You should know that there are several ways to keep a bonsai. One of the easiest ways is to buy from a reputable plant nursery, it’s never a good idea to purchase from a market stall, the internet, or a shopping mall.
Before you start bonsai art, there are several things you need to keep in mind, It is a long journey of artistic thinking, patience, and care. This blog will guide you on how to ace bonsai art like a pro, for those who are thinking of starting a bonsai tree.
Choosing the right tree
You need to start with something easy and beginner-friendly: Trees. Choose a plant favourable to the climate, location, and space. Excellent plant species to start with are:
- Ficus: Ficus species are very forgiving; you can freely train, prune, wire, reshape, and broaden your creativity with these easy indoor plants.
- Junipers: If you want to start with something classy and go old school, then junipers are the one. Needle juniper was a popular species back then, but now Chinese junipers are more likely to rule the bonsai fashion world.
- Chinese elm: one of the most popular, versatile, and hardy species used for bonsai. Best for newcomers, these outdoors need no special protection in winter and can be kept in full sunlight throughout the season.
- jade: These are low-maintenance plants and suitable for keeping indoors.
Start with these easy, cost-effective nursery plants, and for beginners, avoid growing from seeds, cuttings, which are a long and tedious process.
Fetch the basic tools
Now, after you get the plants, get the basic tools. You don’t have to go for a full kit, grab the essentials. For a beginner, a pair of ordinary garden secateurs, wires, and pliers for cutting wires is all that you need. With time and experience, use other tools like the concave branch cutter, pruning shears, root hook, or rake.
Pick a shallow pot
Bonsai are always grown in shallow containers that match the style and size of trees, most preferably, the handmade ones that look more standard. For beginners plastic pot is fine with good drainage holes which can be upgraded later.
learn the basic techniques
- Pruning: Cutting back branches and leaves, either hard or light, to promote growth or create a framework for your future bonsai, is an essential technique. You can take a reference from good bonsai pictures or tree shapes in nature on what it will look like in the future.
- Pinching: Pinching involves removing the growing tips of the new shoots, using your thumb and forefinger. pinching is done throughout the growing season in non-flowering plants, but one must be careful while pinching the flowering plants, as they may mistakenly remove the flower buds.
- Wiring: Wiring is an easy and quick method to achieve the desired shape in your bonsai. For amateurs, aluminium wire is convenient to start.
- Watering: Watering needs to be regular, as one of the common causes of death is poor watering. Watering must be done throughout the year, but avoid a waterlogged condition. Misting can be done for indoor bonsai.
- Feeding: Since bonsai trees are grown on a limited volume of soil in a shallow pot, it is essential to provide them with nutrients regularly during the growing season.
- Repotting: Repotting can be done every 2–3 years, depending on the plant’s vigor, and includes root trimming and soil renewal.
observe and adjust
Bonsai is quite a time-consuming, slow project. It is not a 1-week project, it’s more like a long-term relationship, so watch closely how your trees react to your adjustments and work accordingly. Visit local bonsai clubs, exhibitions, and competitions from which you can take inspiration.
Final words
You’ve got to start somewhere, so start small, don’t get overwhelmed, stay consistent, don’t look for early perfections, and research if needed. Also, check out my other blog posts to learn about plant care tips.