Outdoor Bonsai-looking pot plant

shakedown

I know next to nothing about plants but I’m looking for a pot plant (or a planter) for outside our front door. The front door gets the sun in the morning.

Something that looks along the lines of Ficus Ginseng, but would suit outdoors. Does anyone have any suggestions?

recedite

Japanese maple, unless its a windy spot.

RiderOnTheStorm

Bonsai is just a style, meaning a tree thats kept smaller than it should be if left to its own devices. So you can have bonsai oak, ash, chestnut, etc. A tree like those will be happy outside your door. Get a nice sapling from garden centre, and prune & wire to suit your requirements. It might take a few years to get it looking like a traditional bonsai, but hey... thats the art.

Pot - very important in bonsai! Usually you need a pot wider than it is tall. If you are going for a big bonsai outside your door, then this might be hard to find. As bonsais usually get taken out of pot every year or two, then dont be afraid to try a pot and change your mind the following year.

Size - a bonsai can be any tree from a couple of inches high (called a 'mame') to 5 or 6 feet (called an emperor). The bigger you go, the harder it is to lift out of pot when you want to trim roots! Tip: you can always put pot on nice table / stand / rock to give illusion of height.

Cost - the bigger it is, the more it costs. The older it is, the more it costs. If you have time, buy small / young tree and plant in the ground. Let it grow for couple of years (trim & wire for good shape). This will thicken the trunk and make it look older. Then dig it up and put it in a pot.

There is not much difference between bonsai and topiary when looking at the plant. Except for bonsai you trim both branches and roots. So maybe there is a huge difference!! You can get a bay tree, conifer, etc of good height and convert it to a bonsai by changing pot and cutting / trimming.

Be careful starting down the road of bonsai! Its addictive!! But its brilliant if you are a lazy gardener....like me! Cut a branch. Bend a branch. Wait a year to see if you like it.

Day Lewin

Some forty years ago my father miniaturised an elm cutting;
it rooted and he planted it in a quite small pot. Always outdoors through snow, frost, drought, etc.
It survived the Dutch Elm Disease and I've still got it: about eighteen inches high at most.
Every now and then it throws out a large leaf and I nip that one off.
Its not in a classic Bonsail - wide-and-shallow pot, they need siuch fussy watering and dry out too fast:
My miniature elm is in a normal large pot that gets repotted with fresh soil about every five years (but never a larger pot.)
I had a lemon grown from a pip that lasted for years outdoors, too.