What are you trying/doing that’s new, uncommon, or unusual?

[CapeCodBonsai]

I feel like “New, Uncommon, or Unusual” (in terms of the bonsai world) is kinda difficult to venture into these days. The more I Google, the more I realize just about every woody species has been tried. I am growing several things that were difficult (for me) to find on Cape Cod in nurseries so therefore, they are “Uncommon” (to me):

Chinese Coffin Tree (Taiwania cryptomerioides)

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

Temple Juniper (Juniperus rigida)

Rowan/European Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia)

Siberian peashrub/Siberian pea-tree (Caragana arborescens)

Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium)

American Dwarf Birch (Betula Glandulosa)

Willow Hawthorn (Crataegus saligna)

Koyama Spruce (Picea Koyamae)

Alder-Leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)

David Elm (Ulmus davidiana)

Japanese Raisin Tree (Hovenia dulcis)

Hardy Rosewood (Dalbergia hupeana)

Japanese prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum piperitum)

Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas)

Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)

Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

Kadsura (Kadsura japonica)

. . . and when it comes to some of the species that would qualify as “Weird” and “Controversial” because they will likely never work as a convincing bonsai (due to foliage, habit, . . . Etc.) but, experimenting with it anyway:

Common Medlar (Mespilus germanica)

Elegant Maple (Acer elegantulum)

Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha)

Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla)

Chinese Parasol Tree (Firmiana simplex)

Japanese umbrella-pine (Sciadopitys verticillata)

American papaw (Asimina triloba)

If anyone has bonsai’d any of these species and is willing to share notes and photos, please send me a message.

 

[CapeCodBonsai]

I feel like “New, Uncommon, or Unusual” (in terms of the bonsai world) is kinda difficult to venture into these days. The more I Google, the more I realize just about every woody species has been tried. I am growing several things that were difficult (for me) to find on Cape Cod in nurseries so therefore, they are “Uncommon” (to me):

Chinese Coffin Tree (Taiwania cryptomerioides)

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

Temple Juniper (Juniperus rigida)

Rowan/European Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia)

Siberian peashrub/Siberian pea-tree (Caragana arborescens)

Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium)

American Dwarf Birch (Betula Glandulosa)

Willow Hawthorn (Crataegus saligna)

Koyama Spruce (Picea Koyamae)

Alder-Leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)

David Elm (Ulmus davidiana)

Japanese Raisin Tree (Hovenia dulcis)

Hardy Rosewood (Dalbergia hupeana)

Japanese prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum piperitum)

Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas)

Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)

Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

Kadsura (Kadsura japonica)

. . . and when it comes to some of the species that would qualify as “Weird” and “Controversial” because they will likely never work as a convincing bonsai (due to foliage, habit, . . . Etc.) but, experimenting with it anyway:

Common Medlar (Mespilus germanica)

Elegant Maple (Acer elegantulum)

Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha)

Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla)

Chinese Parasol Tree (Firmiana simplex)

Japanese umbrella-pine (Sciadopitys verticillata)

American papaw (Asimina triloba)

If anyone has bonsai’d any of these species and is willing to share notes and photos, please send me a message.

AND . . .

Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)

Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)

 

[Youngling]

Probably not so uncommon but, in an effort to downsize and create space, perhaps improve some trees with not so desirable bases, I have started clumping trees together to fill in flat bases, one sided roots and so on.
So far I have clumped 7 Catlin Elm cuttings together. 3 Celtis Africana, 2 Bald Cypress stumps and 11 Beef-wood seedlings with bottoms all flared out in a radial pattern. Time will tell how well these fuse, if at all.

 

[Tieball]

Nice work.
Do you plan on letting this trees’s deadwood rot? Or carving to expedite things? A large cavity extending up the trunk would look great.


I hope this changes, maybe it already has in some circles.
Some of us are very much into bonsai that accurately showcase the damage-regrowth cycles wild trees go through

I’ve found that American Elm doesn’t really rot that quickly. The trees with exposed damage get incredibly hard once dried. I may create a larger cavity…thanks for mentioning that direction. I have a few additional American Elm trees of this size, so more trees will be damage showcased. I had grown them out, chopped, and after a while, honestly getting tired of the constant pruning required, returned them to the forest. I’m just now beginning to dig them out again with a new fresh direction in mind…..a direction with fewer branches to prune….and an appearance of the more damaged trees that attract my attention. Less perfect trees I suppose. It’s the damage that interests me when I see a tree. Trees that I think are magnificent survivors.

Something like this attachment is what I think of from your cavity extension comment. Thoughts on the full cavity?

 

[Cruiser]

magnificent survivors

Great way to describe old individualistic trees.

For the full cavity I would completely remove the dead wood so it’s just live tree with the cavity. The “sunlight vacancy” created from structure loss on part of the tree will cause the living side to produce branches in that direction. They will grow to occupy the empty space.
That’s what I typically see in hollowed trees, but you could keep the deadwood and have a plausible natural explanation for it. (The trunk could have formed a cavity long ago and only recently has part of the tree died…) Both are good options and I think your mockup does a good job illustrating this potential.

Food for thought:

43” maple. Some rotten wood still remains in the forming hollow.


60” elm with Dutch Elm Disease-related rot



15” alder

 

[Kaden Becker]

I don’t know black cottonwood, are you talking about balsam poplar?

The Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) is closely related to Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), but grows in the northwest as opposed to the far north. It also usually has a faster growth rate and can grow much larger than Balsam poplar.

 

[TreeKiller64]

My Unusual Bonsai! Your thoughts! Look close,,, it BITES! (Poison Ivy)

 

[Cruiser]

My Unusual Bonsai! Your thoughts! Look close,,, it BITES! (Poison Ivy)

You are either a glutton for punishment or immune to the effects of urushiol! I assume it’s the latter.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

My Unusual Bonsai! Your thoughts! Look close,,, it BITES! (Poison Ivy)

No thank you, I've been "bitten" by poison oak several times, topically, and in my nostrils and roof of mouth and eyes.

 

[shohin_branches]

My Unusual Bonsai! Your thoughts! Look close,,, it BITES! (Poison Ivy)

I wanted to ever since I saw Nick Lenz's but I'm too absent minded and I'd forget to put gloves on.

 

[minkes]

I am trying to make my first shell like pot from concrete. After it hardens off I will make some photo. I am interested how it turns out.

 

[PaulH]

I have some California natives not often seen as bonsai, Toyon, Chaparral honeysuckle, California Styrax, and I recently collected some McNab Cypress to experiment with.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

To get the mud out of the pot without repotting, I run a hose through the pot hole and flush the soil from the bottom up.
About a 60 % of the caked up mud comes out through the top, while leaving the soil mostly in place.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

To get the mud out of the pot without repotting, I run a hose through the pot hole and flush the soil from the bottom up.
About a 60 % of the caked up mud comes out through the top, while leaving the soil mostly in place.

Do you then add new substrate back into the pot from the top after?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Do you then add new substrate back into the pot from the top after?

It's mostly organic fertilizer I'm flushing out so I don't always have to.

 

[rusticana]

Let’s hear about those fresh/weird/controversial/good bonsai ideas and side projects.

Ive got a couple, 3-4-5?
First one I Call my Hemlog. Slow going. Up on a local mountain getting burried under 2M of snow. Its supposed to simulate the way hemlocks will grow allong a fallen log.
My other one are some serissa cuttings planted into a peice of coral. It dries out super fast. Had to replace a couple trees. But now I have in sort of a bath and thay seems to work. Plus an ear;ier one with a pine.

 

[rusticana]

Ive got a couple, 3-4-5?
First one I Call my Hemlog. Slow going. Up on a local mountain getting burried under 2M of snow. Its supposed to simulate the way hemlocks will grow allong a fallen log.
My other one are some serissa cuttings planted into a peice of coral. It dries out super fast. Had to replace a couple trees. But now I have in sort of a bath and thay seems to work. Plus an ear;ier one with a pine.

The most recent pictures. Apologies for the sideways one. Took me forever to orient the others. Trees are mostly vertical. Even more so if you want to fit in the pot
They really should fix this.

 

[zens]

Im trying a few new things that i haven't heard of anyone doing/trying in my region.

Ive got a fusion project going with some paperbark species (so far so good).

Im trying some grafting on my paperbarks (no feedback yet but given fusion is actually working fingers crossed).

Ive tried already (and failed) but trying again to air layer branches off burnt and recovered paperbark trees. Trying to get a living branch with already neat deadwood.

 

[Frenchymanny]

I am growing two balsam poplars. Next spring will be the styling phase.

Easy to collect if taken at the right time window in early spring.

Manny

 

[Frenchymanny]

I will also jump in the eastern whine pine collection next spring.

Manny