Bonsai is an enjoyable hobby for people with all kinds of growing backgrounds. It is a hobby that combines the relaxation of gardening, and the challenge of creating art. The aim for beginners is to enjoy the process of training the bonsai, while learning how to grow them. Think of bonsai as simply plants in small pots, and you will have an easier time caring for them. Let the experts get worried about the "best" fertilizer or the "best" soil, concentrate instead on getting them to grow and have some fun!

The 5 Basic Mistakes That Beginners Make

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General Care

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Watering: Bonsai need to be kept slightly moist, yet not wet. When bonsai are in the sun or wind, they require more water. This can mean watering 2-3 times a day. For many people watering while on vacation is the big disaster. Expecting someone with no bonsai experience to care for your plants is asking for trouble. A battery-powered automatic drip system is one method that works.

Exposure: Most people have the best luck with bonsai when they are protected from the hot sun. Here at the nusrery we grow all our bonsai with a light shade cloth protecting them from the heat. Even sun tolerant plants often need more water than is available with such small soil masses, and the soil also gets too hot for good root development. The result is excesive heat stress, wilting, and ultimately, and dead bonsai. Additionally, with few exceptions, bonsai need to grow outdoors. The drying effect of air conditioning in the summer, and furnace-heating in the winter creares a very dry air, and the plants suffer. The humidity outdoors is much better. Wind will also dry out bonsai as much as the sun does, grow your bonsai out away from the wind. Not only will they not dry out, but you'll risk less pot breakage in a windstorm. If you have pets, it's also a good idea to keep them out of reach of them. Many a bonsai has been "pruned" at least once by dogs chewing on them.

Pruning: Finished bonsai need to be pruned regularly. What regularly means depends on the growth rate of the plant. Pines often need only yearly pruning, whereas Serissa often needs monthly pruing when they are growing strongly. Plants-in-training need shaping, but be sure to leave enough foliage to allow the plant to grow.

Fertilizing: When you are trying to get a bonsai to grow, many applications of a liquid fertilizer at half-rate is needed. Mature specimens may need fertilizing 2-3 times a year.

Potting: Training pots need to be large enough to allow extra room for the bonsai to grow. A larger container is also easier to keep moist and requires less frequent watering. Finished pots need to be sized according to the scale, bulk, and form of the bonsai. Again, remeber that small pots are more difficult to keep alive and growing.

Bonsai Tools

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Pruning Shears: Need to be nice and sharp. Thinning shears, or small shears help in getting to small areas.
Concave Cutting Tool: Makes a close and concave cut that heals smooth. These are used to cut larger branches flush with the trunk or major branches.

Wire: Copper colored aluminum wire is most often used. You will need different sizes for the different sized braches. This is important for moving branches to just the right spot while they growing. Remove and rewire your plants occasionally to keep the wire from cutting into the branches and leaving permanent marks.

Other tools can wait until you become more expert.

Fast Growing Plants for Bonsai

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Serissa: This is a fast growing flowering plant that develops a rough bark and blooms over a long season. Comes in green and vareigates leaf-types as well as a few dwarf forms. Useful for the less formal styles, including informal upright to cascade style.

 

Elm: This is a varied group of plants. Some good bonsai varieties include Hokkaido, a small-foliaged variety that is slow growing. Seiju, a faster growing form with small foliage and rough bark. Frosty, a spreading variegated form that makes a wonderful cascade or semi-cascade. Elms are traditionally used as a broom style, although some of the rustic varieties also make good candidates for informal-upright to cascade style. They are also useful for group plantings.

Ivy: One of my favorites because of the fast growth, speed in making an interesting subject, and ability to take pruning a lot, which makes you think you are doing something constructive. A variety I like quite a bit is Rochester, which I like for its' small foliage and rapid growth. I usually ivy as a cascade or semi-cascade.

Crabapples: This is a group of plants with flower and fruit interest. Placed in large pots, they are fast developing. Most often used in one of the upright styles.

Pomegranate: The full-sized fruiting, flowering, and the dwarf varieties develop into interesting plants very quickly. Depending on the variety, they have summer blooms, attractive fruit, and fall foliage color. Pomegranate is usually used in one of the informal styles from informal upright to cascade.

Plants that Shape up Quickly from Nursery Stock: These are Plants that develop quickly into interesting bonsai subjects from #1 and #5 Gallon Cans.

Japanese Maples: There are a number of varieties that make interesting bonsai. Good candidates are: Butterfly, with a variegated leaf; Dissectum, with a green, lacy leaf; Crimson Queen, a laceleaf with a red color; and Nishi Gawa, a rough-bark variety. Japanese Maple styles depend on the growth habit of the individual variety. There are varieties for almost any style.

Junipers: Good varieties include spreading varieties like Green Mound and San Jose Juniper. Upright varieties like Shimpaku (Sargent) Juniper, Grey Gleem, Blauwii or Hollywood. The spreadin types are used as semi to full cascades. Some of the uprighs lend themselves well to formal styles as well as informal upright styles. They are also used in literati style.

Dwarf Pyrancantha: White flowers and red berries give it two special seasons of interest. Pyracantha most often is used in one of the informal styles.

Dwarf Pines: Mugho, Dwarf Scotch, and Dwarf White Pine are just a few of the pines. Japanese Black Pines make nice specimens, but you usually have to cut them back so much that you have to wait a few years for them to develop a nice shape. Pine styles also depend on variety. I have seen beautiful formal upright Black Pines and Dwarf Scotch Pine, to Weeping Red Pine as a cascade.

Satsukki Azaleas: There are anumber of small-leaved satsukii azaleas that they make wonderful spring-blooming bonsai. Useful as informal upright all the way to full cascades.

Alberta Spruce: You need lots of nerve, but with ruthless pruning they make excellent "jinned" formal upright or double-trunked bonsai.

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Get an Eye
The thing that takes the most time is learning to see bonsai and not just look at them! Learn by going to bonsai shows, look at books and join the local bonsai club. Learning to see potential takes time. When looking for plants with potential, look with special care at the trunk, roots, and main branches. These are the parts that are most difficult to change.
 
Training Tips
When you get to the point that you know what you want the plant in training to look like, make a rough sketch to help in deciding which branch to keep and which to trim. I find that pruning too much too soon stops the tree from growing, so take your time, leave enough foliage to allow your plant to grow, and have fun!