On 22 Sep 2004 at 7:36, Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL) wrote:


Mesquite - which I've been told absolutely do not like having
their roots messed with. So, I was wondering if the same
holds true for the others: Twisted Acacia, Texas Ranger, and
Desert Willow.


Mesquite _can_ be bonsaied, but only with great care. The
question here, though (as with these other species) is whether
they'd survive the transition to your climate -- which, if I
recall, is midwestern. I'd doubt it.

The acacia would bonsai easily, but your fingers and hands would
suffer every time you wired or pruned.

I have tried the "Texas Ranger" with absolutely no luck. Others
have worked successfully with them. I don't find a "desert
willow" in any of my western tree books, but there are 20
gazillion willows and all of them cross pollinate, so that's no
surprise.

If it is a true willow (Salix sp.) it should be the easiest of
all to grow. Training it into a decent-looking bonsai may be
tough. I just haven't ever seen anything "willowish" that _I_
would call a successful bonsai. However, common names being
what they are, it may not be Salix.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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