Which Oak Bonsai

[plant_dr]

An oak that's native here in Utah is Gambel Oak- Quercus gambelii. It could be a good candidate for you. I've seen the leaves be pretty small in nature and they're definitely hardy enough(heat and cold). Fall colors can be decent too.

Here is a link from Oregon State University about them: https://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/qugam.htm

You can search Google images for them in their Fall colors, there's plenty to look at..

 

[PaulH]

Do you collect anything or buy your trees?

I've collected Coast Live oak, Interior Live Oak, , Valley Oak, and Blue Oak. All the rest of mine started as nursery stock. We used to have a nursery nearby that specialized in oaks from all over the world and that's where a lot of mine came from. I have one cork oak that I grew from an acorn about 35 years old.

 

[Boerboel313]

of which one? THe myrtle oak is nothing to look at right now. I am going to do the water oak pics in a couple days its just starting to flush out with new leaves.

Sorry, The Mame or any Mame you have.

 

[JoeH]

Sorry, The Mame or any Mame you have.

ahh cool I just posted the water oak in the mame section.

 

[August44]

Paul...you're lucky you have all of the deciduous down there to collect. I have conifers and they can take a lot of time to develop and they don't do chops and root pruning like the deciduous either. I would love to go out and collect an oak or a hornbeam. Peter

 

[plant_dr]

I hope to go collecting this spring

 

[PaulH]

Paul...you're lucky you have all of the deciduous down there to collect. I have conifers and they can take a lot of time to develop and they don't do chops and root pruning like the deciduous either. I would love to go out and collect an oak or a hornbeam. Peter

Actually deciduous take a lot longer to develop than conifers because scar healing and ramification are so important. I collect a lot of junipers and they are much faster.

 

[August44]

Yes you are correct Paul. I never thought about it that way. I am taking on a bunch of maples, a hornbeam, some oaks, a couple of service berries, plus what I might collect this spring. I'm going to have to stay dialed in. I will have to look for a Juniper...there are a ton of wild ones around here of all kinds of shapes, and they are on public, BLM land.