Ivy (hedera) as bonsai?

[leatherback]

I was wondering whether there are examples of great ivy bonsai. Reason I ask.. There are a few trees with somewhat thick ivy strains nearby. It looks like the killing crews will take them down as part of the "nature maintenance needs". So I might try and get my hands on a section. But I find it hard to find good examples..

 

[Julio-Rufo]

I was wondering whether there are examples of great ivy bonsai. Reason I ask.. There are a few trees with somewhat thick ivy strains nearby. It looks like the killing crews will take them down as part of the "nature maintenance needs". So I might try and get my hands on a section. But I find it hard to find good examples..

This is the best example I know so far.

It is not an easy bonsai subject.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

I really like this one, I think its one of the best ivy bonsai, I also like the really small leaf cultivars but they are very slow to make a trunk

 

[Julio-Rufo]

And here the updated result after repoting:

 

[cishepard]

Mine .. This was last summer, it looks better wired, just starting branch work. A lot of the root area is deadwood. I am not sure how long it will last.

 

[Watto]

Mine .. This was last summer, it looks better wired, just starting branch work. A lot of the root area is deadwood. I am not sure how long it will last.

View attachment 416210

Can make good bonsai, but are underutilized. This was in flower when the photo was taken.

 

[makarovnik]

I just started one 2 years ago.

 

[Bnana]

It looks like the killing crews will take them down as part of the "nature maintenance needs"

They still do that? That's retarded. Ivy doesn't harm the tree and is very valuable. Many birds breed in ivy and it's an important nectar source in autumn.
If they do this for "nature management" they should read a book on nature management published after 1960.

Considering ivy as bonsai, I never find them convincing. To me it's still ivy and not a tree. But if you like them, who not.

 

[penumbra]

Its right up there with Japanese Honeysuckle. Not commonly used but there are some good ones.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Its right up there with Japanese Honeysuckle. Not commonly used but there are some good ones.

That plant its a nuisance, so invasive, the flowers smells good though

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Like most vines used for bonsai, the issue is finding a "trunk".

If you can find a segment of trunk of sufficient caliper to make a convincing "tree", it is worth working with.

If you start with a slender cutting, or seed, you will have to let it grow to great lengths to get it to "trunk up". Then you will have to cut back. The cycles of grow out and cut back can take years or even decades. The preferred method is to find mature trunks ready to style into bonsai, well worth the price.

Vines which can work for bonsai include:

Hedera - Ivy
Vitis - Grape
Actinidia - Kiwifruit - all species, both the hardy and the culinary
Passiflora - passionfruit - some are more woody than others, flowers are spectacular for some, insignificant for others. Passiflora subarosa has thick corky bark, but insignificant greenish flowers. Passiflora edulis has spectacular flowers, as do many of the tropicals. Passiflora incarnata is winter hardy through zone 6, and has showy flowers.
Lonicera - Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica is a vine, some of the others are shrubs. If you can find a trunk to collect, that is the way to go. Lonicera caerulea is the culinary haskap, a tasty blue fruit.
Fuchsia - Fuchsia are pretty flowering subtropical garden plants, some are vine like, some are shrubs, most as they age become woody. New growth is tender the first year, but becomes woody the second or third year.

There are many other good vines for bonsai, but my brain is drawing a blank. Anyone?

 

[Julio-Rufo]

Like most vines used for bonsai, the issue is finding a "trunk".

If you can find a segment of trunk of sufficient caliper to make a convincing "tree", it is worth working with.

If you start with a slender cutting, or seed, you will have to let it grow to great lengths to get it to "trunk up". Then you will have to cut back. The cycles of grow out and cut back can take years or even decades. The preferred method is to find mature trunks ready to style into bonsai, well worth the price.

Vines which can work for bonsai include:

Hedera - Ivy
Vitis - Grape
Actinidia - Kiwifruit - all species, both the hardy and the culinary
Passiflora - passionfruit - some are more woody than others, flowers are spectacular for some, insignificant for others. Passiflora subarosa has thick corky bark, but insignificant greenish flowers. Passiflora edulis has spectacular flowers, as do many of the tropicals. Passiflora incarnata is winter hardy through zone 6, and has showy flowers.
Lonicera - Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica is a vine, some of the others are shrubs. If you can find a trunk to collect, that is the way to go. Lonicera caerulea is the culinary haskap, a tasty blue fruit.
Fuchsia - Fuchsia are pretty flowering subtropical garden plants, some are vine like, some are shrubs, most as they age become woody. New growth is tender the first year, but becomes woody the second or third year.

There are many other good vines for bonsai, but my brain is drawing a blank. Anyone?

If we start talking about vines in general, I would say Wisteria is probably the main species among vines used for bonsai (there are two main varieties, Wisteria sinensis and Wisteria floribunda).

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If we start talking about vines in general, I would say Wisteria is probably the main species among vines used for bonsai (there are two main varieties, Wisteria sinensis and Wisteria floribunda).

Yes, Wisteria!
Exquisitely beautiful in bloom. An ugly duckling the rest of the year. The rampant vines reaching out to grab everywhere mean that most put Wisteria in the back of their collections, only to be shown for a few weeks in spring. Or in the case of floribunda, while in bloom early summer.

 

[Julio-Rufo]

Yes, Wisteria!
Exquisitely beautiful in bloom. An ugly duckling the rest of the year. The rampant vines reaching out to grab everywhere mean that most put Wisteria in the back of their collections, only to be shown for a few weeks in spring. Or in the case of floribunda, while in bloom early summer.

Very true!
I do remember a huge one at John Naka’s I.

 

[scottschecter]

Like most vines used for bonsai, the issue is finding a "trunk".

If you can find a segment of trunk of sufficient caliper to make a convincing "tree", it is worth working with.

If you start with a slender cutting, or seed, you will have to let it grow to great lengths to get it to "trunk up". Then you will have to cut back. The cycles of grow out and cut back can take years or even decades. The preferred method is to find mature trunks ready to style into bonsai, well worth the price.

Vines which can work for bonsai include:

Hedera - Ivy
Vitis - Grape
Actinidia - Kiwifruit - all species, both the hardy and the culinary
Passiflora - passionfruit - some are more woody than others, flowers are spectacular for some, insignificant for others. Passiflora subarosa has thick corky bark, but insignificant greenish flowers. Passiflora edulis has spectacular flowers, as do many of the tropicals. Passiflora incarnata is winter hardy through zone 6, and has showy flowers.
Lonicera - Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica is a vine, some of the others are shrubs. If you can find a trunk to collect, that is the way to go. Lonicera caerulea is the culinary haskap, a tasty blue fruit.
Fuchsia - Fuchsia are pretty flowering subtropical garden plants, some are vine like, some are shrubs, most as they age become woody. New growth is tender the first year, but becomes woody the second or third year.

There are many other good vines for bonsai, but my brain is drawing a blank. Anyone?

I've always been fond of Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum). The bright yellow flowers in winter are nice.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

I've always been fond of Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum). The bright yellow flowers in winter are nice.

Dont forget the Trachelospermum asiaticum, a very popular bonsai in Japan

 

[Dav4]

Like most vines used for bonsai, the issue is finding a "trunk".

If you can find a segment of trunk of sufficient caliper to make a convincing "tree", it is worth working with.

If you start with a slender cutting, or seed, you will have to let it grow to great lengths to get it to "trunk up". Then you will have to cut back. The cycles of grow out and cut back can take years or even decades. The preferred method is to find mature trunks ready to style into bonsai, well worth the price.

Vines which can work for bonsai include:

Hedera - Ivy
Vitis - Grape
Actinidia - Kiwifruit - all species, both the hardy and the culinary
Passiflora - passionfruit - some are more woody than others, flowers are spectacular for some, insignificant for others. Passiflora subarosa has thick corky bark, but insignificant greenish flowers. Passiflora edulis has spectacular flowers, as do many of the tropicals. Passiflora incarnata is winter hardy through zone 6, and has showy flowers.
Lonicera - Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica is a vine, some of the others are shrubs. If you can find a trunk to collect, that is the way to go. Lonicera caerulea is the culinary haskap, a tasty blue fruit.
Fuchsia - Fuchsia are pretty flowering subtropical garden plants, some are vine like, some are shrubs, most as they age become woody. New growth is tender the first year, but becomes woody the second or third year.

There are many other good vines for bonsai, but my brain is drawing a blank. Anyone?

Ampelopsis sp., I have a nice variegated porcelain berry shohin. Also, Parthenocissus tricuspidata (and P. quinquefolia)... again, I've got a few nice shohins.

For the OP, I have seen a few H. helix bonsai, definitely few and far between.

 

[just.wing.it]

Walter's is the best Hedera I've seen....or is it Sandev's....?
I like the idea of collecting a big one.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

View attachment 416184

I had one of this cultivar with a nice trunk also but died years ago, that cultivar makes thicker trunks dont know why

 

[Shima]

This one I left on Mainlandia before leaving for the islands 30 years ago. I planned to graft smaller leaves and bring everything down. One never knows what's at the base of a wall or tree full of ivy.