Rock Hornbeam Bonsai Tree Care

The Rock Hornbeam Bonsai Tree, scientific name Carpinus turczaninovii, is native to Korea, China, and Japan. It is a deciduous tree, meaning it sheds its leaves annually.

Great tree for outdoors or indoors. Rock Hornbeam is used a lot for bonsai styles where roots are exposed.

Additional Information

Family: Betulaceae

Scientific name: Carpinus turczaninovi

Common Names: Rock Hornbeam, Korean Hornbeam, Turkish Hornbeam, Hornbeam.

Origin: Native to Korea, China and Japan

Appearance: Rock Hornbeam Bonsai has a muscled grayish trunk topped with oval, toothed foliage. Small green leaves have short spaces between leaf nodes. During fall you can enjoy a beautiful foliage from deep bronze to red, orange and yellow colors.

Flowering: During spring, it produces wind-pollinated pendulous catkins flowers. Hornbeam is monoecious, meaning the male and female flowers are on separate catkins, but on the same tree.

Outdoor/Indoor Use: Outdoors.

Light Requirements: It likes to be in a shade or partial shade but can also tolerate full sun.

Water Requirements: Likes moist but well-drained soil. Don’t let it dry out completely. Water it more during summer and less during winter.

Pruning/Training: Hornbeam is a vigorous tree that needs a lot of pruning. Cut back new shoots from 5 or 6 leaves to the first 2 leaves on the branch.

Bonsai Style: This tree is excellent for styles with exposed roots. You can style it like a straight trunk, windswept, curved trunk, and root-over rock.

Fertilizing: Feed it with well balanced fertilizer every two weeks during growing season.

Repotting: Every one to two years when the tree is young and every two to three years when the tree gets older and grows less vigorously. It likes moist well-drained soil. Regular bonsai soil mix works great.

Hardiness: Grows best in the USDA Zone 5-8. Needs to be protected from hot summer sun and freezing temperatures during winter.

Insects and Diseases: Usually problem-free. Sometimes could be troubled by leaf spot, leaf miner, spider mites, canker, powdery mildew and dieback. Leaf spots are not serious so control measures are usually not needed. Canker, caused by several fungi, causes infected branches to dieback and entire trees die if the trunk is infected and girdled.

Propagation: By seeds, air-layering, and softwood cuttings.

Buy Rock Hornbeam Bonsai Tree – $39.95