Is Aloe A Good Tree For Bonsai?

When you hear aloe and bonsai, the first thing you probably think is …is it even possible to bonsai an aloe?

Well it is, but it isn’t. They are not that commonly used, but you can certainly treat it like a bonsai, but if you can actually call it a bonsai is a bit of a debated topic.

The Aloe Vera is a type of succulent, so it does not grow or respond like a normal tree. There are also over 500 varieties, so you may find you have more success with some varieties over others.  

Personally I have an aloe and it is growing in a bonsai pot, although I would be more inclined to call it house plant. If you did want to call it as bonsai, that is fine, but I would say it is more of an oddity than anything else. They are just so different to any other sort of plant, especially anything we would normally use for bonsai.  

Is Aloe A Good Species for Bonsai?

It is not unusual to use succulents as bonsai. The portulacaria afra is one of the best trees you can use for bonsai and it is a succulent. The difference between this and aloe is that a portulcaria looks like a traditional tree. It has a trunk, branches and leaves and they are all a similar shape and colour to an actual tree. 

An Aloe does not have this. It is more like some strange alien plant when its compared to a tree.

They can get a sort of trunk after a while, and they can at times get side branches, but the whole look of these plants is just very unusual and really not very tree like.

I like them very much, but to call them a tree is a real stretch of the imagination. 

Is Aloe Foliage Good For Bonsai?

The foliage is what the plant is mostly made up of. They just have huge long leaves that come out from the centre of the plant and then taper out to a point.

They can have small trunk at the base, if you can call it that, then it is just endless big leaves coming from this area in every direction.

There is no traditional leaf shape or growth pattern. It grows more like a lettuce, than a tree, if that makes sense so I don’t think they really work as bonsai.

Is Aloes Growth Rate Good For Bonsai?

Aloe are pretty good growers. They like plenty of light and if you can give them that, they will be happy.

I have found mine to be pretty slow growing in general, but I’m happy enough with that as I don’t really want it getting bigger and taking up precious space that other trees could be using.

Response To Pruning

Pruning isn’t really a thing with aloe. Well you can prune them, but it’s not quite the same. You are just basically removing old leaves.

The plant grows by producing more leaves from its centre, meaning that the outer most leaves always the oldest.

After a while these outer leaves can be removed. However, these will naturally die off after a while and then shrivel off, so there is really no need to prune them.

You will also find that there is no real reaction to pruning. When we prune a normal tree it is to get the tree to respond in a certain way, which is usually to get it to grow more branches. So you cut one branch, to force it to grow into two and so on. This is why we prune. With an aloe this will not happen. They don’t grow more branches, or back bud or get finer growth.

Some varieties may get some growth from lower down, sort of like side shoots, but this is not something you can reliably achieve with pruning.  It is more based on the tree having extra light and just being extra vigorous.

Is Aloes Styling Ability Good For Bonsai?

You can’t really style an aloe, well you can sort of force them to grow upwards, but I am not really sure if that is a style. They tend to get very top heavy and they pretty much lean over and grow sideways over the ground.

You can steak them up and kind of force them to grow upwards, but this doesn’t really make them more tree like.

Wiring

It is not really possible to wire an aloe. There isn’t really anything to wire. There are not really any branches and even if there was, they are a succulent, so are very easy to snap when you bend them.

Is an Aloes Fall Colours Good For Bonsai?

Aloes are tropical and therefore evergreen. They can sort of change colour when they get too much sun, but that is more of a sunburn, rather than changing for winter.

This also means they do not have any sort of winter silhouette. They just pretty much stay the same all year round.

Is An Aloes Bark Good For Bonsai?

Again, this isn’t really a thing on aloe, although the base of them can kind of get a little woody, so I guess that is bark.  

It is a very small part of the tree and isn’t really anything amazing.

Deadwood Opportunities

There are zero opportunities with deadwood.  As it is a succulent, any part that dies will dry up and shrivel to the point where it drops off. Every part of the plant is full of water, it is not possible for it to have deadwood.

Are An Aloes Roots Good For Bonsai?

The roots of aloe are actually good and probably the only reason you can actually put them in a bonsai pot.  They are not fine, and they are not going to be beautifully spreading roots, flaring out from the trunk, but they can grow very easily in a shallow container and they can handle pruning.

Functionally they are good, but they are really nothing interesting to look at and if anything they are a little fleshy and larger than you would like them to be. 

Is Aloe Easy To Care For As Bonsai?

Aloes are actually very easy to care for and they can be grown inside. As they are a succulent they are extremely tough. They can handle some serious neglect.

Honestly, I would just treat them like a house plant, because that is kind of what they are.

Conclusion

For me, aloes are a house plant. They just happen to be able to live very happily in bonsai pots.

I think they look quirky in bonsai pots and if this is something you want to do, go for it. I have and I like it.

The point is, I know it’s not a bonsai. It doesn’t look like one and it doesn’t grow like one and you don’t even treat them the same.

They are just kind of weird and that is okay. 

(You can read more about – Can You Use Succulents For Bonsai and How Are They Different?)