A smooth stone under the nebari allows you to keep the slope downward, putting them on a flat surface will also cause the roots to flare upwards. 👍 I couldn’t imagine having a tree that awesome and remembering the path it had to take to get there. Very awesome and that’s why bonsai is not cheap!
What a beautiful specimen! I love oaks as bonsai trees. I have a white oak which came from a nursery several years ago. It is starting to take on character. I would love to have my oak look like your tree. That will take many more years. I also planted acorns from a cork oak obtained from the Sacramento area last year. The majority of the acorns survived in the large pot I used for the full batch (nearly 100 acorns). The pot has spent the summer outside. The oaks have started hardening up and taking on character. I have started pruning or trunk chopping the young trees so that the can ramifications without leaving major scars from major trunk chops. What fun to start oaks from seed and watch them grow over the years. Looking at your specimen gives me hope that I will see the day when my oaks will look like oaks trees in the wild. Thank you for this video. Great content!
I can only second the comments from the experts who praised your oak. I am in the early stages of developing an oak bonsai. Your tree is truly my aspiration for my oak. As Nigel Saunders said, “Amazing!”
I've never thought of sending a bonsai on a summer holiday. I do have a baby sitter for when I am away. What lucky trees having you care for them. They clearly appreciate you.
Actually, this one's at boarding school this year. I just don't put up with kids misbehaving. The acorn was collected in Sacramento - and now it's in Auburn - so much closer to the native habitat!
Love it. I grew up climbing and building forts in the old oaks of the Cali central coast. Now in Arizona and just starting bonsai. Working with Emory & Turbinella Oak and Manzanita too.
Hell of a job with that Oak! Great vision, great execution. I hadn’t really considered “summer camp” for any of my trees, but sure makes sense. Thank you for sharing with us!
I’m in Vancouver BC. I also started a big batch of oaks my first year. Mine are English Oaks but similar none the less. I took off the tap root the beginning of year 2 and had great results with an radial root distribution. I’m a few years behind you with my oaks but seeing your success boosted my confidence. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Love oaks as bonsai! I have many young plants of native deciduous trees- European oak,ash, sycamore etc…can’t wait till they mature and show some nice bark
Gorgeous tree! I grew up in Tracy, so I grok you about valley oaks. I'm thinking maybe a mame/shohin cotoneaster in the oak style, as up here on the Humboldt coast, we're about as cold as you are, and cotoneasters are *weeds*.
Gorgeous Oak!! Well done on the whole look taper I'm jealous. But I'm super happy to hear I'm not the only nut trying to do an oak bonsai tree from acorn. I live in the Central Coast Santa Barbara County.. We have "Live Coastal "Oak I've been fortunate to find happy Acorn that want to thrive🌱.. still in the early stages though. Lots more to come.....
Ok have several old specimens growing in the neighborhood here and I've collected a tree from my father-in-law's yard as a seedling and started a couple on my own and I planted about 10 12 of them this year to grow out wish me luck would love to see how you handle these trees in general if there's anything special other than what one would think
Love the styling. In the Midwest we have Burr Oaks, which propagate relatively easily. I have done the same and picked up acorns from neighborhood trees. I have 500+ acorns stratifying right now. Will be excited to see the outcome. Any advice for the next 3 months, other than patience?
Great Video! I live in Sacramento and its hard to find video on our native oaks! I currently have several valley oak seedlings, a blue oak and a few interior live oaks that I am working with.
Just an idea but potentially you could experiment on another oak of sand papering a branch to get the old looking bark it works on olive and may get the texture on the branches your looking for I am a novice but it might be worth trying
Beautiful tree you did an amazing job. I have a quick question do you have any tips on digging one of these trees up from the ground? I live in the valley and a friend of mine has a few acres with some small oak trees growing and I was wondering what would be the best way to dig some up thanks
As a pot grower why don't you try to putting it in a small grow closet and reduce light to 8-9 hrs and maybe put it in a cool room or AC to simulate winter. Best of luck. PS I'm from Antelope not too far from Roseville.
Hi, That’s a lovely tree. I wonder if you could advise me on an oak I grew from an acorn picked from Central Park NY, the week before 9/11. I have chopped the trunk which has a good thickness and tried to develop branches but the leaves continue to grow big. I think it’s an English oak. What would your advice be on trying to get the leaves smaller? Thanks 🙏
Oak trees are fun to work with. The acorn gives so much fuel that the selling gets substantial before even needing photosynthesis. The naturally convoluted branch structure is in my opinion the most appealing aspect of these trees. Your presented tree is a stunning example!!! There is also a plethora of different oaks to grow. Each with their own characteristic. Many growers have focused on evergreen varieties like various Live Oak and Cork Oak. These trees also have naturally small leaves. My most recent oak find I started growing recently is the “Oracle Oak” (Quercus × morehus). It’s a natural occurring California native cross between the evergreen Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni) and California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii). This gives the best of both worlds for bonsai work. A small lobulated semi-evergreen leafed oak tree. The acorns grow massive tap roots that can be trimmed at any time without doing much to slow down early growth. We are blessed to have so much oak variety in California. No question the Valley Oak is most representative on inland areas just like how the Coastal Live Oak is along the central and northern coast. BTW I just learned how to differentiate Costal from Interior Live Oak. The Costal has “armpit hairs” on the underside of the leaf. Pretty plant nerdy info but knowledge is a large part of the hobby.
I plant in 1 gal cans and separate the roots over a cobblestone which is then buried. I don't have any old trees so I'm not 100% on the result. However, I would imagine the roots are forced to grow out around the cobblestone and then taper down into the pot. Maybe this would be better than a flat board? Also, I don't mind the reverse taper at all. But I am not a competition kind of guy.
Cobblestone....hmm - isn't that mostly flat? But yeah, we actually had thought that a cone (like a dog cone-of-shame) would be better - shallow sloping away.
@@Bonsaify Maybe the names are regional, at least here in upstate NY, we have lots of round 3"-8" cobblestones they seem to work well and are free. We call our 'river rock' here is more flat/discuss type shapes. I'm curious to see how they turn out in a few years
No, these oaks are best grown outdoors year round. Locally we get some light freezing, but more like 2-10C as a low at night most of the time. These go dormant in those conditions, which is best. I have not tried growing them indoors because they need so much heat and sun in the summer.
@@Bonsaify I’m just asking Because I live in Montréal and our winter it’s too cold So I just wonder if those trees can be in houses in winter But like you told me they need dormancy So they need a cold room during our winter à place from 2 to max 10 degrees Thanks
Do you have to deal with oak galls? One thing I remember about valley oaks in the Sacramento valley is that pretty much every one has wasp galls on it.
Depends. Southern Florida - maybe not as the fungal issues might get the better of them. Coastal California - yes, they will. But, they prefer hotter summers than San Francisco!
Amazing , a great vision and execution of a Valley Oak, an outstanding tree that will just keep getting better!!!
A smooth stone under the nebari allows you to keep the slope downward, putting them on a flat surface will also cause the roots to flare upwards. 👍 I couldn’t imagine having a tree that awesome and remembering the path it had to take to get there. Very awesome and that’s why bonsai is not cheap!
That reverse taper makes it look amazing and real! Definitely don't get rid of it.
What a beautiful specimen! I love oaks as bonsai trees. I have a white oak which came from a nursery several years ago. It is starting to take on character. I would love to have my oak look like your tree. That will take many more years. I also planted acorns from a cork oak obtained from the Sacramento area last year. The majority of the acorns survived in the large pot I used for the full batch (nearly 100 acorns). The pot has spent the summer outside. The oaks have started hardening up and taking on character. I have started pruning or trunk chopping the young trees so that the can ramifications without leaving major scars from major trunk chops. What fun to start oaks from seed and watch them grow over the years. Looking at your specimen gives me hope that I will see the day when my oaks will look like oaks trees in the wild. Thank you for this video. Great content!
Looks so natural. Fantastic tree
I can only second the comments from the experts who praised your oak. I am in the early stages of developing an oak bonsai. Your tree is truly my aspiration for my oak. As Nigel Saunders said, “Amazing!”
I've never thought of sending a bonsai on a summer holiday. I do have a baby sitter for when I am away. What lucky trees having you care for them. They clearly appreciate you.
Actually, this one's at boarding school this year. I just don't put up with kids misbehaving. The acorn was collected in Sacramento - and now it's in Auburn - so much closer to the native habitat!
Love it. I grew up climbing and building forts in the old oaks of the Cali central coast.
Now in Arizona and just starting bonsai. Working with Emory & Turbinella Oak and Manzanita too.
Aussie Dave here, very well presented 🤗.
amazing luck to be first today :)) I love the small leaves...sometimes is a real struggle to get small oak leaves consistently
You must be really proud of that tree!! amazing job
Hell of a job with that Oak! Great vision, great execution. I hadn’t really considered “summer camp” for any of my trees, but sure makes sense. Thank you for sharing with us!
I’m in Vancouver BC. I also started a big batch of oaks my first year. Mine are English Oaks but similar none the less. I took off the tap root the beginning of year 2 and had great results with an radial root distribution. I’m a few years behind you with my oaks but seeing your success boosted my confidence. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Love oaks as bonsai! I have many young plants of native deciduous trees- European oak,ash, sycamore etc…can’t wait till they mature and show some nice bark
Amazing tree.; Amazing work. Thanks for the back stories.
That Oak is bonkers!!!
what a great feeling, isnt it, from acorn, good effort mate!
Hats off to you, sir! That's an impressive accomplishment in so short a time.
As a local that grew up in Santa Maria, I find these and the Coast Live Oaks really inspiring. They feel like California to me.
Awesome Oak Dude🤘🤘🤘
Can't believe you raised it from Acorn
Beautiful specimen. Quite a masterpiece. I love the natural look. I can imagine myself relaxing under it. Thanks, keep growing
Nice tree cheers Eric.
A beautiful tree, really. Well done, sir.
Such a cool natural tree. You have done such an Amazing job on this one
Very nice looking tree. Thanks for sharing. 👍
I grew up in Roseville around that time, I might have walked by that bonsai's parent tree!
I believe it was from the giant oak on the edge of Misty Grove park next to Pleasant grove blvd. I was astonished by the size of that tree.
Great tree! Love it, faults and all.
this is so beautiful
Hello. Thank you for sharing!
It looks very similar to the wild one in the pictures 👏👏👏👏👏
Beautiful tree man!!
and yes, its a heaps good point about reverse taper... i see it all the time in wild oaks...
awesome bonsai
Gorgeous tree! I grew up in Tracy, so I grok you about valley oaks. I'm thinking maybe a mame/shohin cotoneaster in the oak style, as up here on the Humboldt coast, we're about as cold as you are, and cotoneasters are *weeds*.
Good job...👍
Gorgeous Oak!! Well done on the whole look taper I'm jealous. But I'm super happy to hear I'm not the only nut trying to do an oak bonsai tree from acorn. I live in the Central Coast Santa Barbara County.. We have "Live Coastal "Oak I've been fortunate to find happy Acorn that want to thrive🌱.. still in the early stages though. Lots more to come.....
Beautiful!
this is inspirational
Thanks for sharing.
Jeje ✌
It’s a beautiful tree.
Love the tree a lot, just as it is but I am sure you will be able to make it even better in the future🎗👍🏼
I'm in Manteca you can always leave it here
It was outside Placerville this past summer, at a friends place. He has a substantial collection of oaks that may be the subject of a future video!
Ok have several old specimens growing in the neighborhood here and I've collected a tree from my father-in-law's yard as a seedling and started a couple on my own and I planted about 10 12 of them this year to grow out wish me luck would love to see how you handle these trees in general if there's anything special other than what one would think
Love the styling. In the Midwest we have Burr Oaks, which propagate relatively easily. I have done the same and picked up acorns from neighborhood trees. I have 500+ acorns stratifying right now. Will be excited to see the outcome. Any advice for the next 3 months, other than patience?
Great Video! I live in Sacramento and its hard to find video on our native oaks! I currently have several valley oak seedlings, a blue oak and a few interior live oaks that I am working with.
Just an idea but potentially you could experiment on another oak of sand papering a branch to get the old looking bark it works on olive and may get the texture on the branches your looking for I am a novice but it might be worth trying
Wow! 😮
Beautiful tree you did an amazing job. I have a quick question do you have any tips on digging one of these trees up from the ground? I live in the valley and a friend of mine has a few acres with some small oak trees growing and I was wondering what would be the best way to dig some up thanks
A beauty
As a pot grower why don't you try to putting it in a small grow closet and reduce light to 8-9 hrs and maybe put it in a cool room or AC to simulate winter. Best of luck. PS I'm from Antelope not too far from Roseville.
Beautiful specimen. How did the trunk become so full? Ah never mind. I see you planked it.
Yeah, grown on a board, and then there was a large sacrifice branch, the cut is at the upper large junction.
@@Bonsaify I see it as classic form. Keep it going, it looks really good.
Hi,
That’s a lovely tree. I wonder if you could advise me on an oak I grew from an acorn picked from Central Park NY, the week before 9/11. I have chopped the trunk which has a good thickness and tried to develop branches but the leaves continue to grow big. I think it’s an English oak. What would your advice be on trying to get the leaves smaller?
Thanks 🙏
Oak trees are fun to work with. The acorn gives so much fuel that the selling gets substantial before even needing photosynthesis. The naturally convoluted branch structure is in my opinion the most appealing aspect of these trees. Your presented tree is a stunning example!!! There is also a plethora of different oaks to grow. Each with their own characteristic. Many growers have focused on evergreen varieties like various Live Oak and Cork Oak. These trees also have naturally small leaves. My most recent oak find I started growing recently is the “Oracle Oak” (Quercus × morehus). It’s a natural occurring California native cross between the evergreen Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni) and California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii). This gives the best of both worlds for bonsai work. A small lobulated semi-evergreen leafed oak tree. The acorns grow massive tap roots that can be trimmed at any time without doing much to slow down early growth. We are blessed to have so much oak variety in California. No question the Valley Oak is most representative on inland areas just like how the Coastal Live Oak is along the central and northern coast. BTW I just learned how to differentiate Costal from Interior Live Oak. The Costal has “armpit hairs” on the underside of the leaf. Pretty plant nerdy info but knowledge is a large part of the hobby.
Beautiful tree. Please do share the work on it.
Sabir
India
Crazy bruh I was thinking dang that tree must be 20somthing by now but na it was planted when I was born 😭
Nice tree. When and who do we send pictures to?
contact@bonsaify.com
I plant in 1 gal cans and separate the roots over a cobblestone which is then buried. I don't have any old trees so I'm not 100% on the result. However, I would imagine the roots are forced to grow out around the cobblestone and then taper down into the pot. Maybe this would be better than a flat board? Also, I don't mind the reverse taper at all. But I am not a competition kind of guy.
Cobblestone....hmm - isn't that mostly flat? But yeah, we actually had thought that a cone (like a dog cone-of-shame) would be better - shallow sloping away.
@@Bonsaify Maybe the names are regional, at least here in upstate NY, we have lots of round 3"-8" cobblestones they seem to work well and are free. We call our 'river rock' here is more flat/discuss type shapes. I'm curious to see how they turn out in a few years
Hi
This tree need dormancy
Like winter between 2 to 10 degrees Celsius?
Or it can be kept inside the house during fall and winter??
No, these oaks are best grown outdoors year round. Locally we get some light freezing, but more like 2-10C as a low at night most of the time. These go dormant in those conditions, which is best. I have not tried growing them indoors because they need so much heat and sun in the summer.
@@Bonsaify
Thanks
@@Bonsaify
I’m just asking
Because I live in Montréal and our winter it’s too cold
So I just wonder if those trees can be in houses in winter
But like you told me they need dormancy
So they need a cold room during our winter à place from 2 to max 10 degrees
Thanks
Bom dia, Flor do dia!
👍👍
Do you have to deal with oak galls? One thing I remember about valley oaks in the Sacramento valley is that pretty much every one has wasp galls on it.
There are sometimes small leaf galls, but nothing too crazy where I am. No apple galls!
Like something outta Game of Thrones hey?
Bonjour Eric,
Selon moi, abaisser les branches apporterait plus de réalisme à ce très beau chêne et un peu plus de maturité. Cordialement.
Merci, je suis tout à fait d'accord!
ACKshully ACKshully ACKshully .. ACKshully
Would they grow in usda zone 10??
Depends. Southern Florida - maybe not as the fungal issues might get the better of them. Coastal California - yes, they will. But, they prefer hotter summers than San Francisco!
@@Bonsaify is there a way around it or to protect them I've grown a few species that aren't sopose to thrive here successfully before??
Give it a try. You never know until you try!
Great tree! Love it, faults and all.