Crafty Fox Bonsai

An Introduction to Bonsai Gardening
 
Why you should take it up
In my view bonsai gardening is the one hobby you can take up and create something

There is now doubt that a well kept Bonsai tree is a thing of beauty; a miniature version of a full size tree that replicates the full sized tree but is small enough to fit in a pot on a table.

Genuine living art at its best.

So, how easy is it to grow one of these magnificent, miniature plants?  There is no doubt that it takes some skill, patience and a little luck but it is not in fact as difficult as it seems.  Let’s find out a little more about the fascinating hobby of bonsai gardening.

There is not really a limit on what type of trees can be grown as a bonsai although the most popular varieties these days are pine, juniper and maple.  The trees are trained into the required

Caring for bonsai trees is something which also requires a little knowledge and experience; some trees are hardy and can survive a winter outside whilst others will need a more protected environment.  Other important considerations in bonsai gardening relate to the tools that you need to do the work.  It is very important that you have the right equipment.  Whilst a basic set of tools is not particularly expensive the correct equipment is essential if you are to make your new hobby a success.

With the right tools and a little training you can quickly learn enough to start shaping your own bonsai trees.  The shape of the tree is crucial and there are a number of different recognized styles that you can use for your plant.  It is always a source of great enjoyment when over time you see your tree slowly but surely taking on the shape you had envisaged for it.  A true reward for your developing bonsai gardening skills. 

The presentation of a bonsai tree is absolutely vital and to this end you do need to ensure that your tree is displayed in the most suitable container.  There are a huge variety of containers available and you should always be searching for something that will complement and enhance your tree; something that will allow your living art to shine.

The scope of this introduction article is obviously very limited and you will need to look into bonsai gardening more deeply to decide if it is really for you.  However, I do hope that I have managed to raise some enthusiasm in the reader for at least taking the next step to finding out a little more about Bonsai gardening.

A couple of plants, the right tools, a carefully chosen container and some loving attention over a period of time can combine to produce an exquisite item that will add a touch of beauty and graceful style to any garden.

Pleas give bonsai gardening a go.  I am sure that you will not regret it.
 

In the articles below we take you through the basics of Bonsai gardening. Follow our advice and in no time at all you will be on your way to making a success of your Bonsai gardening.

As with many new hobbies it is vital to get off to a good start and to do that you need to have the right tools and equipment to do the job.

Please do read this information carefully and if you need to purchase equipment please use our recommended supplier which you can see to the right of this page. This is a company that will not let you down and ensure that you are getting the best Bonsai gardening products around.

Enjoy your reading!

Bonsai - Tools For A Lifetime: The Essentials

Bonsai is in a way like photography - it is possible to buy dozens of expensive ‘add-ons’ to the basic equipment. Some of these are helpful, others merely give you the feeling that ‘Gee, I’m really an artist’. Tools do not make the artist - the artist uses tools.

But there are tools which are essential to creating the work of art that is each individual tree. Shears, cutters, tweezers, rakes and others will help you shape the bonsai tree. They can help you make the difference between a small, scraggly plant and a beautifully sculpted bonsai tree.

The first tools recommended will surprise you: paper and colored pencils, or a good design program. ‘Begin with the end in mind’ is the catchphrase of all thinking artists. You need to envision the final result, which in the case of a bonsai tree may be decades in the making. Your vision needs to be made concrete, in the form of an image that you can refer to over the months and years of shaping.

You don’t have to be rigidly locked into your initial idea - the tree will often resist your efforts. But you should have some specific goal in mind that is consistent with the nature of the individual plant before you.

In order to realize that vision you’ll need a good set of shears. You will use them for cutting, trimming and shaping.

Quality counts. Poor quality tools dull quickly and don’t cut sharply. Spend a little more and get shears specially made for bonsai work. A good pair, well kept, will last many years. A poor quality pair will wear out, rust and be useless within a year or two. In the long run you will spend less by buying quality.

They need to start sharp and to be kept sharp. Ragged edges, which look smooth to your eye but are evident at the tree’s level, will produce poorer results. Have you ever noticed, for example, that a ragged wound heals badly, much more so than one cut cleanly?

Concave cutters are essential to shaping the bonsai tree. They are used to remove branches and produce a concave wound. Paradoxically, that rounded scar heals faster than a straight one. The final result will be one that makes it difficult to see that any branch existed in the first place.

Sooner or later you will want to wire your bonsai to shape the trunk and branches, in order to produce varying styles and variations within a style. Wire is essential for that purpose. But unwinding wire after months or years represents a great risk to the tree. It should be cut off instead.

Cutting wire without damaging the tree requires skill in any case. But without the proper wire cutters it is nearly impossible. Wire is wrapped tightly and often covers a large portion of the tree. It needs to be snipped off in small sections without stabbing or snipping the trained branch.

Obtain a pair that can be kept sharp, that can cut thicker wire easily without shaking or pushing the tree. It will be helpful if they are the sort that can cut wire at the very tip. That will aid the bonsai artist in being precise and avoiding damage to the branch.

Bonsai - Tools For A Lifetime: The Essentials

Bonsai is in a way like photography - it is possible to buy dozens of expensive ‘add-ons’ to the basic equipment. Some of these are helpful, others merely give you the feeling that ‘Gee, I’m really an artist’. Tools do not make the artist - the artist uses tools.

But there are tools which are essential to creating the work of art that is each individual tree. Shears, cutters, tweezers, rakes and others will help you shape the bonsai tree. They can help you make the difference between a small, scraggly plant and a beautifully sculpted bonsai tree.

The first tools recommended will surprise you: paper and colored pencils, or a good design program. ‘Begin with the end in mind’ is the catchphrase of all thinking artists. You need to envision the final result, which in the case of a bonsai tree may be decades in the making. Your vision needs to be made concrete, in the form of an image that you can refer to over the months and years of shaping.

You don’t have to be rigidly locked into your initial idea - the tree will often resist your efforts. But you should have some specific goal in mind that is consistent with the nature of the individual plant before you.

In order to realize that vision you’ll need a good set of shears. You will use them for cutting, trimming and shaping.

Quality counts. Poor quality tools dull quickly and don’t cut sharply. Spend a little more and get shears specially made for bonsai work. A good pair, well kept, will last many years. A poor quality pair will wear out, rust and be useless within a year or two. In the long run you will spend less by buying quality.

They need to start sharp and to be kept sharp. Ragged edges, which look smooth to your eye but are evident at the tree’s level, will produce poorer results. Have you ever noticed, for example, that a ragged wound heals badly, much more so than one cut cleanly?

Concave cutters are essential to shaping the bonsai tree. They are used to remove branches and produce a concave wound. Paradoxically, that rounded scar heals faster than a straight one. The final result will be one that makes it difficult to see that any branch existed in the first place.

Sooner or later you will want to wire your bonsai to shape the trunk and branches, in order to produce varying styles and variations within a style. Wire is essential for that purpose. But unwinding wire after months or years represents a great risk to the tree. It should be cut off instead.

Cutting wire without damaging the tree requires skill in any case. But without the proper wire cutters it is nearly impossible. Wire is wrapped tightly and often covers a large portion of the tree. It needs to be snipped off in small sections without stabbing or snipping the trained branch.

Obtain a pair that can be kept sharp, that can cut thicker wire easily without shaking or pushing the tree. It will be helpful if they are the sort that can cut wire at the very tip. That will aid the bonsai artist in being precise and avoiding damage to the branch.

Bonsai - Containers

The Japanese have a word, ‘wa’, that roughly translates to ‘harmony’. It refers to relations between individuals, and man and nature. But it can also refer to the elements comprising a work of art. The art of bonsai uses this concept when coordinating the choice of species and style with the container in which the bonsai tree resides.

Color, material and above all shape and size are considered when matching the right pot to a given tree. Given the variety of tastes in the world, there are no agreed upon rigid rules, but tradition and a sense of symmetry heavily influence the choice. Each is selected to complement the other, giving balance to the overall design.

But there are practical factors to consider, as well, first and foremost.

The size of the pot must physically balance the weight of the moist soil and the tree. Bonsai are typically displayed on a stand or bench or shelf and, being small, are easily tipped over if the pot is too small and light, or the tree is out of balance.

Style affects not only the aesthetic of the bonsai, but this practical factor as well. A kengai (cascade) or han-kengai (semi-cascade) has a trunk and/or branches that travel out from the ‘box’ of the pot. In the case of the kengai, it dips below the plane of the base of the tree, emulating a tree near a cliff under heavy snowfall.

As a result of this style, a too small pot - which holds less soil and provides a smaller base - will put the tree and pot at risk of falling off the display. Bonsai are fragile and years of effort can be lost by a simple accident.

Also, the pot must hold enough soil to accommodate the roots with ample space for growth of two years or so. Normally, a bonsai tree will be re-potted after that time, in order to refresh the soil, trim the roots and possibly increase the size of the tree.

A pot must have a hole in the bottom with a mesh screen in order to allow for proper drainage. The screen can become clogged if the mesh is too small, and allow soil leakage out the bottom if too large.

The tray underneath or attached as an integral part of the pot must be large enough to allow for overflow. Under-watering a bonsai tree can easily kill it, just as over-watering can. And, the easiest way to over-water one is to allow inadequate drainage, worsened by having the bottom continually in water from a tray that’s too shallow or narrow.

The specific sized pot that’s correct for the tree will be affected, too, by species. Flowering and fruiting trees require more water and tolerate wetter conditions. Conifers, such as white pine, do better with a drying period between watering.

Experience and a personal aesthetic will determine the specific pot that’s best to choose. But fortunately for the enthusiast, there are many good examples around to serve as a guideline or stimulus to the imagination. Some bonsai trees live as long as 200 years, and photos of them are readily available.

Bonsai - Basic Watering and Feeding: Nutrients

Trees are amazingly self-sufficient. They take in needed elements from the environment without having to move to fetch it as animals do. But that can be a limitation as well, since they are dependent on finding what they need nearby.

In the case of most trees, elements leech through the soil and into contact with the roots. Bonsai, since they’re confined to a pot, need supplements added artificially. Fortunately, supplying the right ones in the correct amounts at the appropriate times is one of the simpler tasks associated with caring for them.

Bonsai ‘food’ can readily be obtained from a local nursery or gardening section, or purchased online. The most common type contains NPK, nitrogen (N), phosphates (P) and potassium (K). The last is usually in the form of potash, a material made from the ashes of wood and plants. Beyond these three, bonsai need a number of other nutrients, including iron (Fe) and vitamins (especially B-vitamins).

In a pinch, beer makes a good home-recipe substitute for a B-complex, since it contains several B vitamins. The risk is that, unless the alcohol content is very low, you can damage the tree. Be sure to use a weak American beer and dilute it to at least half-beer, half-water before using.

Whether using beer or commercial B-complex supplements, spraying onto the leaves in cooler or moderately warm weather is an ideal way to apply. Above 85F (29C) the stomata (holes) in leaves close and the tree stops aspirating (’breathing’) - the exchange of gases and moisture through the leaves is radically lowered.

Spraying the leaves during hot weather cools them enough to open up, but they lose moisture to the hot air, which drys out the leaves and ultimately the tree. More bonsai are killed from incorrect watering practice than through any other means.

One good way to apply nutrients is to use commercially available pills. Place them on the soil to the left and right of the trunk and water daily. The water and natural leeching process will import the nutrients down through the soil.

How much nutrient to supply depends on a number of factors, including the age, size and species of the tree, how long the tree has been growing since the last re-potting, how good the drainage is, the development of the root system and others.

Some experimentation will be needed, but following the directions on the packet is a good beginning. Watch for burned leaves or drooping flowers, one sign of too much of a good thing.

Nutrient supplements should be added in larger amounts during the growing season, but small amounts are helpful during the fall (Sept-Oct in the Northern Hemisphere) to aid color enhancement. NPK 0-10-10 is useful at this time.

Feeding every 2-4 weeks is best, but don’t feed the tree immediately after re-potting. Wait three or four weeks. Feeding is best carried out while the soil is moist, but for the pill-type can be part of the watering regimen.

Bonsai - Basic Watering and Feeding: Watering

Few subjects in bonsai gardening are as complex as watering. What should be the simplest thing in the world is actually the most complicated. Apprentices in Japan will perform many duties for their first few years before being allowed to water the trees. Incorrect watering practices kill more bonsai than any other factor.

Bonsai soil is quite different from standard potting earth. By design, it is porous and provides very rapid drainage. As a result, frequent and copious watering is needed. But over-watering is just as dangerous, if not more so, to the health of the bonsai. Over-watering can lead to the growth of harmful fungi and to root rot.

Both of these damaging extremes can be avoided, though. By following these tips a complex art can be turned into, if not a simple routine, at least a healthy practice.

Knowing how much water is needed is the first step. It’s important to develop a method for testing the soil moisture content.

As a quick check, touch the surface with your thumb. If it feels dry, it is. Gently scrape back any ground cover, gravel or surface earth to perform a better check.

A more accurate test can be accomplished easily by using a standard moisture gauge. Often looking like an ordinary thermometer, analog or digital displays will provide an accurate reading.

They only tell part of the story, however, since they detect water only near the tip. Dry spots can occur within the pot that are harmful, if they’re near the roots. As roots spread throughout the pot over time, that can be many places.

To ensure that the entire soil is adequately moistened, once a month dip the pot up to the base of the tree into a bucket or sink filled with water. Let the pot absorb water for a few minutes, then carefully remove by lifting by the pot, never by the tree.

If the soil is correct, and the plant is not root bound, excess moisture will drain out the bottom through the mesh-covered hole and into the tray under or attached to the pot. If the tray is full, dip the pot slightly to allow only a low level of moisture to remain.

Draining excess water from the tray will ensure that any excess water in the pot has somewhere to go, and doesn’t collect around the roots.

Water daily, making sure that water flows to the bottom but doesn’t pool to the point of filling up the tray. Water left standing in the tray not only makes it impossible for the pot to drain, but encourages mold build-up.

Whether more than daily watering is required depends on the type of soil in the pot and your climate. But, the amount of water needed also varies from species to species.

Pines and other conifers need less water. They benefit from moderate drying periods, as well. Deciduous and flowering trees require and welcome more water than conifers. Look for curled leaves on deciduous trees, indicating dryness. Check that flowers aren’t wilting when they should be blooming.

A certain amount of experimentation, accompanied by a careful measuring regime, will be necessary to adjust to your specific tree and circumstances.

Bonsai - The Basics: Soil, Part II

Beyond the need for good water retention and good drainage, soils have to supply all the nutrients trees can’t get from the air or produce internally using sunlight for energy. Also, how much water retention is needed and specifically what kind and amount of nutrients will vary somewhat from species to species.

Pines and Junipers require, indeed can tolerate, much less water than other species. Flowering and fruiting species - Bougainvillea, citrus, apple and others - require much more water than average. Not only do they have to feed trunk, branch and leaf systems, but fruits and flowers take in more water and aspirate moisture much more quickly.

Soil is a mixture of inorganic and organic material. Inorganic elements and compounds, such as clay, granite, ash and others help regulate drainage and supply nutrients.

Clay is an excellent water retainer, as is obvious from the existence of clay pots. It performs a similar service, to a smaller degree, when small pieces are embedded throughout the soil. Ash or ground volcanic rock, helps not only regulate water but supplies some of the needed nitrogen as well.

Organic components are made up of decomposed plant and animal matter, which provide nitrogen, phosphates and a host of other vital nutrients.

Mixing these two basic types together in the correct ratio creates the soil appropriate for a given species and climate. By adding relatively more grit, for example, easy drainage is increased. In the absence of more specific guidelines, a 50:50 mixture of grit and peat is a good starting point.

Grit, usually crushed granite or flint, provides good drainage while peat, typically moss peat, provides a spongy earth, making for good aeration and supplying needed nutrients. Leaf mold or composted bark is sometimes a suitable substitute for peat moss.

Proportions will vary depending on species. Pine and Juniper, as noted, should have more inorganic material to provide less water retention. Often the proportions change to as much as 75:25. Provided the base of the pot contains a layer of gravel to keep the screened hole from being plugged, the exact ratio isn’t critical.
Akadama, a white Japanese clay, is the most commonly used fine-quality inorganic material used by expert bonsai artists in Japan. But it can be difficult to obtain in the US and UK. Seramis is often used as a substitute. This more standard, orange-colored, clay is a good alternative. It has the added advantage that its color changes slightly as the moisture content varies, giving a good visual indicator of drying.

When preparing soil, keep in mind that all the elements of proper bonsai care are interrelated. Proper soil mixtures vary with watering regiment and are dependent on local climate, air pollution content and several other factors. Consider your individual circumstances carefully.

If you intend to put forth the time, expense and effort to grow bonsai - which require more care than ordinary plants - soil is the last place you want to skimp on money or preparation. Soil quality is often a literal life or death alternative for your bonsai.

Bonsai gardening - The Basics: Soil, Part I

First, a little ultra-simple plant biology. Plants maintain themselves and grow by taking in and processing nutrients, just as animals do. But the obvious difference is that (with few exceptions) plants can’t go get them, it has to come to them. One major portion of their needs is met when they absorb sunlight and take oxygen from the air. The rest must come from the soil.

Ready made soil mixtures are available from gardening sections at nurseries, in hardware stores, Wal-Mart and elsewhere. But just like convenience foods they’re more expensive and it can be difficult to tell exactly how much of each component they contain. For absolute beginners they’re a good temporary choice, though.

Sooner or later, the avid Bonsai enthusiast is going to want to mix his or her own soil. And, since bonsai are confined to a small pot most of the year, year in and year out, that soil will need to be supplemented and occasionally replaced. Make sure yours has the following attributes.

As with so many things about bonsai, apparently contradictory elements must be carefully balanced to maximize the health of the tree and create the desired appearance.

Though a normal, not a dwarf, species, the tree must be pruned to be kept small. Though growing toward the light, as most plants do, it must be wired and shaped to create the desired appearance. But nowhere do these competing elements need to be so precisely balanced as in the preparation of the soil.

Bonsai soil must be able to retain water well, since excessive drying is the easiest, and most common, way to kill a bonsai tree. Many so-called ‘mallsai’, bonsai bought at a store in the local mall, are nearly dead by the time they’re purchased since they don’t receive the proper amount of water and care.

Water is essential to life in itself, but it also acts as a vehicle to deliver nutrients through the roots. Humus, the organic components of soil that remain after decomposition of organisms, along with clay are the two major factors that help retain water and nutrients.

But the soil can’t be allowed to retain water too well. It has to provide good drainage. When too much moisture remains in the pot, whether through excess watering or compacted soil, root rot is almost inevitable.

Proper drainage is achieved, in part, by infusing the soil with small pieces of gravel. That helps create small spaces in the earth through which water can readily travel. Water then drains through the dirt, into the base and out the hole found in all bonsai pots.

Examine a commercially packaged quantity of bonsai soil and you’ll often see small white chunks. Those ‘aggregates’ as they’re called, help provide the soil with the correct amount of drainage.

In addition to allowing water to pass through, and not pool around the base to rot the roots, good draining soil allows for the easy passage of vital gases both in and out of the mixture.

Carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen need to pass in and out of the plant and soil in order for photosynthesis and other essential biochemical processes to proceed properly.

Good soil will have all those health supporting physical characteristics.