Recent content by Leo in N E Illinois

Hornbeams - Carpinus caroliniana is excellent, but a little touchy about dehydration, it will not tolerate drying out. Part shade suites it well. Ostrya virginiana, the hop flowered hornbeam is a species seldom seen for bonsai, which I think is excellent. Hop flowered hornbeam tolerates a more...

It has only been grown in a pot, never loose in the ground. Some years no fertilizer was applied. I have heavy clay soil, if it roots in the ground only way to move it would be with a chain saw. Digging is something I don't do without explosives. Growing trees in pots always slows development...

I have very little experience with severe trunk chopping. When I have pruned back, I have always made sure there were leaf buds remaining on the trunk or branch. I've never had more than a seedling or two, so not much of a sample size. My current oak, a bur oak, is about 10 years old and is...

@drip - good plans above. Myself I would do little or nothing this year, repot in spring. Let it recover and begin serious pruning next year end of summer. Except get rid of really ugly branches right away. I do have the luxury of having enough projects that letting something grow a year or...

This is absolutely true. I was thinking of my local northern USA species. The check list of what to look for when choosing was my key point . Every region will have its own list of candidate species.

@Michigan Tree Murderer - nice work. I like your banyan tree very much.

I looked into oaks a bit, they are "underutilized", possibly for reason. There are hundreds of species in North America, and many natural hybrids, intergrades and hybrid swarms. Diving into oak taxonomy could lead to madness. What do we want in a species for bonsai? Small leaves, for most...

I bought a house in 1980 so I would not have to deal with wintering trees on a balcony. I winter trees hardy to zones 5 and colder by simply setting their pots on the ground and applying a little mulch after the ground has frozen. Trees that are not fully winter hardy get wintered in my well...

In northeast Ohio, the winters are generally zone 5b to 6b depending on exact location and whether you are in a Lake Erie microclimate. This means your "maybe Brazilian rain tree" is most likely a species of genus Robinia. If it has white flowers, it is likely Robinia pseudoacacia, the "black...

That is one test, and it works, I used to leave american persimmons on the tree until after the first hard freeze. This means many would be lost to falling to the ground, but there would still be a fair amount hanging. Allowing fruit to freeze before harvest is called "bletting" and makes many...

Balconies, because they are up off the ground get much more light even when in the shade. Especially 2nd floor and above are often quite bright, even in north facing settings. Also keeping the collection looking "neat & orderly", I was renting a place in my early years, and let my balcony...

@Bonsai Nut - I had a major brain fart. You are correct. I pulled the wrong name out of my butt. I was thinking about virginiana but wrote otherwise. Nevermind

One of the prairie species of milkweed. Showy or blunt leaf, or one of them. I don't think it's common milkweed, it's in the middle of a prairie restoration. But I am not expert, I only know there's pink milkweeds and green or white flowered milkweeds. Around here the green flowers are supposed...

Purple prairie clover - Dalea purpurea Always wanted to try it as kusamono, but never got seed to sprout in a pot or tray. Might try again this autumn.

Success of doing anything depends on aftercare. And of skill of execution. I've been doing bonsai since 1970's, with formal teachers since 1992. I know I got the skills. I would leave it until spring if there was no issue with it still being there in spring. If you are itching for something to...