What local trees could I gather here in the North-East.

[Michael Shaffer]

I have wanted to grow a Bonsai tree for years and want to find something local. Looking to grow a hard wood. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

[Vance Wood]

I have wanted to grow a Bonsai tree for years and want to find something local. Looking to grow a hard wood. Any help would be great. Thanks.

If you could finish your user profile with information as to where you live we would have a better chance of giving you the kind of information you are looking for. In general depending on your location you have a host of trees to choose from: Red Cedar, White Cedar or Arborvitea, Juniperus Horizontalis, Pitch Pine, Common Juniper, Red Pine, Eastern White Pine, and a bunch of none coniferous shrubs and small trees which is what you are looking for though I don't know why.

 

[RJNick]

Hi.

Where do you live?

 

[Michael Shaffer]

I live in the Eastern panhandle of West Virginia.

 

[jkd2572]

Another idea is see what landscaping is grown there. A drive through a neighborhood could give a start.

 

[Dav4]

You're not really in the Northeast, and you won't find arborvitae, or J. horizontalis growing wild in West Virginia, though you can find them in nurseries. I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "hardwood", but some deciduous trees like hornbeam, beech, hawthorn and others can be found in the woods and can make descent to great bonsai material. Seeing what grows in the landscape is a good idea, too. However, most native "hardwoods", including maples, oaks, walnut, hickory, etc., typically are difficult to make mediocre bonsai at best.

 

[coppice]

Go swamping, and dig some alder next spring.

 

[BrianBay9]

I'm becoming very attached to American hackberry - Celtis occidentalis. It gets a great gnarly bark very young, dead easy to collect with very few roots, and it appears the leaves reduce quite well. Just learning to deal with it, but I've been very happy with my collected trees. You live well within their native range - should be able to find some in the woods around you.

Brian