Hello all, I recently had a random Willow start growing in my Ginseng Bonsai pot (my avatar picture).

I didn't notice at first it was a different species until it must have been about 14inches high, so I tried to carefully take it out and repotted it with the idea to grow it into a Bonsai Willow.

Unfortunately for whatever reason the Willow has died immediately after being repotted but I now quite fancy having one.

Can I go out and just cut some Willow branches off and put them in water and then plant those to start with? I live in the UK and cannot find anywhere local that sells Willow seeds. Our local Garden stores only sell like 6foot high trees.

I did read on another forums after a google search that they are tricky to Bonsai but cannot find this most basic info anywhere on what to start with for the plant.

You are wasting your time growing from seed when you can take cuttings so easily. Willows are not common in bonsai as they do need a lot of water and of course they need to be tall to allow the branches to droop. I doubt it was a weeping willow that grew in with the Ficus though, There are other willows like the pussy willow which does not droop.

Yes it was a weeping willow sapling.

I assume the seed for it was in the john mcinnes compost i put in with my bonsai as i have had it about 2 years and the sapling only grew about a month ago (and i only repotted the Bonsai in the Summer).

We get quite alot of Weeping Willows in England so i'll try the cutting method.

Greatorex wrote: I did read on another forums after a google search that they are tricky to Bonsai

They are. But, as you do not have any bonsai yet, why not start with something that's more suitable ?

The ficus ginseng in my avatar photo is a Bonsai, I just haven't ever tried to shape it or anything yet - I've had it about 2 years and just let it do what it wanted to do so far. It has grown a crazy amount this year so I will wait for winter and then try some stuff on it next year though.

Pretty much looked like this when I got it (with less leaves) so grown alot;

Willow ar enot so goo d for bonsai.
They do not grow over cuts, making getting a decent taper without a lot of cutmarks near impossible. They tend to let branches die off for no clear reason. They are short-lived. The wood is very soft and prne to infection.

The reason why you cannot find willow seed is because they are short lived. As far as I know, it ia a watter of hours or days. The seed your plant grew from, probably blew into the pot at some point.

You may think you have a bonsai at home. I think that over time you may change your mind, as you learn more about what bonsai is about, when you leave out the big box store commercial products.

The UK has some of the best hawthorn and blackthorn for bonsai. I would recommend finding a club. You can probably get some good starter trees there too. Or, if you want, have a lok at Kaizen bonsai. They sell some good stuff too.

I have started a willow tree from a branch in water. It has a ton of new roots growing. Do I need to change out the water or leave it alone?

If it has roots, plant it in some form of substrate. be carefull they break easily

For next time, please donot double post, and do not hijack a thread.