Bonsaify | Making a Valley Oak Bonsai from an Acorn

Eric started this Valley Oak bonsai from an acorn back in 2005 (the same year our first son was born!) When he first started doing bonsai, Eric wanted to capture the essence of trees that he enjoyed, growing up in rural Northern California. Valley Oaks are iconic; they really represent his childhood. He picked the acorns off a very stately, old tree in the Sacramento area (Roseville). He planted most of the acorns directly into the ground, wanting them to initially grow as quickly as possible. He dug them up 1-2 years later to put into containers.
00:02:05 This tree has been in its current pot for 3-4 years. Shows more and more signs of becoming a nice bonsai. One example is the natural taper and characteristic bark splitting, deep fissured plates of bark.
00:03:02 When the tree was very young, Eric cut off tap roots and planted the tree on top of a board, for the second time they were ground grown. This produced lateral large roots that created a flair in the trunk.
00:04:10 Eric contemplates whether he should submit the tree to the jury for the Pacific Bonsai Expo (www.pacificbonsaiexpo.com). He explains why it actually may not show its best fall color until December.
00:05:25 The tree struggled to grow in a container in his yard because it's native to the Sacramento valley which is much hotter in the summer months. So he sent it to a friend last summer in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It perks itself up whenever it takes a vacation to hot summer climates!
00:06:14 Non-ideal climate conditions can lead to a little twig die-back.
00:06:41 Clear 360 degree view of the tree to discuss Eric's goal with the design..."replica of the California wild in miniature".
00:07:38 "Water fountain" style defined. Eric prefers for the outer branches to be down a little more.
00:08:56 For the size of the trunk, the crown and silhouette are not quite filled out enough.
00:09:53 Also needs more barking on the branches to show more maturity in the entire composition. Could take another 15 years!
00:10:37 Eric shares a few faults with the tree: reverse tapering midway up the trunk, and the size of some of the branching up in the crown needs a few more years to grow.
00:12:24 The best time to pick acorns for Valley Oaks is...? If you've watched the video to the end, let us know the answer in the comments below! Thanks for watching :-)
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[@TheBonsaiZone]

Amazing , a great vision and execution of a Valley Oak, an outstanding tree that will just keep getting better!!!

[@ebenoid6643]

A smooth stone under the nebari allows you to keep the slope downward, putting them on a flat surface will also cause the roots to flare upwards. 👍 I couldn’t imagine having a tree that awesome and remembering the path it had to take to get there. Very awesome and that’s why bonsai is not cheap!

[@mljcab1]

What a beautiful specimen! I love oaks as bonsai trees. I have a white oak which came from a nursery several years ago. It is starting to take on character. I would love to have my oak look like your tree. That will take many more years. I also planted acorns from a cork oak obtained from the Sacramento area last year. The majority of the acorns survived in the large pot I used for the full batch (nearly 100 acorns). The pot has spent the summer outside. The oaks have started hardening up and taking on character. I have started pruning or trunk chopping the young trees so that the can ramifications without leaving major scars from major trunk chops. What fun to start oaks from seed and watch them grow over the years. Looking at your specimen gives me hope that I will see the day when my oaks will look like oaks trees in the wild. Thank you for this video. Great content!

[@BonsaiBeginner510]

Wow! 😮

[@baldyeti]

Hell of a job with that Oak! Great vision, great execution. I hadn’t really considered “summer camp” for any of my trees, but sure makes sense. Thank you for sharing with us!

[@peterjohnson350]

I've never thought of sending a bonsai on a summer holiday. I do have a baby sitter for when I am away. What lucky trees having you care for them. They clearly appreciate you.

[@Bonsaify]

Actually, this one's at boarding school this year. I just don't put up with kids misbehaving. The acorn was collected in Sacramento - and now it's in Auburn - so much closer to the native habitat!

[@stefanraresmindirigiu1724]

amazing luck to be first today :)) I love the small leaves...sometimes is a real struggle to get small oak leaves consistently

[@Makinen386]

A beauty

[@mljcab1]

I can only second the comments from the experts who praised your oak. I am in the early stages of developing an oak bonsai. Your tree is truly my aspiration for my oak. As Nigel Saunders said, “Amazing!”

[@arnoldmmbb]

You must be really proud of that tree!! amazing job

[@calvinchau5479]

Amazing tree.; Amazing work. Thanks for the back stories.

[@turtleheninny]

this is so beautiful

[@stephencreswell229]

That Oak is bonkers!!!

[@davidmorgan3508]

Aussie Dave here, very well presented 🤗.

[@michaelbrockelhurst4227]

As a local that grew up in Santa Maria, I find these and the Coast Live Oaks really inspiring. They feel like California to me.

[@jessestrong7269]

I’m in Vancouver BC. I also started a big batch of oaks my first year. Mine are English Oaks but similar none the less. I took off the tap root the beginning of year 2 and had great results with an radial root distribution. I’m a few years behind you with my oaks but seeing your success boosted my confidence. Thanks for sharing!

[@michaelhoward487]

Hats off to you, sir! That's an impressive accomplishment in so short a time.

[@prof.puggle1631]

and yes, its a heaps good point about reverse taper... i see it all the time in wild oaks...

[@samyoel5384]

Wow! Love oaks as bonsai! I have many young plants of native deciduous trees- European oak,ash, sycamore etc…can’t wait till they mature and show some nice bark

[@prof.puggle1631]

what a great feeling, isnt it, from acorn, good effort mate!

[@bradleyc9538]

Nice tree cheers Eric.

[@SamDoeckeAussiebonsaibloke]

Such a cool natural tree. You have done such an Amazing job on this one

[@dan-ig2ds]

Great tree! Love it, faults and all.

[@bonsai-tvc1426]

Hello. Thank you for sharing!

[@thegreenmanalishiyamadori371]

Awesome Oak Dude🤘🤘🤘 Can't believe you raised it from Acorn

[@mattbrennan647]

Beautiful specimen. Quite a masterpiece. I love the natural look. I can imagine myself relaxing under it. Thanks, keep growing

[@garyfriedrick9941]

A beautiful tree, really. Well done, sir.

[@silly800ify]

Beautiful tree man!!

[@N1650andTheCPG]

awesome bonsai

[@jeffreyhutchings561]

Very nice looking tree. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@scipio109]

It looks very similar to the wild one in the pictures 👏👏👏👏👏

[@nwilliams1540]

Beautiful!

[@MrTributes]

this is inspirational

[@henzobonsai]

Good job...👍

[@BONSAIenCORTO]

Thanks for sharing.

[@arnoldmmbb]

Jeje ✌

[@VOST0K]

I grew up in Roseville around that time, I might have walked by that bonsai's parent tree!

[@Bonsaify]

I believe it was from the giant oak on the edge of Misty Grove park next to Pleasant grove blvd. I was astonished by the size of that tree.

[@SyriusStarMultimedia]

It’s a beautiful tree.

[@earthangel8596]

Gorgeous Oak!! Well done on the whole look taper I'm jealous. But I'm super happy to hear I'm not the only nut trying to do an oak bonsai tree from acorn. I live in the Central Coast Santa Barbara County.. We have "Live Coastal "Oak I've been fortunate to find happy Acorn that want to thrive🌱.. still in the early stages though. Lots more to come.....

[@dmitriylevitskiy1674]

As a pot grower why don't you try to putting it in a small grow closet and reduce light to 8-9 hrs and maybe put it in a cool room or AC to simulate winter. Best of luck. PS I'm from Antelope not too far from Roseville.

[@Korina42]

Gorgeous tree! I grew up in Tracy, so I grok you about valley oaks. I'm thinking maybe a mame/shohin cotoneaster in the oak style, as up here on the Humboldt coast, we're about as cold as you are, and cotoneasters are *weeds*.

[@liverocks62]

Love the tree a lot, just as it is but I am sure you will be able to make it even better in the future🎗👍🏼

[@OldIronShops]

I'm in Manteca you can always leave it here

[@Bonsaify]

It was outside Placerville this past summer, at a friends place. He has a substantial collection of oaks that may be the subject of a future video!

[@OldIronShops]

Ok have several old specimens growing in the neighborhood here and I've collected a tree from my father-in-law's yard as a seedling and started a couple on my own and I planted about 10 12 of them this year to grow out wish me luck would love to see how you handle these trees in general if there's anything special other than what one would think

[@2A_supporter]

Crazy bruh I was thinking dang that tree must be 20somthing by now but na it was planted when I was born 😭

[@joelhiggins6156]

Great Video! I live in Sacramento and its hard to find video on our native oaks! I currently have several valley oak seedlings, a blue oak and a few interior live oaks that I am working with.

[@DarthMasiah]

👍👍

[@matshagstrom9839]

Oak trees are fun to work with. The acorn gives so much fuel that the selling gets substantial before even needing photosynthesis. The naturally convoluted branch structure is in my opinion the most appealing aspect of these trees. Your presented tree is a stunning example!!! There is also a plethora of different oaks to grow. Each with their own characteristic. Many growers have focused on evergreen varieties like various Live Oak and Cork Oak. These trees also have naturally small leaves. My most recent oak find I started growing recently is the “Oracle Oak” (Quercus × morehus). It’s a natural occurring California native cross between the evergreen Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni) and California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii). This gives the best of both worlds for bonsai work. A small lobulated semi-evergreen leafed oak tree. The acorns grow massive tap roots that can be trimmed at any time without doing much to slow down early growth. We are blessed to have so much oak variety in California. No question the Valley Oak is most representative on inland areas just like how the Coastal Live Oak is along the central and northern coast. BTW I just learned how to differentiate Costal from Interior Live Oak. The Costal has “armpit hairs” on the underside of the leaf. Pretty plant nerdy info but knowledge is a large part of the hobby.

[@dragaumchineis5070]

Bom dia, Flor do dia!

[@phielo3941]

Love the styling. In the Midwest we have Burr Oaks, which propagate relatively easily. I have done the same and picked up acorns from neighborhood trees. I have 500+ acorns stratifying right now. Will be excited to see the outcome. Any advice for the next 3 months, other than patience?

[@horanbenjamin]

Just an idea but potentially you could experiment on another oak of sand papering a branch to get the old looking bark it works on olive and may get the texture on the branches your looking for I am a novice but it might be worth trying

[@BonsaiLearner]

Beautiful tree. Please do share the work on it. Sabir India

[@184445]

Beautiful tree you did an amazing job. I have a quick question do you have any tips on digging one of these trees up from the ground? I live in the valley and a friend of mine has a few acres with some small oak trees growing and I was wondering what would be the best way to dig some up thanks

[@robertjones7023]

I plant in 1 gal cans and separate the roots over a cobblestone which is then buried. I don't have any old trees so I'm not 100% on the result. However, I would imagine the roots are forced to grow out around the cobblestone and then taper down into the pot. Maybe this would be better than a flat board? Also, I don't mind the reverse taper at all. But I am not a competition kind of guy.

[@Bonsaify]

Cobblestone....hmm - isn't that mostly flat? But yeah, we actually had thought that a cone (like a dog cone-of-shame) would be better - shallow sloping away.

[@robertjones7023]

@@Bonsaify Maybe the names are regional, at least here in upstate NY, we have lots of round 3"-8" cobblestones they seem to work well and are free. We call our 'river rock' here is more flat/discuss type shapes. I'm curious to see how they turn out in a few years

[@9daywonda]

Like something outta Game of Thrones hey?

[@johnnykwon8173]

Beautiful specimen. How did the trunk become so full? Ah never mind. I see you planked it.

[@Bonsaify]

Yeah, grown on a board, and then there was a large sacrifice branch, the cut is at the upper large junction.

[@johnnykwon8173]

@@Bonsaify I see it as classic form. Keep it going, it looks really good.

[@OjaiBonsai]

Nice tree. When and who do we send pictures to?

[@Bonsaify]

[e-mail]

[@kino410]

Hi This tree need dormancy Like winter between 2 to 10 degrees Celsius? Or it can be kept inside the house during fall and winter??

[@Bonsaify]

No, these oaks are best grown outdoors year round. Locally we get some light freezing, but more like 2-10C as a low at night most of the time. These go dormant in those conditions, which is best. I have not tried growing them indoors because they need so much heat and sun in the summer.

[@kino410]

@@Bonsaify Thanks

[@kino410]

@@Bonsaify I’m just asking Because I live in Montréal and our winter it’s too cold So I just wonder if those trees can be in houses in winter But like you told me they need dormancy So they need a cold room during our winter à place from 2 to max 10 degrees Thanks

[@nmhansen]

Do you have to deal with oak galls? One thing I remember about valley oaks in the Sacramento valley is that pretty much every one has wasp galls on it.

[@Bonsaify]

There are sometimes small leaf galls, but nothing too crazy where I am. No apple galls!

[@alexanderwebb3424]

Would they grow in usda zone 10??

[@Bonsaify]

Depends. Southern Florida - maybe not as the fungal issues might get the better of them. Coastal California - yes, they will. But, they prefer hotter summers than San Francisco!

[@alexanderwebb3424]

@@Bonsaify is there a way around it or to protect them I've grown a few species that aren't sopose to thrive here successfully before??

[@Bonsaify]

Give it a try. You never know until you try!

[@jacques_TRIKO]

Bonjour Eric, Selon moi, abaisser les branches apporterait plus de réalisme à ce très beau chêne et un peu plus de maturité. Cordialement.

[@Bonsaify]

Merci, je suis tout à fait d'accord!

[@gschady]

ACKshully ACKshully ACKshully .. ACKshully

[@dan-ig2ds]

Great tree! Love it, faults and all.