Very fast growing trees which make excellent Bonsai?

[777thSunRay]

I have a few dwarf Bonsai and Pre-Bonsai, and a few I would call medium. I also have a couple of Ceiba Species (Silk Floss) which have shot up at a blinding rate since Summer started. I have seen a very striking Silk Floss Bonsai which was posted by a forum member, and I really like the possibilities with such a fast growing tree, within a more impatient timeframe, if you will haha.

Could anyone suggest any more very fast growing species which will make very nice Bonsai as well? I am considering buying an Aptos Blue (I've seen it called both Sequoia and Redwood) Could these grow close to as fast as the Silk Floss? And again, any other suggested very fast growing species will be appreciated. I think at the moment I am good with my little or medium species!

I should add, the Blue Aptos' scientific name is Sequoia Sempervirens...

 

[bluone23]

I have been experimenting with growing trident maple,from seed, in the ground.
I think its the fastest growing in my area.

also try to leave a leader to grow long. Chop it back at the end of the season

 

[Shibui]

Some willows can grow pretty fast.
Many of the ficus also develop really quick.
Also a second for trident maple and it can develop great ramification where some fast growers do not.

 

[sorce]

The title is all but an absolute oxymoron.

I think attempting to work within the .01% that is not absolute oxymoron is wasting a lot of time and space for other material.

If zone envy is split into categories, the one of development time is the most righteous (if selfishly wanting to keep a certain tree is the least righteous) and you're already in that zone of quick development time....

What more do you want!?

I peeped your zone because as far as sustainability goes, though that seems a fleeting concern as per the thread title, ficus could be up on the list, but for me, where I can't guarantee heat through the winter, I'd pick Elm.

Though my requirements for a fast developing tree are anything alternate, that can be chopped to nothing and regrow, and will heal or hold a large wound.

These offer the longest time to ignore before they ruin design, and after design may be ruined can be started over reliably.

If you take 12 different trees with these characteristics, you'll probably find 2 or 3 that are most compliant in your microclimate.

Most importantly though, if you were to remove "speed" as a thing at all, believing the truth that is "time is man made", I reckon you may find if you kept 12 anythings, you'd end up rather surprised at the things that actually develope quickly.

I personally find that seeking speed is quite detrimental to an intimate relationship with a tree, like pushing it to have a one night stand, not much good except to indulge in pleasure with a chance of the buttpox.

I find that the trees that develope the fastest are the one where that intimate relationship stays intact.

Let them lead the dance.

We must respond to them, to do this correctly we must have this understanding of what we are responding to, it's a rather clear and cyclical pattern once we allow it to be shown. This is possible.

They can not respond to us, since they can't know what is going on in our design heads as we can understand them, so forcing anything always slows the process.

The only way to speed up the process is to remove the things slowing it down.

Lack of honor is the largest slower of the process.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Meant to throw this little tidbit in there......

The other day my, mean and not previously understood as sarcastic, neighbor made a comment while I was out, apparently for the 23rd time in the day tending the garden....

Said ....

"It's not going to grow any faster if you look at it 25 times a day".

I laughed it off as sarcastic because responding to such a foolish comment isn't how I like spending time.

The truth is, only a fool would think they could speed up the growth of a garden.
And only a fool wouldn't realize the constant attention is to ensure better production.

When you remove about 10 cucumber beetles, 2 clusters of squash bug eggs, and around 3-5 cabbage worms(before the yellow jackets start getting them) a day, production is certainly going up, or even kept as a possibility in cases where pests destroy entire plants.

Anyway I got to thinking about how what we are producing, for visual harvest, is a good design.

All the same principles apply.

You can't speed up growth, but you can remove things that will cause problems for production.

Sorce

 

[penumbra]

Trees mentioned above are good choices and of course there are more, but a very fast growing tree can present more problems and require more attention in the long run.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

California white oak, aka Valley Oak. Quercus lobata. Largest oak in North America. Fastest growing thing in my garden. I can defoliate them three times in a summer and they never miss a beat. They will grow 1" caliper trunks in a 9" pond basket without ever letting them get above 12" tall.

 

[Lorax7]

Put your USDA hardiness zone in your user profile. It makes it easier for folks to give you advice that is appropriate to your climate.

i don’t know if it’ll grow well where you are, but mulberry is another fast grower.

Regarding the Sequoia sempervirens, that’s a coastal redwood. The other name you gave for it must be the cultivar name. They are indeed fast growing trees.

 

[The Warm Canuck]

California white oak, aka Valley Oak. Quercus lobata. Largest oak in North America. Fastest growing thing in my garden. I can defoliate them three times in a summer and they never miss a beat. They will grow 1" caliper trunks in a 9" pond basket without ever letting them get above 12" tall.

Do the leaves reduce well?

 

[dbonsaiw]

Bald cypress, quaking aspen and dawn redwood.

"It's not going to grow any faster if you look at it 25 times a day".

I laughed it off as sarcastic because responding to such a foolish comment isn't how I like spending time.

The truth is, only a fool would think they could speed up the growth of a garden.
And only a fool wouldn't realize the constant attention is to ensure better production.

I laughed when I read this because I hear that comment more often than I'd like to admit (usually from my wife).

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Do the leaves reduce well?

Yes. But you have to stay on top of them because they grow so quickly. However with a larger tree and a lot of ramification I'll bet it wouldn't be as troublesome.