Best Plants For Bonsai?

If you want to know what the best plants for Bonsai are, then you need to take all parts of a plant into consideration. Among other things, a plant has to be characterized by small leaves or at least leaves that easily become small when cultivated using Bonsai techniques. The avocado tree, for example, cannot be expected to make good Bonsai because it has overly large leaves. Oak and maple trees are two of the trees that usually make good Bonsai plants.

Japanese Kingsville Boxwood – Medium (buxus microphylla ‘compacta’)

Native to Japan the Kingsville Boxwood has the smallest leaf of all Boxwoods. The leaves are light green and it has excellent branching charachteristics. Can form round compact shape or shape by trimming. Good for indoors. A great indoor bonsai recommended by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.
List Price:
Price: 39.95

Japanese Trees are often considered traditionally easiest to tend and display. They respond well to the art form and naturally produce leaves in proportion with the specimen itself. Other plants that may be appropriate for Bonsai include pine, spruce, pomegranate, and zelkova.

Plants For Bonsai: Aesthetically Desirable Features

Another thing you need to bear in mind is that plants for Bonsai need to have an attractive bark, and its trunk should provide an illusion of maturity.

Imperial colection Bonsai – Japan #02

Image by Rodrigo Sousa1
Age: 550 yrs Height: 81 cm

Goyomatsu
(Japanese white pine)

Furthermore, the best Bonsai plants have a trunk with good girth that is still in proportion with the whole and tapers gradually towards the top. As you cultivate your plants for Bonsai, you may have to shorten a couple of the main branches in order to emphasize the line of the trunk and develop a more balanced overall appearance.

Making Plants For Bonsai Authentic Looking

Oftentimes, the upper third of the tree roots are deliberately exposed to give an illusion of age. Whether you decide to do the same or not, you should make sure that the branches look balanced from all sides, most especially from the front. Remember that the tree branch gives a Bonsai its dimension and establishes its basic form, so you should make sure it does not appear lopsided in any way. As much as possible, shape such that the branches appear to float in space.

WE LOOK AT MY BULLHORN ACACIA AND ATTEMPT TO RESHAPE THE DIRECTION OF GROWTH OF ONE OF THE BRANCHES USING FISHING WEIGHTS AND BONSAI WIRE (TO HOLD THE WEIGHTS).

Oriental Ficus Bonsai Tree (Coiled Trunk) – Large (benjamina ‘orientalis’)

Fig species which is native to south and southeast Asia. This evergreen tree is particularly good for bonsai training as they produce sturdy trunks, good branching characteristics and shiny leaves. Best to trim the leaves in early summer as the new leaves that subsequently grow will be smaller than the ones removed. Ours is trained in the coiled trunk style. Great for indoors.
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Price: 49.95

Baby Jade-3 Bonsai Tree Group (portulacaria afra)

This succulent bonsai, also known as the “Elephant Bush”, is native to South Africa and has pale green leaves that are almost round and about one-third the size of the common Jade plant. The fleshy trunk, branches, and leaves are used to store water. An excellent bonsai tree for the home of office. We pot 3 trees together in a pot to give the appearance of a grove or forest scene.
List Price:
Price: 65.95

There are several varieties of plants for Bonsai you can choose from, but what is most important is that you know how to care for each and every one of them.