An important job necessary each year to ensure the health and vitality of a bonsai is root pruning and re-potting. The roots of a healthy tree will grow rapidly throughout the growing season filling the pot and compacting the soil and depleting it of nutrients. Root pruning and re-potting helps to create finer feeder roots and in turn finer more compact foliage, and it replaces the depleted soil with fresh soil that is airy and
Juniper Bonsai Starter to Finished Tree. While filming my beginners course I used a Juniper as my main demonstration tree. here is a short video of the process of taking a starter to a finished bonsai. I have chosen this particular tree because of the amount of branches it has to work with, the movement in the trunk and the shape it already has that will allow it to easily fit within the guidelines
There is one thing that seems to be a regular issue when customers finally decide to bring their bonsai in to the nursery for us to prune and re-pot them; They leave it way too late! A quality, healthy bonsai needs regular pruning to create compact pads of foliage, and to assist in reducing leaf size. Most trees such as figs etc. If left to grow un-attended, will produce long leggy branches that will have
Whether you are buying a bonsai starter from your local nursery to train, or deciding which of your pot plants you are going to create your next work of art from, there are a couple of things you can look for that may help speed up the process of achieving a much better bonsai sooner. If you have read my previous post Bonsai, choosing the best tree for a beginner you should now have an
Choosing the best tree for a beginner is an important step in bonsai success! As a beginner to bonsai, you have probably been inspired by trees that you have seen in pictures, on television, or in some type of display or demonstration. Certain varieties catch your eye and you decide to rush out and find a tree of that variety and start to bonsai it! Unless you have purchased that tree from a local nursery
I’ve always said that there are 3 main things that kill most bonsai, Too much water Not enough water Keeping your tree inside for too long The truth is, there are a few more things that can kill your bonsai, or effect them badly enough to set them back years. The main one of these is the silent bonsai killer, PESTS. Different varieties can be affected by different pests while some can be affected by
To help position branches and to give flow and movement to a tree, It might require wiring as a way of securing it long enough for it to set in the desired position. This can be achieved by using coated aluminum or copper wire carefully wound around the trunk or branch, and then gently manipulating it to the desired angle or direction. Copper wire stripped from old electrical cables is okay to use (especially if
When to Fertilize For just about all varieties of tree (excluding some tropical varieties), feeding should take place from early spring right through until the beginning of Autumn (fall) and can be done fortnightly. When Autumn arrives, at this point your tree should have enough energy stored and will start to lose its leaves (deciduous varieties), and begin its dormant cycle where it will shut down and only need to use its stored energy throughout
The Elm and Fig Bonsai Project I was contacted by email just before Christmas by one of the subscribers on my mailing list, asking some questions and for a little help on a couple of trees he had recently purchased (one from Bunnings Warehouse), and it occurred to me that the information he was after would possibly benefit others as well, so with his permission I have decided to post our conversation, photos and other
5 Basic Styles of Japanese Bonsai There are 5 basic styles of Japanese bonsai that are the basis of all the other more advanced styles. Understanding what they are and how they relate to one another, can give you a much better direction when training your own trees or attempting a much more advanced style. Training a tree in a pot to become a bonsai rather than just a pot plant in a bonsai pot,