Sourcing & Collecting
Bonsai trees can be made from popular landscaping trees, and therefore can be purchased from nurseries.
An important aspect of a bonsai is the age through the beauty of the trunk. Get trees in bigger growing pots with ample branches even though they cost a little more.
Dig around the tree’s base to check for a radial spreading root. A bonsai with an ugly base can never be made right.
If you keep your eyes open and ears on the ground (no pun intended), you can find people getting rid of old trees when redoing their garden.
When collecting, retain as many roots and original soil as possible. Plant your trees in a porous mix with good water retention capability to keep roots moist and also access to air. Use coarse sand or perlite plus peat moss in equal parts, for example.
The best time to collect is in the spring or during cooler seasons. Cut off redundant branches and as much leaf as possible to compensate for the loss of roots.
Wait for the tree to get healthy and leaf out before trimming, then carve the stubs into a more natural taper.
Environment
Most trees thrive in full sun so long as the roots are not desiccated. Place your bonsai in full sun if you water them adequately, or keep them in partial shade or at a location with morning sun.
You have to winterize your bonsai to avoid the rootball from freezing. Bring them indoors, bury the bonsai, or in ways that protect them from freezing over.
Styling
You can also follow tradition and a set of rules to make your tree conform. The result can be perfect, meticulous, pleasing, and impressive. It is interesting to note that bonsai masters in Japan are referred to as master craftsmen!
An alternative is to do your “thing” by creating what is pleasing to you. That is being creative and artistic.
Bonsai can be styled in any ways that are pleasing to you. The starting point is to define the vision of what you want the tree to become and work towards that goal patiently, over time.
Ideally a bonsai is to emulate nature, it can be and should be based on your unique encounter. It could emulate the upright heritage tree you admire…thus the formal upright style (which is the style of most of the bonsai we ship), or a windswept style that one can imagine at the top of a mountain (which you can modify our tree to become). The possibility is endless; the list of formal styles is just there to help you dream up your design.
Style your bonsai to look natural and not contrived. That is, always be able to justify and explain how it could have come to that in nature. Simply, growth is towards light, biased by the orientation wrt the sun, and shaped and biased by wind and snow.
You can cut off redundant branches and let new growth fill out the space in ways that are desirable (clip-n-grow method) and speed up the developmental process by wiring and by the use of guy wire. And if you let the tree grow in the natural tendencies of the tree, you get the benefit of not having every one of your bonsai look alike if they are biased by your own tendencies!
Fall is best for styling and wiring because there are less leaves to obstruct your view, branches are still supple to bend, and less likely to get girdled due to slower growth.
Use guy wire on older branches to gradually pull a stiff big branch to place like it is drooping under its own weight.
Make jin (dead branch) and shari (dead root) on hardwood trees to enhance the illusion of age.
Trimming and Pruning
Bonsai helps develop patience and persistence!
Prune excess growth and cross branches after they are hardened to conform to your design and also feed the tree in the meantime.
Arrange spacing of the branches to let light in to encourage back budding and to make the beautiful trunk and branches visible. Metaphorically work towards “birds can fly through”.
Work on roots first because that is what is difficult if not impossible to correct on old trees.
Then define the ever important apex. Work on the tree from top down and bottoms up until you are satisfied with the look. Be bold and be drastic in your cuts because you can never make a mistake; branches will emerge to give you ample design options.
A bonsai pruning mantra is “Coarse to Fine.” That is get the design framework right before getting bogged down by detail to lose sight of the big picture.
Potting & Repotting
Traditionally evergreen trees like pine, juniper, and boxwood are planted in mute brown pots to enable the viewer to focus on the masculinity of the tree.
Deciduous trees are often planted in color pots to complement the soft green foliage and the winter silhouette. Pick a pot that matches your tree that pleases you. All rules of thumb are just guidelines.
Repotted a bonsai every few years to avoid rootbound. That is, the roots become so densely packed that water and air cannot adequately penetrate. The frequency for repotting can be substantially reduced if the bottom of the pot is lined with a window screen to perform root pruning.
The best time to report is in the spring, although it is fine to do so starting in the fall in mild weather where the root ball would not be frozen. Usually the tree is planted off center to introduce asymmetry, and in a pot that is a bit narrower than the tree top. And the height of the pot should approximate the width of the tree base.
Again, all guidelines are to be used as a starting point.
Bonsai Pots
The unique BH pots solved a real life problem that a dried out root ball does not absorb water readily. Our design retains water for a period to give an opportunity for the rootball to retain the moisture and let air in to fill the pore as water evaporates.
Propagation
Most trees can be started with seed and also from branch cuttings using soft, semi-soft, or hardened wood. There is ample information on the web.
Use cuttings for uniformity when you grow a forest, or to make a bonsai with desirable characteristics.
Plant cuttings in equal parts of peat moss and perlite and use rooting hormone to increase yield. Seeds can be planted in just about any potting mix.
Please refer to the discussion of each tree variety for specific instruction. Also, there are ample how-to videos on Youtube.
Soil composition
Bonsai trees are planted in shallow pots and therefore the soil must be optimized to retain ample moisture and also porosity for air to penetrate.
A good starting point is the standard soil mix proposed by BH, which consists of equal parts sandy loam, peat moss or coconut coir, and perlite. You can substitute good top soil or even coarse sand if you cannot find sandy loam. This soil mix has been proven to work well for most if not all plants (including succulents).
Watering
Bonsai has to be kept well watered, especially in summer heat. How much and how often you water always depends on your soil mix, sun/shade exposure, ambient temperatures, wind, etc. Check at least once daily all year round to see if the soil is supple. Water in the evening in the summer to allow time for water to get absorbed by the rootball. Avoid spotting the leaves by watering the root if you have hard water.
Winterize your bonsai by burying them, so the rootball is kept moist and does not freeze over.
Fertilizing
Start fertilizing in spring, more frequently during the warmer months and taper off as temperature drops. Consider slow-release fertilizer, chicken manure pellets, or fish and kelp emulsion. Avoid salt in other manure.
Care must be taken not to over-fertilize; excess accumulation could harm the roots. Always apply less than the recommended dosage. Occasional sprays with a dilute solution of a water soluble fertilizer (like Miracle Gro) to help keep the foliage green.
Disease and Pest Management
Keeping your bonsai area clean will help avoid many problems. Most of the popular bonsai trees are chosen for being disease and pest free. However, all trees can benefit from an occasional sharp spray of water from multiple angles. Do this in the shade or very early morning to prevent hard water drying and spotting the leaves.
Many pests can be avoided by eliminating ants. Amdro and Advion Ant gel are effective products. And you can catch snails hiding under pots
An insecticidal soap like Safer’s can be effective for light Insect infestations, and BioAdvanced All-in-One Rose and Flower Care is a good all around pest and disease preventative.
Try Malathion for persistent scale and spider mite infestations, and use a copper based fungicide or lime sulfur to control fungus.
Always follow label instructions.
With these general care tips, you will be able to create your own bonsai heirloom in no time! Have fun!
