California Buckeye(Aseculus Californica), Horse Chestnut - Saplings

[Firstflush]

Just sharing. Starting to leaf out.
Pretty cool trees. Bark is like tiger bark ficus. Summer deciduous for drought tolerance. They are poisonous to everything except squirrels and chipmunks. Native Ca bees are immune but non-native Euro honeybees will be killed in a season. First Nation peoples would grind up the seeds/nuts to paralyze fish in streams for harvest here in CA. Found nowhere else except Oregon and California, USA.

I saw and read the post on a single specimen tree on here or anywhere. Enjoy!
3 years old. Broken apart out of a cache pot last season. From seed.

 

[Firstflush]

Anybody work with them?

 

[MrWunderful]

I have thought about it, grew up having buckeye fights near my grandmas house. Unfortunately the long Internode length and gigantic leaves have always caused me to focus on species better suited for bonsai

 

[Firstflush]

The only thread I found showing one developed.

Trees I displayed at the ABAS Spring Show last weekend.

Oregon Oak, Quercus garryana, started with a 5 gallon landscape nursery tree five year ago. Shimpaku. This is a tanuki I made a few years ago. I attached a kishu shimpaku to a piece of deadwood from a Utah Juniper a few years ago. California Buckeye, Aesculus californica. I collected...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Firstflush]

Couple pics from an older SF show. Not mine obviously.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Interesting tree, and you seem to know the problems with them as bonsai.

If you look at Paul H's tree in the photos from the 2016 ABS Spring Show, you can see, that for a tree this size, nearly 3 feet tall, the branches have long internodes and the leaves are large. It works because this tree is nearly 3 feet tall. But you can see this is not as refined as a similar age and size elm or hornbeam would be.

Of course, not all trees have to look the same. Not all deciduous trees have to be as refined as an elm or a hornbeam. But the point is, buckeye is a species with traits that make it difficult to work with as bonsai. Go big, plan on a larger size tree, and you should be able to create something nice. Work with the traits it has, and you will be okay.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It was always a tree species I was curious about when I lived in SoCal, but I couldn't locate a source for them.

 

[Firstflush]

Interesting tree, and you seem to know the problems with them as bonsai.

If you look at Paul H's tree in the photos from the 2016 ABS Spring Show, you can see, that for a tree this size, nearly 3 feet tall, the branches have long internodes and the leaves are large. It works because this tree is nearly 3 feet tall. But you can see this is not as refined as a similar age and size elm or hornbeam would be.

Of course, not all trees have to look the same. Not all deciduous trees have to be as refined as an elm or a hornbeam. But the point is, buckeye is a species with traits that make it difficult to work with as bonsai. Go big, plan on a larger size tree, and you should be able to create something nice. Work with the traits it has, and you will be okay.

I agree. Maybe sneak them in a park somewhere or keep one and play with it.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I have a Horse Chestnut sapling.. it’s under snow right now... but I know Osoyoung has done some neat stuff with them... I can’t “summon” his/her username for some reason.

 

[Firstflush]

^^^This is the CA native variety which grows nowhere else in the world in the wild.
They are beautiful with long flower spikes of white when in bloom.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Whoops! I was just going by the “Horse Chestnut” part.

Dem Californee trees be different.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have a Horse Chestnut sapling.. it’s under snow right now... but I know Osoyoung has done some neat stuff with them... I can’t “summon” his/her username for some reason.

The reason your summoning powers have failed, is the 'O' in @0soyoung is actually a zero, not the letter.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I really like our local species of Aesculus, as a street tree or park tree. The flowers are beautiful, fruit is fun to chuck at the neighbor kid. Fond memories. It is just difficult for bonsai due to issues of proportions. Leaves and internodes don't reduce enough to "come together" as a traditional bonsai. However, you can put together an artistic tree, if you have the eye and the tree cooperates. Easier to go big, or go for small and a surrealistic representation, or abstract representation.

 

[0soyoung]

I have a Horse Chestnut sapling.. it’s under snow right now... but I know Osoyoung has done some neat stuff with them... I can’t “summon” his/her username for some reason.

Consult this thread, "Chestnut leaves turning bronze", maybe.