Caring For Your Bonsai
Wouldn't you want to know the secrets to caring for your Bonsai by these master Bonsai gardeners?
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Bonsai is the ancient art of dwarfing trees or plants and developing them into an aesthetically appealing shape by growing, pruning and training them in containers according to prescribed techniques.
Bonsai is a wonderful interest, hobby or even profession to undertake. While famous theologians have claimed that it is actually 90% art and only 10% horticulture, it has to be said that a successful Bonsai is most definitely a horticultural masterpiece.
In Japanese, Bonsai can be literally translated as "tray planting" but it has developed into a whole new form since it's origins in Asia many centuries ago. To begin with, the tree and the pot form a single harmonious unit where the shape, texture and colour of one compliments the other. Then the tree must be shaped. It is not enough just to plant a tree in a pot and allow nature to take its course - the result would look nothing like a tree and would be very short-lived. Every branch and twig of a Bonsai is shaped or eliminated until the chosen image is achieved. From then on, the image is maintained and improved by a constant regime of pruning and trimming.
Bonsai are classified by styles, relating to the trunk angle, shape or the
number of trunks, formal upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade and
group planting. They vary greatly in size from Shito Bonsai trees grown
in containers the size of a thimble, to trees needing several men to
move.
A bonsai should have a well tapered trunk and have branches all around the tree to give the bonsai visual depth. The lower part of the trunk should be visible to show its 'power',
The aim of Bonsai is to capture the beauty and strength of an ancient tree, without showing that the tree is manufactured by the "Hand of man".
Keeping and growing Bonsai is not as hard as you may believe. They are no more difficult to look after than most houseplants, needing food, water and light to survive. However most bonsai are not houseplants. If you live in a part of the world subject to frosts, bringing them indoors over winter in the mistaken belief that they need to be warm to survive is a sure way to kill them.
Deciduous trees are somewhat hardier than conifers when the pots are frozen. As conifers retain their foliage throughout the year, if they freeze in the pot, wind passing over their foliage takes moisture from it and "freeze dries" the tree.
Keeping the tree healthy is of course just a part of the craft of Bonsai and the aesthetic side of the craft needs to be born in mind also.
These resources will make caring for your Bonsai easier and you'll achieve better results with your Bonsai by following the techniques used:
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