Bonsai How To

Bonsai is an Art Form  There is an art exhibit going on at my local Community center, and I’ve been admiring (and sometimes criticizing) the paintings and photographs and free lance artwork that are on display there.  Bonsai, to me, is an art form because I start off with something in its basest form, and [...]

  Now What?  A Tip or Two on Re-potting.   Now what?  After you’ve chosen your new bonsai pot and have a good idea of the soil, or brand of cat litter (G) you are going to use; you are ready to move your tree to its new home.    So as to not cause culture [...]

  A little more on bonsai pots… There are training pots (No! Not a tot’s training potty!) for the bonsai equivalent of a toddler. Training pots are for bonsai trees that have long roots that won’t fit into a ‘regular’ pot.    NOTE: A drain hole is a necessity in a training pot, and should [...]

Soil for your Bonsai Plant/Tree/Shrub. What good does it to have the perfect pot, both in size and appearance and then fill it with coffee grounds as the soil for your bonsai plant?  Just take a good sniff of your bonsai plant every morning.

  Bonsai Pots- How to Choose Is a shoebox too small?  Maybe, but the main trouble with a shoe box is that they are cardboard and won’t last more than a few weeks at best. So what do you look for in a bonsai pot?  Maybe something roomy enough to support your plant and allow [...]

  “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”  This was the title of a song from the 40’s perhaps?  And how is that germane to the subject at hand? The Bonsai!  Before civilization everything was outdoors…grass, trees, flowers, shrubs. After civilization, came indoor trees, flowers, shrubs. Bonsai is really an outdoor activity and is much easier to grow outside. [...]

  So onward and upward….. and the continuing shaping of your bonsai.  Define and refine your plant by pinching back any new foliage.  This encourages  more growth nearer  the trunk and to make it fuller and tighter. One of the things that Looking at a bonsai you will note that the foliage is nearly always [...]

  Reveal the Trunk Line. Sounds like a telephone company term, doesn’t it? A good starting point will be deciding which branches you might want to keep, and remove the others.  Your objective will be to reveal the trunk line, by pruning what you don’t want to keep.  Was it David that said, when asked [...]

  Now You’ve Got Your Plant Home. Now What?   After spending an afternoon or evening at your local nursery looking over all the possibilities and then selecting just the ‘right one’, you are now home and wondering.  What now?    Name your plant!  Well, you don’t have to; but you probably named your first [...]

What kind of plants? Shrubby plants are a good starter.  As you get better and more experienced, there are numerous additional choices. It is recommended that you start fresh, and not buy an already made bonsai from your local grocery store, or pharmacy or car dealer (that’s a joke), thus the continuing reference in going [...]