Where to buy an affordable Japanese red maple?

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
Prices online seem a bit steep and House of bonsai in lakewood has ones for $95 at the cheapest. Anywhere else I can find a good price on one or are they just more pricey than other species?
 

capnk

Mame
Messages
125
Reaction score
10
Are you looking for the species or a variety?
 

Dan W.

Omono
Messages
1,615
Reaction score
1,320
Location
Wyoming
USDA Zone
4
It depends on what size you want. If it's a good sized tree, $95 might not be bad. If you don't care, then seedlings are about $15 from Dallas Bonsai.
 

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
Are you looking for the species or a variety?

Japanese red specifically :)

It depends on what size you want. If it's a good sized tree, $95 might not be bad. If you don't care, then seedlings are about $15 from Dallas Bonsai.

I took a pic of one of the $95 ones, they had many, and on average the $95 ones are around 8-10" tall. This size is perfect as I don't want something too big yet. I just want to check if this size can be bought for cheaper or if this is a good price.

5wfazd.jpg
 
Last edited:

Ang3lfir3

Omono
Messages
1,287
Reaction score
28
Location
Bremerton, WA
USDA Zone
8b
you can certainly get better quality than that ... not sure about the pricing .... but capnk is the guy to talk to ....
 

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
you can certainly get better quality than that ... not sure about the pricing .... but capnk is the guy to talk to ....

Can you share some examples of what can be had for around the $95 range? It's a lot of money but I love the Japanese red maple and it's the next tree I have my sights on.
 

Ang3lfir3

Omono
Messages
1,287
Reaction score
28
Location
Bremerton, WA
USDA Zone
8b
Can you share some examples of what can be had for around the $95 range? It's a lot of money but I love the Japanese red maple and it's the next tree I have my sights on.

sadly I have no examples ... and the price range is something that is subjective to each area ... at a range like that you will not find much great material ... however you should be able to find some decent project trees.... the one in the pic you posted however has some serious life long issues like bulges and bad nebari , lack of taper, no lower branching etc that will take far too long to correct ... living in CA do know what is required to maintain maples in your area?? etc...

take you $95... save it... and add some more to it over the next 6mnths .... then re-evaluate the idea of such a tree and have a higher price range to look at...

I don't know if Chris (capnk) has any of what you are looking for but if he does it will have more potential than what I see in your pic... I can't speak to the pricing either but I have always found him to have the most reasonably priced quality material in my area ...

if you are looking for something a little closer to home then take your time ... enjoy the slow pace of bonsai and have an adventure spending the next year looking for just that right one ... enjoy the hunt .... the results will be worth it...
 

togishi

Sapling
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Southern Calif.
Shade like crazy in our climate, well 50% at least, the past weekend when temperatures rose, burned a few of the leaves on mine, and they were only out for a few hours. I have about 12 different, and if you are just looking for a maple to grow, you can always order from Eastfork Nursery, they have always sent me good trees, albeit not trained for bonsai, but in time possibly. Otherwise, maples in bonsai material are kind of scarce, I've been looking around to replace a crimson (i sold another one I had), and looking for a larger one. No luck so far in maples, but it is still early considering our weather, and the mild winter we had. I know Vicky (house of bonsai) mentioned they were getting more maples from Oregon in soon, you may want to check again if she puts some up for sale.
 

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
sadly I have no examples ... and the price range is something that is subjective to each area ... at a range like that you will not find much great material ... however you should be able to find some decent project trees.... the one in the pic you posted however has some serious life long issues like bulges and bad nebari , lack of taper, no lower branching etc that will take far too long to correct ... living in CA do know what is required to maintain maples in your area?? etc...

take you $95... save it... and add some more to it over the next 6mnths .... then re-evaluate the idea of such a tree and have a higher price range to look at...

I don't know if Chris (capnk) has any of what you are looking for but if he does it will have more potential than what I see in your pic... I can't speak to the pricing either but I have always found him to have the most reasonably priced quality material in my area ...

if you are looking for something a little closer to home then take your time ... enjoy the slow pace of bonsai and have an adventure spending the next year looking for just that right one ... enjoy the hunt .... the results will be worth it...

So true, thank you for the wise words. By the way, just seeing how you can spot all those issues with the tree in the pic, whereas I looked at it and thought "that's a good one!" goes to show how far I have to go.
 

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
Shade like crazy in our climate, well 50% at least, the past weekend when temperatures rose, burned a few of the leaves on mine, and they were only out for a few hours. I have about 12 different, and if you are just looking for a maple to grow, you can always order from Eastfork Nursery, they have always sent me good trees, albeit not trained for bonsai, but in time possibly. Otherwise, maples in bonsai material are kind of scarce, I've been looking around to replace a crimson (i sold another one I had), and looking for a larger one. No luck so far in maples, but it is still early considering our weather, and the mild winter we had. I know Vicky (house of bonsai) mentioned they were getting more maples from Oregon in soon, you may want to check again if she puts some up for sale.

They have maples EVERYWHERE so I think she might have already got them in. It's just the cheapest start from $95.
 

Brian Underwood

Chumono
Messages
930
Reaction score
214
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
Make a trip up to Lone Pine Nursery in Sebastopol, or one of the MANY amazing nurseries around northern California. Expect to spend around $200-$300 for a great piece of material.
 

alonsou

Mame
Messages
126
Reaction score
7
Location
Norwalk, CA
USDA Zone
10a
Kiani,

In my personal experience, JM does not do very well in our hot climate. I had several before ( I still have a few pre-bonsai) and all of them suffer from severe leaf burning. Hopefully this year it may be a different story since I installed a new shade clothe with a 70 shade percentage (vs the 50 I had before) still, I know our hard water its also an issue for them.

If you are looking into getting a maple, I will consider a Trident Maple over a Japanese Maple. They resist better our climate same for our hard water. If this is the case, you might want to contact "treekutter" (forum member) and ask if there's any TM left for purchase, he will dig it up for you and ship it, and you will receive a nice 2-4 inch trunk dia starter TM, for a very affordable price.
 

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
Kiani,

In my personal experience, JM does not do very well in our hot climate. I had several before ( I still have a few pre-bonsai) and all of them suffer from severe leaf burning. Hopefully this year it may be a different story since I installed a new shade clothe with a 70 shade percentage (vs the 50 I had before) still, I know our hard water its also an issue for them.

If you are looking into getting a maple, I will consider a Trident Maple over a Japanese Maple. They resist better our climate same for our hard water. If this is the case, you might want to contact "treekutter" (forum member) and ask if there's any TM left for purchase, he will dig it up for you and ship it, and you will receive a nice 2-4 inch trunk dia starter TM, for a very affordable price.

Thanks for the advice Alansou. Out of curiosity, how do nurseries like House of bonsai keep their RM trees so healthy? Some shaded, some in the ground. What's their secret? :)
 

togishi

Sapling
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Southern Calif.
Japanese maples, although harder to keep up in our climate, is doable. I have a few rarer ones that have done well even though I have to leave them in 50% shade. I know a few people that will plant them in the ground, and as long as the keep them well watered, especially in summer months, they normally turn out fine. Normally in our climate bloodgoods, and emperors thrive the best, but with a bit extra care and placement, almost any of them can survive and do well. Normally I have mine get some early morning sun, and then they are shaded by 50% fabric the rest of the day. Here is one of my Orange Dream maples taken just last week.

137008013633885378.jpg
 

capnk

Mame
Messages
125
Reaction score
10
Kiani,
We do grow Acer palmatum 'atropurpureum' on native roots (not grafted).
The plain red maple is not as popular for bonsai as the green, but we do have a few.

Email me at tfarms@wvi.com, and we'll see what we can do.
Thanks,
Chris Kirk
Telperion Farms
 

biglou13

Mame
Messages
105
Reaction score
2
Location
ne florida
kiani HOB, has full time staff to tend plants and often under shade cloth. pro tekt by dyna grow helps. the santa ana winds will burn leaves also. i kick my self for not buying a arakawa maple from her. in spite of my best efforts i still burned leaves every summer.

have you seen oriental liquid amber, more so cal hardy good color show, leaves reduce , and available for decent $ in so cal.
 

togishi

Sapling
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Southern Calif.
Just actually took a trip to HOB to get some soil materials, and she hasn't got her new maples in yet, those were the 'left overs' from last year. She does take good care of her material. As the previous person mentioned, liquid amber does well, and Lakewood Nursery (I noticed the other day), has a ton in their back lot (kinda hidden), they would have to be cut down, but the trunks are fairly large.
 

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
Japanese maples, although harder to keep up in our climate, is doable. I have a few rarer ones that have done well even though I have to leave them in 50% shade. I know a few people that will plant them in the ground, and as long as the keep them well watered, especially in summer months, they normally turn out fine. Normally in our climate bloodgoods, and emperors thrive the best, but with a bit extra care and placement, almost any of them can survive and do well. Normally I have mine get some early morning sun, and then they are shaded by 50% fabric the rest of the day. Here is one of my Orange Dream maples taken just last week.

View attachment 21628

Thanks for the info Togishi. The Orange Dream maple looks really nice :)

Kiani,
We do grow Acer palmatum 'atropurpureum' on native roots (not grafted).
The plain red maple is not as popular for bonsai as the green, but we do have a few.

Email me at tfarms@wvi.com, and we'll see what we can do.
Thanks,
Chris Kirk
Telperion Farms

Thanks Chris, how much are your JRM? Just so I can get an idea of the price range.

kiani HOB, has full time staff to tend plants and often under shade cloth. pro tekt by dyna grow helps. the santa ana winds will burn leaves also. i kick my self for not buying a arakawa maple from her. in spite of my best efforts i still burned leaves every summer.

have you seen oriental liquid amber, more so cal hardy good color show, leaves reduce , and available for decent $ in so cal.

I'm lucky in that my patio gets a few hours of morning sun and by early afternoon, all the trees are in shade. There won't be any over-exposure to sun light where I am now :)

As for oriental liquid amber, no I haven't seen it, what is it?

Just actually took a trip to HOB to get some soil materials, and she hasn't got her new maples in yet, those were the 'left overs' from last year. She does take good care of her material. As the previous person mentioned, liquid amber does well, and Lakewood Nursery (I noticed the other day), has a ton in their back lot (kinda hidden), they would have to be cut down, but the trunks are fairly large.

Thanks, I just called Lakewood Nursery and they have JRM but not bonsai.

By the way, I had a look on Ebay and if I thought $95 was a lot at House of bonsai, a similar tree on Ebay is over twice as much.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-Japanes...296?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a713d13a0
 
Last edited:

Kiani

Mame
Messages
194
Reaction score
3
Location
Orange County, CA
USDA Zone
10b
SweetGum.jpg



this one just got potted into a better pot this year as well.... never liked the pot it was in

Wow, that's yours? Nice!

I don't know why but by the sound of it "oriental liquid amber", I thought it was some kind of vitamin/food for the tree :D

Anyway I'm still on the hunt for a Japanese red maple for under $100, if anyone finds anything in socal please give me a heads up. I want to get the best I can for my money. It doesn't have to be a finished product either, as long as it has a good trunk, taper and nice nebari. Cheers!
 
Top Bottom