On Mar 16, 12:32*am, lee benoit lee.benoit.
wrote:
oaks are tough...why i don't know.

It's not that mysterious. The genus Quercus, in fact most of the
hickory-beech family, Fagaceae, are successful, long-lived, old-growth
forest trees. They are wind-pollinated. so they do not depend on
insects. They have edible nuts, which helps them get spread around.
They are very slow growing and have extremely hard, dense wood. This
makes them valuable for timber, but is probably part of the reason
they are poor bonsai material. An exception is English oak, Quercus
robur, which is a popular bonsai subject in Europe. In this country,
the live (evergreen) oaks are used for bonsai, but their growth habits
are entirely different from Northern oaks. Japanese & European beech
are used for bonsai, but American beech is not very suitable.
Many of our best bonsai species, including Scots pine, are considered
noxious invasive weeds outside their home country. This usually means
they are very tough and fast growing, and withstand the vicissitudes
of bonsai culture.
Iris