Is An Apple A Good Tree For Bonsai?

Apple, or malus as it is also known can make a very good bonsai tree. Apple is a very broad term as there are endless numbers of species and cultivars available. Some of these will be more suited for bonsai than others, but overall, they are pretty good.

Crab apples are very popular as they can be generally smaller and they produce apples that are very small compared to normal apples.

If you are buying an apple tree from a nursery you need to be careful. They are produced for their apples, so the tree you buy may have a grafted root system. This is done so that the tree has the strongest possible roots, while having the branches of the desired cultivar of apples. This is fine if you are growing a tree for apples, but if you want your tree to be a bonsai, this root graft can be ugly.

This is why I grew my own apple form seed, I don’t care about the apples, but I wanted control of the tree and how it was able to grow right from the start.  You can see how my tree is developing in my Apple Bonsai Progression.

Is An Apple A Good Species for Bonsai?

Apple can be a good tree for bonsai. Quite a lot of fruit trees are popular in bonsai use and apple is among them. It is probably more common to see crab apples being used, especially in Japan, but normal apples have their place too.

They are mostly considered average trees. They are certainly not awful, you can do a lot with them, it is just a fact that there a lot of other species that are better suited to bonsai.

They do respond well to bonsai techniques and they do look cool. If you are open to a wide range of species in your collection I think an apple would be a good fit.

Is An Apple Foliage Good For Bonsai?

This will depend on the exact species that you have, but a lot of apples are totally fine for bonsai. They are also a flowering tree, so if you tree is old enough; you should be treated to some spring blossom before they leaf out.

Leaf Size

Again, it depends on the exact species, but over all they are not too large and most of them will be able to be reduced with time. I have found mine are quite small now and I know this would not be their size if they were growing in the ground. 

Internodes Length

If given regular pruning, apples can have pretty good internode lengths. If you are just letting things grow wild you can end up with some undesirable lengths, but this is nothing that cannot be corrected though pruning techniques.

Is An Apples Growth Rate Good For Bonsai?

I would say that apples grow at an average speed, maybe more towards the fast end of things.

Given the right circumstances they can put on some good amounts of growth over a season and if you are able to manage this properly you could get a decent tree in a couple of years.

Response To Pruning

Apples have an alternative leaf pattern and respond well to pruning. They are always going to give you new shoots just below where you pruned. You can get very reliable results when pruning them which make them ideal for bonsai as you predict what they will do and plan for it. 

Back Budding

Apples will easily back bud. If you prune them back hard they will happily push new growth out all over the tree. I have found regular pruning doesn’t really encourage back budding all over the tree; it generally only reshoots where you have pruned it which makes building a tree structure very easy.

Ramification

With some simple work you can get an apple to ramify really well. You can very easily build some impressive ramification and branch structure with apple trees. 

Is An Apples Styling Ability Good For Bonsai?

Being a deciduous tree you are best to style an apple tree in this way. They also work very well as any size tree. They really are very versatile and you can take them in any direction you feel like.

Wiring

Wiring works well with apples, you can wire everything, or just focus on wiring out the main structure then allow the rest of the tree to be built with clip and grow techniques.

Is An Apples Fall Colours Good For Bonsai?

I think apple trees have a lot of potential in autumn. I have found individual leaves are extremely beautiful. They can be a combination of colours and shades and look so good.

However, the tree as a whole does not treat us so well. You will find the leaves turn colours at different stages and often by the time some change, others have already fallen off.  The overall tree just isn’t as impressive as the single leaves.    

Is An Apples Winter Silhouette Good For Bonsai?

As apple is deciduous, you will get to see the full winter silhouette and you can really see how your tree is developing and you can study your branches and ramification to see what needs corrected or focused on.

Is An Apples Bark Good For Bonsai?

The bark on apples is quite thin when it is young and scars and wounds will really stand out on it. I think over time the bark will get more textured, but since I am growing from seed, this may take a long time to develop. If you have a managed to start with an older tree you may have better bark texture. Regardless of this, the colour of the bark is really wonderful.

The age of your tree will also depend how well it can handle wounds. I made a lot of large wounds early on, knowing the tree would thicken up a lot, causing them to be totally healed over. You might not get this with an older tree, but if the bark is more gnarly, you can have more wounds and it doesn’t look too out of place.

Deadwood Opportunities

Deadwood does not look good on apples, but if you carve areas that are dead it can look extremely good. You can really add some excellent age and interest to an apple through carving it and adding hollows.

Are An Apples Roots Good For Bonsai?

Apple roots are just very standard deciduous roots. They are quite good. They grow well and will produce a lot a fine rooting. You can also work them pretty hard and chop a lot off, so long as you are doing this at the right time.

I have pushed my own trees roots quite hard for its first couple of years and now I have found they are developing into a really lovely root base.

I also find I can get away with repottng every two years or so, which shows apple is maybe not as aggressive with its root growth compared to some trees that really need a repot annually.

Is An Apple Easy To Care For As Bonsai?

Apples are pretty easy to care for. They don’t really need any extreme care and so long as you give them the basics they will be happy enough.

You can read more in my Apple Care Guide.

Conclusion

Apples can be great trees for bonsai. They are really the middle of the class when it comes to excellence. They are certainly not awful, but they are also not the top tier. They are just happy sitting in that middle ground.

You can get some great results with them if you put the work in. Personally I really like them. My little apple tree is one of my favourite. I’ve just always really enjoyed it, even when it was a tiny seedling. 

If you get bored like me you should start one. They grow easily from seed and are a lot of fun and can look really nice in your collection.