Advice about growing a bonsai tree
Today I received an email from someone who wanted some advice about growing a bonsai tree. She had just bought her first bonsai tree and had various questions.
The reality is that everyone has lots of questions when they take up bonsai as a hobby. There’s so much to learn – and not just at the beginning! So if you are new to bonsai keep on asking those questions and gather as much information as you can.
Here are a few tips about growing a bonsai tree.
Bonsai Tree - note trunkline, branch structure and foliage
The first thing you need to develop is the trunk. By following a cycle of allowing the tree to grow and then cutting back, the trunk will thicken and develop taper (being narrower at the apex than the base). This gives the appearance of age which is so important with bonsai.
Once the trunk is established you can then concentrate on developing the branches. Decide which bonsai style you want to adopt and then encourage branch growth by cutting and pruning.
The next step is reducing the foliage. As the leaves are the food factories for the tree it is important not to reduce the foliage too early. The sugars produced by photosynthesis are necessary to develop the trunk and branch structure. Cutting and trimming the tree will also have the effect of reducing the leaf size.
One of the pitfalls for the bonsai novice is the ready availability of so called ‘bonsai trees’ for sale in supermarkets, malls and on the internet. These are often not bonsai trees at all and will turn out to be a waste of money.
There are several ways of acquiring bonsai trees but for the novice I suggest that finding a good nursery or garden centre is an excellent place to start. Take advice about the different species and what conditions they need e.g outdoor / indoor varieties.
Learn as much as you can and then start to practice. If you buy relatively inexpensive specimens you won’t need to worry about making mistakes!
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