They are beautiful clusters of oaks. Thanks for sharing.
First and fourth are pictures of what I want. Especially fourth. I expect it to be a very long term project in oak but may try to double up and do a faster growing version to entertain me in the mean time.
The 4th picture you are referring to would be much easier than the picture you showed but either would be a daunting task. I have not used any of the small leafed oaks of California due to my climate, but perhaps you could in yours. Still, the look you are drawn to, that is picture #4, would be easier to accomplish with elm. Hackberry is also a possibility. The Chinese Hackberry has a smaller leaf than the American Hackberry.
I love that! It’s not exactly what I want to go for but it’s far far closer to the principle of what I want to do than anything else I’ve seen done in bonsai. That looks like a real miniature tree!
Thank you for the advice. My minimum expected radius is 2-3’ and maybe up to 4-5’ I’m hoping to keep it around 3-5 foot diameter and am waiting on seedlings as I type this. Hopefully today!
It’s tree from Kokufu exhibition in japan. Lots of trees look like reall miniature trees here so just keep an open mind to everything.
His is a beautiful oak too! I’ve been looking for a while and haven’t seen one like I’m envisioning but I love all oaks!
Very cool! Yes exactly what I’m wanting to try! I swear by google you’d think me and you were the only two bonsai people interested in multitrunk live oak bonsai! I’ve been hunting one because if it’s been started I could either pickup where someone left off or there may be a prebonsai. No luck yet. Make sure you go look at marky’s tree too though. It’s a gorgeous live oak he’s done a ton of work on.
if you're using live oak, then mostly the rules are very subjective. What you're after isn't common because live oak bonsai of any consequence and visual impart are LARGE bonsai. The point of having oak as bonsai is for age and character, if the stock you're using doesn't have that why bother...to get any character in an oak trunk or trunks typically involves collecting one. Live oak tends to grow in multi-trunked groups in the wild. Such growth is called a "mott". Those trees are usually all connected via common roots. I have to suppress those shoots on my live oak bonsai since it has a decent trunk on it already. Pic of my Texas collected live oak is below. have had it going on 25 years now.
My live oak is fusiformis. Collected in Salado in the mid 90's. It's been bulletproof health-wise in container for two decades, leaves reduce, it produces acorns and twigs very well. Should be used more. I think it's superior to the main live oak species (quercus virginiana) in bonsai culture. It's tougher, more drought and cold tolerant than Q virginiana.
I would love some q. Fusiformis if it is smaller! Our only small oak in SW FL is scrub oaks and I’m working on some of those already! Lol Let me know what they would cost to ship and I’d love to buy some little ones to start training!
Never meant to hijack lol I was just asking questions and started a war! I’ve learned a ton so thank you. I’ve also saved most of your images as references. How’s 2020 looking for your oaks?
I plan on using local but would love to try with a smaller species if it has similar growth characteristics still. They would have to remain a side project. Perhaps under a small shade cloth to keep heat off? Fans or misters? Both? All three? It gets cold enough local maples will turn color, but we definitely don’t get the snow and ice like you guys. Summers are very comparable though. Hmmm I didn’t know about the heating days numbers. More research! Lol I’m originally from Houston! Dad is still on the west side out by 6 a few miles north of 10. Next time I visit maybe I can impose and come see your trees?
