Is the New Zealand Broadleaf A Good Tree For Bonsai?

The New Zealand broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis) is a pretty unknown species, especially in bonsai. I don’t think I have heard of anyone else trying to use this plant.

As the name suggests it is from New Zealand, but it has somehow found its way to the UK where it is used as hedging as it is a dense evergreen shrub. It is also pretty tolerant to salt, which is why you will find it growing in costal reigns, which is exactly where I live and probably why it is so popular in my area.

This was the hedge in my garden in a kid and I have a lot of memories with this plant, which is what has prompted me to try and bonsai it.

Is This Species Good?

Well, this is the million dollar question. Right now I am not sure if it will work as bonsai. It certainly works well as a hedge and usually anything that works as a hedge will have all the right characteristics for bonsai. 

I don’t have all the answers yet and my journey with growing this species is very much a work in progress, but my plan is to try and grow this plant as a bonsai and see how it responds and let you all know. I could be potentially wasting my time, but at least we will have an answer.

As I’ve said it is used in my area for hedging. It grows fast and can get very dense, but more importantly I have seen it pruned a lot and each time the new foliage seems to get smaller and smaller, which is a very good sign that it can be used for bonsai.

I did get a cutting and an air layer to root very easily, so this is also a good sign that the roots might work well for bonsai, but I have also found that young branches can be very brittle and snap. This means wiring is pretty much ruled out. You can still style a tree without wire, it just takes a little more thought and time, but it’s not impossible.

Foliage

The foliage on the New Zealand broadleaf is interesting, it has oval shaped leaves that are thick and leathery and glossy one side, but the colour is what I find most interesting. It has this sort of unique yellowy green colour that just looks like nothing else. I am always able to recognise this from miles away from the colour.

Leaf Size

The leaf size isn’t too bad. The hedge in my garden is at least 40 years old and maybe 8 meters high, but its leaves are quite small. You do get the occasional big one, but in general they are a decent size. This hedge gets pruned quite regularly and I think that helps keep the size in check. I think for a medium to large size bonsai they will work just fine. 

However, I have seen a garden near my house where the bush is pruned like topiary and the leaves are tiny. When I saw this specific plant it made me want to attempt to grow this as a bonsai. 

Internode Length

The internode length doesn’t seem too bad. On an unchecked plant it can get kind of long, but it’s no worse than any other tree that we use for bonsai. With pruning this will reduce and these can become very dense hedges, which is a very good sign they will make good bonsai.

Growth Rate

In the ground the New Zealand Broadleaf seems to grow quite quickly, in a pot, maybe not so much.

My trees have been a little slow to get going, but I think once I have a bit of root ball established they should speed up. It is normal for cuttings and air layers to take a few seasons to get to full power, so I think everything should be okay with my two trees soon.

Response To Pruning

I need to do more study in this area. The trees will definitely respond to pruning and they will become denser. The leaves and branching also seem to become smaller and finer, so these are all excellent qualities for bonsai and I believe that developing ramification should not be a problem.

What I need to study is how exactly it shoots out after pruning and how it back buds. I’m fairly certain it reacts the same reliable way as any other tree we would use for bonsai, but I need to confirm this. 

Styling Ability

This is a bit of a gray area for me. I really am not sure how well it is going to respond to being styled.

I have moved some new shoots, and I mean I literally just lightly touched them and they have snapped off, which means wiring them is going to be totally impossible. When the branches do harden off, they can be a bit stiff, so even wiring these may be a bit tricky.

I have a feeling that clip and grow is going to be the best approach. It is an evergreen, and of course as the name suggests, a broad leaf, so really it needs to be styled in way that will celebrate this. I think some sort of informal upright is going to work best for these if you are growing them as bonsai. 

Fall Colours

The New Zealand broadleaf is an evergreen, which is why it’s used for hedging, so there will be no colour change throughout the year and there will be no opportunity to see the winter silhouette and examine the branch structure.

This isn’t really a problem for bonsai, as you can still enjoy the foliage all year round.

Bark

The bark seems to be quite thin, it does have some texture, but it’s probably more on the smoother side of things. The hedges in my garden are quite old now and have some cool trunk flair, but really the bark is rather nice.

It’s quite a pale, slivery colour, which works really well with the yellowy green leaves.

I have seen some pruning scars and they look pretty ugly, this suggests they do not heal over very well, which can be an issue for bonsai. However, if you are aware of this you can work around it.

Deadwood Opportunities

As it is a broadleaf, it probably isn’t going to suit having dead branches on it, but really this will depend on the style you are going for, but in general I don’t think it will work.

You might be able to get away with some dead wood on the trunk, since it doesn’t seem to heal very well, this might be a good way to integrate any large scars on the trunk.  

Roots

I haven’t repotted my trees yet, so I can’t really report on this just yet. I did get a cuttings and an air layer to root very easily, so this suggests that the roots are going to be easy to work with.

The roots on the cutting did seem kind of thick and fleshy, so there is a chance that they may not be amazing looking. So far I haven’t had any trouble growing them in a pot but I have read they can have deep roots.

My hope is that the good bonsai soil keeps them happy and they do not need to reach out to find water, as its easily available for them in the pot.

Time will tell with this, So long as they are healthy and can handle being work and can live in a small pot, then I will class it as a success.   

Care

Overall the New Zealand Broadleaf is easy to care for. I’ve already mentioned that they can tolerate salt and they are also pretty hardy and can easily mange temperatures as low as −10 °C (14 °F).

I also believe they can grow in poor conditions and even in shaded areas.  Allowing them to grow in pots with plenty of water and light must be a real luxury to them and they really do not ask for much once they have these basics.

 Conclusion

So as you can see I am hopefully about this species as a bonsai, but really we will not know for a few more years. The signs are all pointing in the right direction and I have definitely worked with trees that are less optimum than this, which makes me think something is possible.

At the very least they will be grown as topiary, as I know they respond well to pruning and can get quite dense, so I always have that to fall back on to if they make dreadful bonsai.