loads of Chinese Elm but now all I have is Elmkovas. I have heard a few people using Dogwood and definitely I have a few Berberis somewhere in the garden. Be patient because in the production line i have two different videos on some lesser known species...
Cool.. Looking forward to seeing them! These elmkovas.. Remain dificult. I have been searching for a definite species identification method as I realize the gap in my understanding. I *know* zelkova Serrata so I also know which are not that. But there are some other zelkovas. I think however none of the s-shaped ones are zelkova, and most zelkovas in trade are elms.
@@GrowingBonsai I've got an idea...I will showcase 10 of my socially confused elmkovas and we can see if between us a common answer can be decided upon. (I couold do it as a premiere). Truthfully I reckon only four of my collection are actually Zelkova. It's all good fun... :)
Mimosa or Persian Silk Tree. They can take sitting in water, they can take dry conditions. If you cut them off at the base, they regrow every time. Any pruning is rewarded. They naturally grow in long thin stalks but can be cut back to induce branching, or can be wire with easy to create any shape or curve desired. Don't plant them in the ground, they grow and drop tons of seeds from their pods, which is why they are hated by most gardeners. If kept in pots you alleviate all the downsides and get to enjoy unusual flowers the small leaves of the legume family. They root from cutting easily. If you spot one out in the wild, look around the understory as there will be tons of sprouts and shoots every spring.
What about, as an underdog Campis Radicans? I think it has a few regional common names. Some may know it as orange trumpet vine or the like. It's a vine that in my area is native and recommended as a substitute for invasive types of Honeysuckle that grow in wild spaces and over fences. I have one that I purchased as a tiny plant in a box from a big box store and I grew it in a tomato pot for probably a year or two to get strong. Then this spring I reported to see if it could be a bonsai and I ended up experimentally planting a root cutting as well. And recently, late summer, that root cutting has quickly developed shoots. I don't know how suitable it is yet, but it so far tends to get a woody trunk and send out long shoots. So there could be lots of ways to train it.
Western White Cedar, also known as thuja occidentalis. 1) Vigorous growth, so can be restiled (unlike 5-needle pines). 2) Very unpicky in terms of light and soil (also unlike five-needle pines). 3) Hardly any general pests (unlike the tropicals). 4) Very frost-hardy (outside northern Canada or Siberia, of course, unlike the traditional Japanese species). 5) Leaves are tiny, which is also valued in bonsai. 6) In nature thujas can be some of the tallest trees in the world, which is quite ironic with bonsai.
@@GrowingBonsai A few more advantages I thought of. Thujas don't like overwatering, but tolerate it much better than the vast majority of bonsai. For example, seedlings hardly ever get damping off. At the same time, they are almost as drought-tolerant as 2-needle pines. In nature they can grow on both swamps and rocks. 2) They are very easy to propagate. Seeds are easy to collect in large numbers, they don't require stratification and have a wild germination rate. 3) They actually love mineral buildup in soil from tapwater hardness. This is because in nature they love to grow on limestone, particles of which is what usually makes tapwater hard. So definitely no fuss about rainwater, distilled water, acidic water, etc.
A few of my unusual favorites are 1. Katsura Tree (Cercidiphyllum Japonicum) small nice leaves, great autumn color 2. Poncirus trifoliata - hardy citrus, small leaves, nice flowers, smells nice, great autumn colour 3. Acer monspessulanum beautiful small leaves, very hardy 4. Stewartia monadelpha, just beautiful!!
Ceanothus. Fast growing, good in heat and very good at drought tolerance and tiny 1cm x .3cm leaves, excellent beginner tree and very striking even at smallest sizes
Chinaberry aka Indian Bead Tree is another interesting species as well as the Privet Tree. Interestingly the privet tree and the chinaberry are deemed to be invasive because of the speed of their development - both species have beautiful trunks and are ideal for trunk art
@@bonsaikastur this tree gets wired as soon as the branch starts to grow, and I tip-prune all the time. I rarely let a branch extend, and if, then only to create trunk thickness.
I agree, pomegranate. Great tree. Cornus, Berberis, jaboticaba and potentilla I didn’t know. Personally I haven’t got a personal top 5, yet. Just starting here. But thank you for the tips !
For me the following are the best species to start. Easy, tolerant and require just minimal care. 1-juniper procumbres nana 2-trident maple 3-chinese elm 4-european Olive 5-eleagnus pungens
One of my first trees from my first bonsai class is a Jaboticaba. I love bark and the color of the new leaves. However I almost lost it last year when it was outside slightly below 0 C. I am going to need to completely rebuild it.
@@GrowingBonsai I have tried cuttings a couple of times. I succeeded in getting roots once but it still died. I am attempting a ground layer on one now to improve the base. If that works perhaps airlayering is an option.
I think Tamarindus Indica, Pithcellobium dulce, spanish cherry, suriname cherry, barbados cherry, celtis sinensis, Desmodium ,Silver Oak ,casuarina are under dogs. They are superb for bonsai.
Field maple is a great species. Much easier to look after than non native (to Europe) maples such as acer palmatum. Grows really fast, leaves aren't too big and responds reasonably to cuts.
@@GrowingBonsai the angular growth looks fine with broom style or more "natural" round canopy styles. Won't look as great if you try to use a swooping branch style like you would for conifers.
Second coment, I really like Parottia Persica, Pyrus Callryana, Pinus Radiata, Lumus apiculata, Ribes sanguineum, Pictacia atlantica and a host of unusual pines from Mexico my favorite being P Maximartinenzii. I also enjoy filling trunks of trees with autologous grafts to create little Frankenstein trees. I make airlayers from trees in my area. always practicing plant propagation techniques for the sake of learning. thank you for a good video Mats H
Hawthorn it is almost impossible to kill and when the leaves get too big just cut, thorns are also cut, I have dug up one with a 5 cm stem and almost no roots and it survives
I think willows are very underestimated. There's so many varieties to choose from. They grow very quickly, withstand almost anything you can put them through, and as long as you water them abundantly they are one of the easiest trees to grow.
@Growing Bonsai by Jelle that's true, but honestly I don't see that as a flaw cause I like it how dynamic and often unpredictable it can be. It's a really great tree for experimentation. I would love to see your take on this unusual bonsai tree...
Hi Jelle, Kannst du die Namen der einzelnen Pflanzenarten bitte nochmal in die Kommentare/Beschreibung packen? Fällt mir schwer das im Video zu verstehen. Vielen Dank dir schonmal, Gruß aus NRW. Matthias
Vielen Dank! Habe ganz vergessen zu erwähnen: Vielen dank für die tollen Videos! Du machst das Toll. Schaue dir immer gerne zu. Please keep growing Bonsai 👍🏼
Ja, finde die Aktion klasse. Habe aktuell schon so viele Projekte.. möchte mich nicht übernehmen und warte lieber noch bis du einen 1 zu 1 Workshop verlost :-P Ich like gern bei TH-cam, bin aber „leider“ nicht im sozial Media unterwegs, sorry.
I love my berberis (I think it's a Japanese Barberry) It reminds me of a gnarled old apple tree. I did major surgery last year to get rid of the second trunk, and was worried it would struggle. But it recovered like a champion, and shrugged it off. I barely have to protect it in winter ( I just throw a plastic bag over it on super cold/ frosty nights) it's a tough one. I agree SUPER under appreciated.
yaupon holly- very hardy to heat and cold, small leaves, alot of branching, trunk looks great when thickened, and the only plant in north america with natural caffene.
Here in North America, these are my 7 underappreciated species, very suitable for bonsai. Acer Freemani/RubRum/Platenoides .. beautiful trees, ALL suited to bonsai just like any Acer (everything will reduce), ESPECIALLY if you select specimens with great genetics... Only complaint with Platenoides is that the petioles don't reduce comparatively. Eleaegnus!!! (Autumn/Russian) Invasive, small leaves, flowers, delicious fruits..backbuds like a champion, and reduces well. Rhamnus! (Buckthorn)... Invasive, tough as nails, reduces and backbuds well. Lonicera! (honeysuckle)... Gets a bad rap, but if you LEARN the tree's unique timing... It becomes a much more apt specimens. Ribes!!! Same thing... If you learn them.. they are very rewarding. Great upload, Jelle. 🤓
You said in the premiere you haven't had flowers on your dogwood. That must be due to the bonsai pruning schedule, that the buds are chopped off before they can bloom. But, since many flower before foliage comes in, you might get some flowers if you delay the spring pruning by just a little bit.
Probably. but this is a very small one, and I really grow this one for the winter image, so I want to avoid getting any more pruning scars than the 2 I already have on there! Bit of a tradeoff, I suppose?
@@GrowingBonsai Yeah, that sounds about right. My parents have a _Cornus florida_ in their yard (I think the species name you were looking for was _Cornus sanguinea_ ), and it still bears open wounds from a decade ago.
Jelle, can I ask if you choose any particular soil mix for the Dogwood? There are several Cornus species native to my area, but in the past, when I got some small dogwood bareroot seedlings from a certain large supplier of trees they didn't survive. But, back then I was using more of the potting soil type mix.
I grow most of my trees in the same mixture more or less. (Check growingbonsai.net for a description; Over winter I will discuss the stuff I use on video too!)
We tend to see the trees you mention here, and other trees and bush-like things as an interesting thing to see if it would make a suitable Bonsai. As indicated “many” take a long time to thicken or getting a mature or craggy bark. But, if you are early enjoy in your journey in life, time is not a big problem. AND as with this living art form of ours, the next Bonsai enthusiast will help that tree move further along.
Exactly! Get started. And when it is time, move trees along to other people. That way a lot can be done. Likewise, people will move trees on to you once you have the experience and drive!
people should work with what's local. i live in San Francisco and collect yasmadort (in San Francisco)of pinus radiata , Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (monterey cyrus), costal live oak and in fact we have more oak variety than anywhere on earth in California, coastal and giant redwoods either collected or nursery stock, we have several native plant nurseries and i work with matertial from there regularly. Finally I will admit i work with rosemary and thyme as bonsai. Rosemary can be unforgiving in regards to back budding and last year i started grafting my rosemary tree. For that lets just say I'm on the learning curve. On a last note. While i do collect small wild trees in urban areas I also contribute by planting trees in my city with and without permission. I also put grafts on wild pines changing them and some smaller wild city trees get bonsai wire and pruning. I would like to think my contribution is a net positive
I think a great idea is to look at your locally growing flora in nature. harvesting seedlings, cuttings, and yamadori from your natural surroundings assures environmental hardiness against weather and pests and can be an inexpensive way to get into or grow your bonsai collections as well as a way to find unique or underrated species.
@@GrowingBonsai i haven't, I'll have to go search it. Sorry if I covered things you already did. I'm fairly new to your channel but really like your content and delivery!
@@MrStew1985 No worries my friend. Ask away and at some point you will give me thoughts for a new video! Enjoy browsing the channel. Hope you find a little nugget in each of them!
@@GrowingBonsai yes. indoor. have 2 of them. my favourites. downsides: 1, they dont like it cold. 2, they take a lot of years to fruit. other than that they are what i think will be mandatory to have in every home in future. =)
@@GrowingBonsai stewartia monadelpha has fairly small leaves, I dont havd one yet, theyre hard to get where I am but its apparently an awesome tree to have
Dwarf Korean Lilac is another…so easy to grow available everywhere and beautiful flowers with small leafs.
indeed! I have one of the small leaf lilacs too!
Agree. Lovely little tree
5 - Ivy (hedera helix), 4 - Euonymus, 3 - Pomegranate (Punica granatum), 2 - Olea Europea, 1 - Dogwood (Cornus Florida). Great video and idea!
Love the idea of hedera. Maybe I should try and find one!
I haven't really seen people try to make a black cherry-plum (prunus cerasifera nigra) into a bonsai and in my opinion when they flower the contrast between the dark purple leaves and the pastel pink flowers looks amazing and I also think weeping willows are underappreciated
P cesifera is on my list to one day try. Whenever I have more space, ahum
I bought a nigra this year, after my other died last year. But it is a long way to make a bonsai of it.
great choices! I grow pomegranates from seed but not on purpose. The birds eat the seeds and spread them all throughout my backyard and potting soil. I also grow them by cuttings both regular size and also dwarf size. I live in Las Vegas, NV area and they love it here. I also experiment with other plants that adapt well to this harsh climate, most are grown from seed and a few from cuttings. Such varieties are : 1) African Sumac (Rhus lancea), 2) Chinese Pistache/Red push Pistache (Pistacia chinensis), 4) Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus), 4) Mesquite hybrids (Prosopis chilensis hybrids), 5) Palo Verde (Cercidium/Parkinsonia varieties and hybrids.) - Most of these I grow from seed or they are blown in and self-sow. This is just a few different things that are well adapted to my climate but I mess around with so many different plants. Whenever I travel I always pick up seeds from many different places to experiment with. - Thanks
lol, to have pomes just pop up in yur yard. Makes sense but it sound unreal :)
Wild cherry and dwarf picea both mad under rated
Jay!
A great selection 👌 I am growing a bonsai from privet..
Yes, privets are nice! I let one of mine slip away to a friend a few years back. They grow too fast!
I think Amelanchier canadensis would make a nice Bonsai. I love its glowing colors in autumn.
I think so too! We have the same family here too, but they are slow growers. But the flowers, berries and leaves are all gorgeous!
A fun video, lots of excellent trees out there that you don't see very often!!
Hey Nigel, which of these do you have? All, probably? Any species that you think should get more attention?
@@GrowingBonsai I think the native Maples should be more popular, even the ones with larger leaves!
@@TheBonsaiZone agreed. I have a fieldmaple that has a bad name but is one of the strongest species
Very interesting content. I’ve been working a lot with Thuja recently. Not normally popular in bonsai but I find them beautiful. I also love all of your 5 picks. I actually have a few myself. Thanks, keep growing
How does Thuja work for you? I am not really a fan of the species, but saw a gorgeous one in the Nick Lenz exhibition a few years back!
@@GrowingBonsai ,, I live in Connecticut so it’s a native species and responds well to bonsai practices. Very hardy, beautiful bark texture, and the foliage is quite unique. It grows constantly during the growing season so it needs a bit more pruning and pinching than other single or double flush species. Give it a try. Thanks, keep growing
Ive become quite fond of Arborvitae varieties, very forgiving tree.
In my opinion, birch is an underrated species. It grows very quickly, the leaves can be reduced to small ones. The only drawback is that they sometimes kill their branches, but only with poor care.
Hi Kacper, great addition. Do you know how to avoid branches dying off in Birch?
@@GrowingBonsai The main thing is watering, birch needs a lot of water. (I use a mineral substrate). When pruning, I always disinfect the tools and cover the wounds with paste.
@@kacperkozak907 Maybe, one day, I will try one :)
I totally agree. Birch is in my opinion one of the most beautiful species for bonsai. They look amazing when the bark turn white and look like a fullgrown tree in miniature.
I Love Potentilla. Maybe my favorite deciduous species. I have Potentilla in 3 different colors. Yellow, White and Purple... unfortunately they truly thicken veeeery slowly and they need a ton of water. Your Potentillas look amazing. I'm quite jealous. I'll have to search some gardens for thicker ones.
Sorry. I should have shown a little cutting. Did not want to frustrate you! They are VERY thirsty, and are my indicator species for watering: Once potentilla hangs, I am too later wtaering!
@@GrowingBonsai Not frustrated at all. Just in awe of these two beautiful plants.
Do you use the same substrate for them as for the other trees? I started using more organic parts (coconut or pine bark) in the substrate for them. Just to keep them from drying up.
I do! I do admit they are in slightly large pots. And I move trees to positions where they will be happy. But potentilla need loads of water!
Interesting #1 (no spoilers 😀)
I have seen some really beautiful examples of older trees on the web.
Yes, if you can get a big one from a garden, that is amazing. I missed one on a local advertisement website by half an hour. It was gone when I responded.
I was in California on a trip and sat down in the shade of a pomegranate tree and thought, this would make a good bonsai candidate. I get home and this video pops up in my feed. I’ll be searching the stores for pomegranates and another tree I want to try, quince. Thanks for the content.
Go for it!
@@GrowingBonsai the pomegranate seeds have sprouted, on to step two.
Really great advices. Thanks.
My pleasure! What is your favorite bonsai underdog?
@@GrowingBonsai I have an Hydrangea with death wood....🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@BONSAIenCORTO How many days will the deadwood hold before it rots away :D ?
My favorites that not many people use: 1. natal plum (flowers smell very nice and it is blooming all the time), I havent managed to get fruits on mine yet. 2. citrus trees - small/smallish fruit varieties such as kumquat or tangerines. Lovely smell of flowers, plus fruits. Leaf size can be reduced with time. Then I love succulent/semisucculent shrubs - 1. plectranthus ambionicus fast grower and nice smelling foliage, thickens up like crazy, also makes nice aerial roots, if you like tropical look on the trees 2. geranium it takes time to thicken up, but the results can be very nice plus the flowers bonus, 3. kalanchoe bossfeldiana - sold as ordinary house plant, super easy to reduce the size of foliage and basically shape as a tree again flowers can be very nice - all of these species are best grown by clip and grow, most of these are very accessible and cheap.
thx! I like plextrantus a lot too!
On the Natal plums, the nut-like seeds are the female plant and the male plants have a little y white-yellow cluster. Thanks for the idea, I'll try!
Very interesting presentation! Hopefully this helps to get other species into use as bonssi. Thanks for sharing!! Much appreciated.
Hey Wayne, thank you for checking in. Agreed, I hope to stimulate a wider perspective in bonsai species!
I love Cornus. I think one of the main reasons people don’t think they are suitable is that they are hard to collect so slow pot development is the best way. Personally I love black cherry, sweet gum, and loblolly pine.
Yes, I had the luck of a fairly young one in the garden. but Cornus.. Great!
Black cherry? Which species is that? Sweetgum I have been eying, but I understand they are prone to die-back and produce long internodes?
I got a cornus sanguinea seedling in february. It didn't grow too much this year. I'll have to try a bigger pot.
@@GrowingBonsai black cherry is a us native cherry varietal, same with sweet gum. There are some really good developed sweet gums in local club members collections. Black cherry is an experiment. It has a bad rap for the same reason as cornus. Hard to collect older specimens. I’m working with a bunch of 5-10 year old collected trees and saplings from scratch.
@@bonsaikastur The one in the video has been in the ground for a few years, before I decided to remove the uninvited shrub from the garden :)
As a greek living in NL, props to you for proposing pomegranate! Indeed the small variety doesnt grow NEARLY as fast as the big variety but I got both in the making, lets see in a few years :D
I love pomes! But had a hard time finding one with a trunk!
One species I have never seen discussed in bonsai videos on TH-cam (and I must have watched hundreds) is Celtis Australis.
Birds poop the seeds and I regularly find seedlings under hedges and in wilder corners of the garden so I decided to keep and grow some after Google results showed that the species can be turned into bonsai. From what I can see it has smallish leaves, medium fast growth, flexible branches. On the minus side the foliage is dull green and rather coarse with no seasonal color so perhaps that’s why it’s not popular. However since I have it for free it’s worth a try.
Interesting! Never come across them either!
I agree this is a good subject with seemingly little information. The Celtis australis is extremely similar to the common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). So much so that one could be forgiven for mistaking them for each other. There is at least some information about on growing Hackberries. There's also Celtis sinensis that I've seen been grown in China (in books and magazines) and Celtis africana grown in South Africa as bonsai. In my opinion, information available for any of the Celtis would be applicable to any of the variants of Celtis, but applicable to your climate too.
@@living_sculptures_za I will need to look into the species. :)
Very good video Jelle.
Thx John!
Great video. There is a twisted pomegranate that has won every award in the highest bonsai shows
Do you happen to have a link tot hat tree? Would love to see it!
My top five is big basin sagebrush, sandcherry, cliffrose, silver Buffalo berry, mountain mahogany.
And, are you growing all of these too?
@@GrowingBonsai I was until my brother passed away, we had to take him to our reservation located on another state, waited for special permits to have him cross state lines to be buried. The time I was gone I lost everything including my pride in joy that started my bonsai journey the yamadori big basin sagebrush thats in my icon, my wife didn't water any of them very well, so they fried in the triple digit heat wave. I don't know if grow the amount I had right now that I just collected is 2 austrian black pine, 1 silver mound wormwood that i made into a massive tanuki, 1 silver sage. And a bunch of Eastern redbud seeds.
Great vid Jelle! I think all herb bonsai is underrated. Grow them, eat them and after a few years they are great bonsai materials.
Interesting concept. I will be honest and am not a big fan of herb bonsai. Most of them forego bonsai status to me :). Exceptions of course confirm the rule here!
@@GrowingBonsai I have a red maple where the sacrificial branch need to go and do some other heavy pruning. When would you do such work? Right now temperatures is dropping but it is still growing. Shoul I try it now or wait until mid winter?
Nossa jabuticaba é braba demais! Abraço do Brasil
:) It seems to be doing well yes! Good to hear from you! How ar eyou in Brazil!?
A great production Jelle. Darn - you've beaten me to the races again, but still nobody has mentioned my two favourite under-dog bonsai. As you know from my videos (and titles) - I have loads of Potentilla. Well, I thought I did :) But then I thought I had loads of Chinese Elm but now all I have is Elmkovas. I have heard a few people using Dogwood and definitely I have a few Berberis somewhere in the garden. Be patient because in the production line i have two different videos on some lesser known species...
Cool.. Looking forward to seeing them! These elmkovas.. Remain dificult. I have been searching for a definite species identification method as I realize the gap in my understanding. I *know* zelkova Serrata so I also know which are not that. But there are some other zelkovas. I think however none of the s-shaped ones are zelkova, and most zelkovas in trade are elms.
@@GrowingBonsai I've got an idea...I will showcase 10 of my socially confused elmkovas and we can see if between us a common answer can be decided upon. (I couold do it as a premiere). Truthfully I reckon only four of my collection are actually Zelkova. It's all good fun... :)
Sounds like a great project. Lets do it!
@@GrowingBonsai Maybe when I get back from my 2 week retreat in Stronsay :)
@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat havea good trip!
Hello Jelle, I am currently experimenting with a Ligustrum. It's fun too.
Yes! They are nice and, here at least, commonly used!
Mimosa or Persian Silk Tree. They can take sitting in water, they can take dry conditions. If you cut them off at the base, they regrow every time. Any pruning is rewarded. They naturally grow in long thin stalks but can be cut back to induce branching, or can be wire with easy to create any shape or curve desired.
Don't plant them in the ground, they grow and drop tons of seeds from their pods, which is why they are hated by most gardeners. If kept in pots you alleviate all the downsides and get to enjoy unusual flowers the small leaves of the legume family.
They root from cutting easily. If you spot one out in the wild, look around the understory as there will be tons of sprouts and shoots every spring.
Cool!
What about, as an underdog Campis Radicans? I think it has a few regional common names. Some may know it as orange trumpet vine or the like. It's a vine that in my area is native and recommended as a substitute for invasive types of Honeysuckle that grow in wild spaces and over fences.
I have one that I purchased as a tiny plant in a box from a big box store and I grew it in a tomato pot for probably a year or two to get strong. Then this spring I reported to see if it could be a bonsai and I ended up experimentally planting a root cutting as well. And recently, late summer, that root cutting has quickly developed shoots.
I don't know how suitable it is yet, but it so far tends to get a woody trunk and send out long shoots. So there could be lots of ways to train it.
I think I have seen ONE once. Never really thought about growign them for bonsai. Are the leaves not really big?
@@GrowingBonsai the leaves are compound I believe, so the leaf can be big, but the separate leaflets can look small.
@@karanseraph nice! Like wisteria then
Western White Cedar, also known as thuja occidentalis. 1) Vigorous growth, so can be restiled (unlike 5-needle pines). 2) Very unpicky in terms of light and soil (also unlike five-needle pines). 3) Hardly any general pests (unlike the tropicals). 4) Very frost-hardy (outside northern Canada or Siberia, of course, unlike the traditional Japanese species). 5) Leaves are tiny, which is also valued in bonsai. 6) In nature thujas can be some of the tallest trees in the world, which is quite ironic with bonsai.
Cool, need to try one!
@@GrowingBonsai A few more advantages I thought of. Thujas don't like overwatering, but tolerate it much better than the vast majority of bonsai. For example, seedlings hardly ever get damping off. At the same time, they are almost as drought-tolerant as 2-needle pines. In nature they can grow on both swamps and rocks.
2) They are very easy to propagate. Seeds are easy to collect in large numbers, they don't require stratification and have a wild germination rate.
3) They actually love mineral buildup in soil from tapwater hardness. This is because in nature they love to grow on limestone, particles of which is what usually makes tapwater hard. So definitely no fuss about rainwater, distilled water, acidic water, etc.
A few of my unusual favorites are
1. Katsura Tree (Cercidiphyllum Japonicum) small nice leaves, great autumn color
2. Poncirus trifoliata - hardy citrus, small leaves, nice flowers, smells nice, great autumn colour
3. Acer monspessulanum beautiful small leaves, very hardy
4. Stewartia monadelpha, just beautiful!!
Ohw yes, that Acer is great, but not always easy to find!
Ceanothus. Fast growing, good in heat and very good at drought tolerance and tiny 1cm x .3cm leaves, excellent beginner tree and very striking even at smallest sizes
I had to look this one up, but agreed. We used to have a big one in our garden, but it died. Never seen one as a bonsai but should look fenomenal!
I have a Myrtus Communis, very small leaves, tiny white flowers and black berries.
Chinaberry aka Indian Bead Tree is another interesting species as well as the Privet Tree. Interestingly the privet tree and the chinaberry are deemed to be invasive because of the speed of their development - both species have beautiful trunks and are ideal for trunk art
Nice!
Corylus avellana, especially the contorta variant, has braught me some interesting results.
That is so interesting! I have one (regular) hasel, but it is slow going to get the leaves smaller!
I'm trying one, but it makes long straight shoots and lots and lots of multitrunk suckers.
@@bonsaikastur this tree gets wired as soon as the branch starts to grow, and I tip-prune all the time. I rarely let a branch extend, and if, then only to create trunk thickness.
Mulberry is great...
Black cherry...
Almond tree
Peaches
Scarlett Crateagus is cool fruits
Rhamnus cartatica
And osage thorn
would you consider these great for bonsai?
@@GrowingBonsai
Black cherry is very vigorous and has nice Bloom and fruit
Scarlett Thorn also
Pomegranate can flower & fruit in first year - I have fruit on trees I planted last December.
Aren't they GREAT!?
Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry and Dwarf Myrtle (Myrtus communis) are very underrated as bonsai
Yes! I have neither, either!But indeed, VERY good species!
I think the blue beach in Michigan is a really nice shrub tree The waves patterns in the trunk are awesome not sure if it’s negative here.
Never came across it. I should have a look!
Your #1 under dog, will be my 1st 100% outdoor tree. Its resilience and flexibility with all sorts of conditions makes me believe I won't kill it. 😂
Great! Wish you luck. Go slow, ensure health over beauty and you should be fine
Arbutus menziesii! They're so pretty and low maintenance, but they hate having their roots messed with.
Great suggestion
I agree, pomegranate. Great tree. Cornus, Berberis, jaboticaba and potentilla I didn’t know. Personally I haven’t got a personal top 5, yet. Just starting here. But thank you for the tips !
no rop five? Time to start one ;). Thanks for the feedback!
For me the following are the best species to start. Easy, tolerant and require just minimal care.
1-juniper procumbres nana
2-trident maple
3-chinese elm
4-european Olive
5-eleagnus pungens
Ahh, yes, to start. But these are very common bonsai species!
Great insight and beautiful bonsai underdog choices thanks for sharing.... sending good vibes from California..
Hey Jaime, welcome to the channel. Glad you liked the video!
I enjoyed this video very much! Can you list your selection discussed? I cannot understand what you are saying when you identify them. Thank you!
I will try to think of making an index this weekend. Remind me if I forget :)
Great content, I have been growing mimosa or flame tree seedling. I hopefully I can grow them into bonsai. Thanks for your content.
You are welcome. Do you have the space for them indoors? It is the reason I try to not get more tropicals. No place to put them!
One of my first trees from my first bonsai class is a Jaboticaba. I love bark and the color of the new leaves. However I almost lost it last year when it was outside slightly below 0 C. I am going to need to completely rebuild it.
great to hear someone else with one. Have you figured out how to propagate them?
@@GrowingBonsai I have tried cuttings a couple of times. I succeeded in getting roots once but it still died. I am attempting a ground layer on one now to improve the base. If that works perhaps airlayering is an option.
@@coltranem great, let m e know what comes out!
I really wanna see lapacho bonsai because of their beautiful flowers
:)
I think Tamarindus Indica, Pithcellobium dulce, spanish cherry, suriname cherry, barbados cherry, celtis sinensis, Desmodium ,Silver Oak ,casuarina are under dogs. They are superb for bonsai.
Agreed! All tropicals though, and somewhat dificult to keep at this northern garden!
Field maple is a great species. Much easier to look after than non native (to Europe) maples such as acer palmatum. Grows really fast, leaves aren't too big and responds reasonably to cuts.
Agreed! How do you work with the angular growth form?
@@GrowingBonsai the angular growth looks fine with broom style or more "natural" round canopy styles. Won't look as great if you try to use a swooping branch style like you would for conifers.
Second coment, I really like Parottia Persica, Pyrus Callryana, Pinus Radiata, Lumus apiculata, Ribes sanguineum, Pictacia atlantica and a host of unusual pines from Mexico my favorite being P Maximartinenzii. I also enjoy filling trunks of trees with autologous grafts to create little Frankenstein trees. I make airlayers from trees in my area. always practicing plant propagation techniques for the sake of learning.
thank you for a good video
Mats H
Nice collection of lesser know species for bonsai! I think I am not aware of any of these!
Hawthorn it is almost impossible to kill and when the leaves get too big just cut, thorns are also cut, I have dug up one with a 5 cm stem and almost no roots and it survives
Hi nice video.
What about Flamboyan(Delonix regia)? Do you think it’s bad idea ? Or it’s a good species for bonsai ?
I think willows are very underestimated.
There's so many varieties to choose from. They grow very quickly, withstand almost anything you can put them through,
and as long as you water them abundantly they are one of the easiest trees to grow.
All true. Challenge with willow.. not very long-lied and they tend to drop branches at will it seems. I have seen some great examples though!
@Growing Bonsai by Jelle that's true, but honestly I don't see that as a flaw cause I like it how dynamic and often unpredictable it can be.
It's a really great tree for experimentation.
I would love to see your take on this unusual bonsai tree...
@@invinciblecucumber :) Sorry. I have had willow and I do not intent to have it again. Too much work for me :)
Hi Jelle,
Kannst du die Namen der einzelnen Pflanzenarten bitte nochmal in die Kommentare/Beschreibung packen?
Fällt mir schwer das im Video zu verstehen.
Vielen Dank dir schonmal, Gruß aus NRW. Matthias
Sure, pomegranate, cornus (dogwood) ,Berberis, Brazilian Grape, potentilla
Vielen Dank! Habe ganz vergessen zu erwähnen: Vielen dank für die tollen Videos! Du machst das Toll. Schaue dir immer gerne zu. Please keep growing Bonsai 👍🏼
@@Mazeboehm Will do!
DId you see the raintree cuttings giveaway video?
Feel free to recommend my vids on social media.
Ja, finde die Aktion klasse. Habe aktuell schon so viele Projekte.. möchte mich nicht übernehmen und warte lieber noch bis du einen 1 zu 1 Workshop verlost :-P
Ich like gern bei TH-cam, bin aber „leider“ nicht im sozial Media unterwegs, sorry.
@@Mazeboehm eone workshop.. hm, das ware doch wass. Aber wenn du lust hast, kommst du einfach mahl vorbei in mubsteland!?
I love my berberis (I think it's a Japanese Barberry) It reminds me of a gnarled old apple tree. I did major surgery last year to get rid of the second trunk, and was worried it would struggle. But it recovered like a champion, and shrugged it off. I barely have to protect it in winter ( I just throw a plastic bag over it on super cold/ frosty nights) it's a tough one. I agree SUPER under appreciated.
Just a note, pick the berries before animals eat them. It's very invasive in certain eastern US states.
Glad I am not in the USA; No invasive berberis here!
EXCEPT for the thorns :)
yaupon holly- very hardy to heat and cold, small leaves, alot of branching, trunk looks great when thickened, and the only plant in north america with natural caffene.
I should look into that, sounds like a great species
Here in North America, these are my 7 underappreciated species, very suitable for bonsai.
Acer Freemani/RubRum/Platenoides
.. beautiful trees, ALL suited to bonsai just like any Acer (everything will reduce), ESPECIALLY if you select specimens with great genetics... Only complaint with Platenoides is that the petioles don't reduce comparatively.
Eleaegnus!!! (Autumn/Russian) Invasive, small leaves, flowers, delicious fruits..backbuds like a champion, and reduces well.
Rhamnus! (Buckthorn)... Invasive, tough as nails, reduces and backbuds well.
Lonicera! (honeysuckle)... Gets a bad rap, but if you LEARN the tree's unique timing... It becomes a much more apt specimens.
Ribes!!! Same thing... If you learn them.. they are very rewarding.
Great upload, Jelle.
🤓
Thank you my frozen ceramics friend!
i wish you would have put text on the screen because i couldn’t understand the species of the last few. would you be able to write the names for us?
Sorry about that! The species in the video are Pomegranate, Dogwood (Cornus), Berberis, Brazilian Grape (Jabuticaba) and Potentilla!
I dont get Ginko with big leaves. I have pomegranate :)
haha, I think it has to do with it being one of the living dinosaurs!
You said in the premiere you haven't had flowers on your dogwood. That must be due to the bonsai pruning schedule, that the buds are chopped off before they can bloom. But, since many flower before foliage comes in, you might get some flowers if you delay the spring pruning by just a little bit.
Probably. but this is a very small one, and I really grow this one for the winter image, so I want to avoid getting any more pruning scars than the 2 I already have on there! Bit of a tradeoff, I suppose?
@@GrowingBonsai Yeah, that sounds about right. My parents have a _Cornus florida_ in their yard (I think the species name you were looking for was _Cornus sanguinea_ ), and it still bears open wounds from a decade ago.
Jelle, can I ask if you choose any particular soil mix for the Dogwood? There are several Cornus species native to my area, but in the past, when I got some small dogwood bareroot seedlings from a certain large supplier of trees they didn't survive. But, back then I was using more of the potting soil type mix.
I grow most of my trees in the same mixture more or less. (Check growingbonsai.net for a description; Over winter I will discuss the stuff I use on video too!)
We tend to see the trees you mention here, and other trees and bush-like things as an interesting thing to see if it would make a suitable Bonsai. As indicated “many” take a long time to thicken or getting a mature or craggy bark. But, if you are early enjoy in your journey in life, time is not a big problem. AND as with this living art form of ours, the next Bonsai enthusiast will help that tree move further along.
Exactly! Get started. And when it is time, move trees along to other people. That way a lot can be done. Likewise, people will move trees on to you once you have the experience and drive!
people should work with what's local. i live in San Francisco and collect yasmadort (in San Francisco)of pinus radiata , Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (monterey cyrus), costal live oak and in fact we have more oak variety than anywhere on earth in California, coastal and giant redwoods either collected or nursery stock, we have several native plant nurseries and i work with matertial from there regularly. Finally I will admit i work with rosemary and thyme as bonsai. Rosemary can be unforgiving in regards to back budding and last year i started grafting my rosemary tree. For that lets just say I'm on the learning curve. On a last note. While i do collect small wild trees in urban areas I also contribute by planting trees in my city with and without permission. I also put grafts on wild pines changing them and some smaller wild city trees get bonsai wire and pruning. I would like to think my contribution is a net positive
sounds like you are having fun
I think a great idea is to look at your locally growing flora in nature. harvesting seedlings, cuttings, and yamadori from your natural surroundings assures environmental hardiness against weather and pests and can be an inexpensive way to get into or grow your bonsai collections as well as a way to find unique or underrated species.
Thx Jimmy! Have you seen my video about finding seeds this time of year?
@@GrowingBonsai i haven't, I'll have to go search it. Sorry if I covered things you already did. I'm fairly new to your channel but really like your content and delivery!
@@MrStew1985 No worries my friend. Ask away and at some point you will give me thoughts for a new video! Enjoy browsing the channel. Hope you find a little nugget in each of them!
You dude, are a underatted specie . Real Larch ( larix ) are great or malus too .
Me? I am an underrated species? Thank you so much!
I am of course biased. I see Larch so often here! They are rare where you are?
@@GrowingBonsai 💋 and in bonsai, yes 👽 lol
Hm.. Where are you located? Maybe I should do a workshop there ;)
i would recommend clementine tree's, they are not as difficult as lemons
Ohw, sounds coool. Do you grow them?
@@GrowingBonsai yes. indoor. have 2 of them. my favourites.
downsides: 1, they dont like it cold. 2, they take a lot of years to fruit.
other than that they are what i think will be mandatory to have in every home in future. =)
Ohw, madatory? Why?
@@GrowingBonsai free food and education , how this is not already mandatory i do not know =)
A jabuticaba , gosta de muita agua e substrato mais orgânico , mas prefiro a pitanga , cresce mais rápido e é muito resistente😉
Buut.. I have no clue where to get a Pitanga!
😕
#1 Dogwood 😂
You think I am THAT predictable? I should get a different line of work!
@@GrowingBonsai lol 😂
You noticed/ it was nr 2 :)
(4th place)
@@GrowingBonsai haha! Sorry I missed the premiere. Great video as always
Missed you there! Next time, you gotta be there ;)
Japanese Elm has nice bark and structure .
Great tip. Which species is japanese elm?
@@GrowingBonsai Ulmus Davidiana var. japonica
Portulacaria Afra
Warm wood.
unknown species to me!
Hi
I got a weigela bonsai the other week I love it but no one seems to have them
Agreed, I hardly ever see them as bonsai. Maybe you can start a trend?
@@GrowingBonsai Same only ever seen the one I have as a Weigela bonsai and I love it plus it's good to have something unique
Hello. Have you tried Sassafras? or Heptacodium? Dawn Redwood?
I guess I have not!
I'm not familiar with the last one # 5 cam you please spell it for me? Thanks alot! Great content man. Respect!
Potentilla :)
@@GrowingBonsai thanks alot! Love the content man
I hear stewartia are excellent for bonsai, they have orange skin like bark
Nice one! How big are the leaves on these?
@@GrowingBonsai stewartia monadelpha has fairly small leaves, I dont havd one yet, theyre hard to get where I am but its apparently an awesome tree to have
👍👌👌🙂🙂
😘
Dogwood would be cool
They grow like crazy here in Alabama
Yes!
I tried one dogwood and it was doing very well until I repotted it
Sorry to hear. Have you figured out why?
@@GrowingBonsai My teacher says that they are very sensitive when being repoted, after I repotted it it just died one branch at a time
@@GrowingBonsai Not a clue. and I haven't tried any since. because I really liked that one:(
Please put the name of trees below. It's hard to understand.
thank you, I jave started to put species names in text in videos now
Ficus carica
YES!
Cotoneaster!
Yes! Is it underappreciated though? I see it frequently?
@@GrowingBonsai I don't see it much to be honest might be the horizontalis species thats underappreciated
Spirea Arguta
, eik, treurwilg,
Your favorites?