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Question: How do you bonzai a coconut tree?

(Posted by: elroy r on 2009-03-11 22:47:13)

I have a coconut bonzai at home for 9 yrs now, but i can't seem to make it look like a bonzai plant..i tried different bonzai sites, but they don't have instruction on how to make a coconut bonzai.

Posted by: Ball High Tornadoes on 2009-03-15, 21:10:18

Put it in a small pot and keep trimming it.

Posted by: Bitter Buddhist on 2009-03-11, 22:51:49

I thought trees with coconuts were palms..

Posted by: Life Forms Etc. on 2009-03-11, 23:27:34

Coconut trees are not candidates for bonsai. What you probably have is syagrus weddelliana (cocos weddeliana) also known as the terrarium palm. It is not much of a candidate for bonsai either. Small palms with thick bases may give a little tree like effect, however bonsai are typically trained with wire to bring branches down like older trees having been pulled by gravity. With trunks shaped to give a time weathered appearance. They also have roots pruned to keep in shallow pots or containers. Tops are pruned routinely. (True palms would die if the leader is cut out to try to surpress height. They do not upper side branch.) Leaves on bonsai are sometimes stripped so as to have small new growth that are in scale. I had grown many types and belonged to a Bonsai Society group.