Lilac Trees as Bonsai

mahler365

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Hey everyone, I was wondering some of your experiences with lilac as bonsai. The pic below is a korean lilac i purchased this morning for $4.00 and put into a $10.00 Japanese pot. It is shohin landing at about 6 inches, which I plan to keep it. I am young so I have time to do twigs like this. Anyway, feel free to post about any comments, experiences, or etc. about lilac as bonsai. I know Walter Pall has done lilacs, so tell me your experiences. Andrew
 
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TheSteve

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You're not that young. If you leave that tree in a pot it's not going to be much bigger when you're dead. Lilac is a good idea but the flowers usually overwhelm the tree. Great colors though.
 

milehigh_7

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I remember digging a Lilac stump when I lived in colorado that had about a six inch caliper. I was not into bonsai then so I did not even keep it alive.

:(
 
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TheSteve

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Now that could have kept up with the flowers. Bummer.
 

bisjoe

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Same problems as using Hydrangeas as bonsai.

Large, out of scale flowers, but they bloom on the new growth, so with pruning for shape/style you are not likely to get blooms on them.
 

Pine Barron

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On the contrary, Shohin trees are not like big bonsai, they are a totally different genre. Small trees don't have as many branches, leaves, and etc. to support, so that energy will be redirected to what a small tree does have, like its trunk and few branches, leaves and etc. Its just something to think about when doing small trees. So I will post a picture of this twig in 10 years if this forum still exists and I'm am sure you will be very jealous of this not so much of a twig then. Andrew


That's funny I don't care who you are....
 

JTGJr25

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On the contrary, Shohin trees are not like big bonsai, they are a totally different genre. Small trees don't have as many branches, leaves, and etc. to support, so that energy will be redirected to what a small tree does have, like its trunk and few branches, leaves and etc. Its just something to think about when doing small trees. So I will post a picture of this twig in 10 years if this forum still exists and I'm am sure you will be very jealous of this not so much of a twig then. Andrew

A "twig" like this will not get any bigger if it stays in that pot. Trust me....I did this before as well. You must grow this out in a larger pot or in the ground even for a shohin sized tree.


Tom
 

TheSteve

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Originally Posted by mahler365
On the contrary, Shohin trees are not like big bonsai, they are a totally different genre. Small trees don't have as many branches, leaves, and etc. to support, so that energy will be redirected to what a small tree does have, like its trunk and few branches, leaves and etc. Its just something to think about when doing small trees. So I will post a picture of this twig in 10 years if this forum still exists and I'm am sure you will be very jealous of this not so much of a twig then. Andrew

I've decided to take a couple of days to reflect on this lecture before I replied. Here goes:

It's true shohin don't have as many branches as larger trees but that's because there's not room for them. Taking a twig (your words not mine) and putting it in a pot to wrap the shohin name tag around it so you can call it a bonsai doesn't make it bonsai. Exactly what style do you call this? Windswept? Literati? At this point the tree has no form no real branching and no effort towards such. You asked for experiences and comments then attacked them. Never ask a question you don't want an answer to.
 

TheSteve

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wow that was edgy. Must have been "emotional" last night. :eek:
 

Bill S

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;) It happens to all of us eventually. Not to worry sometime you just need to scratch those bothersome itches.:D
 

Smallzi

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So....it has been almost exactly ten years. Let's see this twig
 

BrianBay9

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Not the OP, but here's a small Korean lilac from one of our club members. Maybe they don't make the best shohin but they do have nice flowers.
 

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Brian Van Fleet

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Nice! We have one blooming now in the back yard that we’ve moved from each of our last 2 houses, so we’ve had it every bit of 15 years. The biggest of the trunks is maybe pinkie-thick. I’ve considered potting it each April for the last 15 years.?
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Underdog

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I have a Miss Kim dwarf I layered off my landscape bush. Love the fragrance. Getting reedy to bloom soon.
 

Carol 83

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I have a dwarf Korean lilac I got maybe 10 years ago, not positive when, for $4 in a 2'pot. It's now probably 5' tall and a few feet wide. Should be blooming soon, if this last blast of cold hasn't killed the flower buds.
 

Mike Hennigan

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I just bought a miss Kim and the biggest trunk is about three thumbs thick! Alliteration. Cut it back hard. It’s definitely one of those extra long term project trees but excited to see what I can make of it.
 
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