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  • Straight & Narrow® Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata ‘PIIIC-I’

    20% off
    (2)
    $6674 $8342

  • Sky Pencil Holly

    Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil'

    Up to 30% off
    (22)
    From $2559

  • Japanese Red Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Atropurpureum'

    (13)
    From $6837

  • Inaba Shidare Japanese Maple

    Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Inaba Shidare'

    (35)
    From $18465

  • Coral Bark Japanese Maple

    Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku'

    (9)
    From $8736

  • Tamukeyama Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Tamukeyama'

    (10)
    $13849

  • Dwarf Japanese Garden Juniper

    Juniperus procumbens 'Nana'

    (1)
    From $8475

  • Glow Pop Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'NCIC1'

    $2759

  • Chubby Hubby™ Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'MAD-IC-I' PP32,035

    (1)
    $9307

  • Soft Touch Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'Soft Touch'

    (2)
    $2967

  • Drops Of Gold Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'Drops of Gold'

    $8459

  • Samurai Sword™ Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Samarzam'

    Sold out
    $16039
  • Tsuma Gaki Japanese Maple

    Tsuma Gaki Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Tsuma Gaki'

    Sold out
    $12002

  • Metamorphosa® Japanese Maple

    Acer palmatum ''ARJOS1'' USPP 32,420

    Sold out
    New arrival
    (2)
    From $2863

  • Sky Box™ Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'Farrowone'

    Sold out
    $2649

  • Bloodgood Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'

    Sold out
    (46)
    $15661

  • Green Laceleaf Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Viridis’

    Sold out
    (1)
    $18465

  • Emperor One Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Wolff'

    Sold out
    (48)
    $22811
  • Compact Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata 'Compacta'), a shrub featuring white flowers and broad-leaved evergreen.

    Compact Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'Compacta'

    Sold out
    $8978
  • Crimson Prince Japanese Maple

    Crimson Prince Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Crimson Prince'

    Sold out
    $18465
  • Twombly's Red Sentinel Japanese Maple Tree - Tree - Nature Hills Nursery - 3 Container -

    Twombly's Red Sentinel Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Twombly's Red Sentinel'

    Sold out
    $18465
  • Red Dragon Japanese Maple

    Red Dragon Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Red Dragon'

    Sold out
    $16783
  • Karasugawa Japanese Maple

    Karasu Gawa Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum 'Karasu Gawa'

    Sold out
    $21002
  • Crimson Princess Laceleaf Japanese Maple Tree (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Crimson Princess'), a tree featuring red flowers and deciduous.

    Crimson Princess Laceleaf Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum dissectum 'Crimson Princess'

    Sold out
    From $24999
  • Ryusen Weeping Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Ryusen'), a tree featuring deciduous and broad, dense form.

    Ryusen Weeping Japanese Maple

    Acer palmatum 'Ryusen'

    Sold out
    $19980

  • Glow Stick Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'NCIC2'

    Sold out
    $2659
  • Burgundy Lace Japanese Maple

    Burgundy Lace Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum var. dissectum atropurpureum 'Burgundy Lace'

    Sold out
    $18465

  • Garnet Laceleaf Japanese Maple Tree

    Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet'

    Sold out
    $18465

  • Hedge Box Japanese Holly

    Ilex crenata 'FARROWICUPRT'

    Sold out
    $2759

Bonsai Starter Plants

Bonsai starter plants are young plants with the traits that make training worthwhile: small leaves or short needles, dense branching, and tolerance for a confined root system. This page lists the species Nature Hills Nursery carries that bonsai practice has already proven out, in sizes you can begin working with in the first season.

Species that forgive a beginner

Juniper is the usual first conifer because it tolerates repeated pruning on green growth and takes wiring without snapping. Zelkova and lacebark elm are the deciduous counterparts, with small leaves and trunks that thicken faster than most. Serissa carries tiny leaves on a trunk that ages quickly, though it sulks if you move it around. Ficus is the one to start with indoors, since it puts up with low light and constant handling. Japanese white pine is the classic subject and the slowest, better as a second or third tree.

Leaf and needle size decide the illusion

A bonsai reads as a full-size tree only if the foliage is in scale with the trunk. Species with leaves under an inch and needles under 2 inches start you most of the way there. A large-leaved plant can be reduced over years of work, but beginning with a naturally small leaf saves you that fight entirely.

Evergreen or deciduous

Evergreen conifers hold their silhouette in every month, so the tree is finished-looking year round. Deciduous species drop their leaves and show the branch structure all winter, which is the half of the tree that experienced hobbyists judge hardest. Both are valid. The evergreen is the easier first choice.

What to look for in the plant you buy

Choose low branching, a trunk that tapers from the base upward, some movement in the line rather than a straight pole, and roots that flare visibly at the soil surface. Those four things are hard to add later. Height and current shape matter far less, because most of the top is going to come off anyway.

Pick a species for your zone, then pick the trunk you like.

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