Bonsai is an old and fascinating art, dating back hundreds of years in Japan, and has become a very popular way to enjoy many types of trees and shrubs. The word "bonsai" is Japanese for "tray planting". It is one of the fine arts of gardening, growing and carefully training plants in containers. The objective is to create a tree or plant, and even landscapes, in miniature. Aisde from dwarf plant varieities, placing a tree or shrub in a small container will stunt a plants growth. Some trees can become good bonsai specimens, whereas others don't seem to work out very well. Part of the fun of bonsai culture is the experimentation!

Some of the more popular trees to use in bonsai culture (as well as container-growing), include many species of Firs, Spruces, Pines, Junipers, and Maples. Some of the most popular bonsai trees are the Japanese Maples, particularly the Laceleaf varieties. Although we don't grow trees and shrubs for bonsai per se, we do have many that are very suitable (plus those that are not).

Our specialty are the fast-growing trees for privacy screens, but we have a friend that has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field of Bonsai. Learn More About the Art of Bonsai, the How-to, and more. Click to our friends at My Bonsai Tree.

Over the years, we have had many interested folks in bonsai, and below is a grouped-list of trees and shrubs that have been, or can be, used for bonsai and container-growing. This is not a complete list, there are many many other trees and plants that can be used, but this does include the plants we grow.

Consider these -

Arbor Vitae;
the Cedars - Deador, Lebanon, Blue Atlas, Port Orford, Western Red, Incense Cedar;
the Cypresses - Leyland, Italian, Bald Cypress;
the True Firs - Balsam, Fraser, Noble, Shasta Red, Grand, White;
the Pines - Japanese Black, Mugo, Swiss Mountain, Eastern White, Lodgepole;
Canadian Hemlock;
the Redwoods - Giant Sequoia, Coast Redwood, Dawn Redwood;
the Spruces - Colorado Blue, Engelmann, White, Sitka Spruce;
the Junipers - Hollywood, Hietz, Skyrocket, Wichita Blue;
the Cherries - Kwanzan, Yoshino, Black Cherry;
the Magnolias - Southern, Star, Saucer, Sweetbay, Cucumber Tree;
Silktree;
the Dogwoods - Pink Princess, Florida, Kousa, Pagoda;
Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Camellias;
Gardenia;
Japanese Boxwood; and,
the Maples - the Japanese Laceleaf Hybrids, Vine, Trident, Amur Flame Maple.

Depending on your preferences, there are many types of trees and plants that can make interesting and enjoyable bonsai and small container plants. You can take the links on the left to learn more about what we grow.

And speaking about the Japanese Maples, we only grow a couple of the popular types, but we have a source for many of the hard-to-find hybrids. Click on the page link at the bottom of this page to learn about those.

Note for 2006 - We have added a number of other more bonsai-specific trees like the Mugo Pine, Bristlecone Pine, Swiss Mountain Stone Pine, and more... but click to the list below.

The Bonsai Tree List!