Bonsai Gardening
When looking at a bonsai plant, you will see that it is truly a work of art. It has been shaped through years and years of care to accomplish a desired look.
Bonsai gardening is an ancient art of gardening that comes directly from Japan. Bonsai gardening in Japanese language means tray garden. This type of gardening is done by growing a plant in a small pot or tray, while taking care to Frequently prune the branches and roots. By doing this, the plant grows in the shape in which you desire it to grow. If you plan to do bonsai gardening be prepared to spend a great deal of time taking care of it.
Bonsai plants are not naturally small. They are trained to achieve this appearance. It is after bonsai training, they appear to be dwarfs. Bonsai gardening is done so that the plants will range in height from three inches to three an a half feet. There are basically two different types to buy for bonsai gardening. There are the ones already trained by a genuine bonsai artist or the untrained starter plant. It is important to find out the type of species you have purchased so you can research the care they require regarding watering, pruning, and re-potting.
The bonsai gardening plant is not an indoor plant. It can be brought indoors on occasion, most of its life will be spent outdoors, if it is to survive. Never plant the plant in direct sunlight. You should use a premade bonsai soil mix, this can be purchased on line. When bonsai gardening remember to water your plant often, since its container is small. It will need more water in hot weather and less in cool rainy weather. Bonsai gardening will require you to fertilize your plant to restore what gets washed away during frequent watering. Fertilizing is done early in spring and late summer.
Regular re-potting is also necessary for plants when bonsai gardening. This will promote its growth and maintain its health. Re-potting is best done while the plant is most dormant. Usually in early spring or late fall. Younger plants will need this every two to three years where older plants less often.
Pruning is what will give the bonsai plant its desired look. This is preformed during the growing season. This is done with fingers, by pinching new growth to develop more bushiness, with scissors by trimming new shoots or with leaf pruning by removing bad looking leaves.
Aluminum wire is used in bonsai gardening to guide the trees branches and trunk in different directions. It is lousily wrapped around the desired part so as to not damage the bark, and then gently bent into shape. Once the tree is trained to grow this way the wire is removed.
Bonsai gardening is a great way to relieve stress and a hobby you will enjoy.
Bonsai Tree Care
Bonsai Trees are tray planted or pot grown dwarf trees or miniaturized trees in containers, bonsai trees are dwarfed throw pruning of the roots and branches. This is done with the use of copper wire on the trunk and branches,and the entire tree must be kept proportional in size.
Bonsai trees are dwarfed by pruning the roots and branches ,wiring the trunk and branches and using other ways to make the tree look mature.
The goal of bonsai tree care is to keep the shape by balancing the top growth with the root growth. Shaping should start while the tree is young and continue throw as the tree matures. By using copper wire on the trunk and branches the shape of the tree is controlled, you must be sure that any wire used must be cut before digging into the bonsai tree. The entire bonsai tree must be kept proportional in size, this must include leaves, needles, flowers and fruit as with the container the for growing the bonsai tree in.
There are different sizes of bonsai trees, miniature, small medium, and average. The miniature bonsai tree grow to be about three inches in height, maturing in about four years. Small grows to about eight inches in height in about five to six years. The medium will grow to about a foot while the average bonsai tree will be up to two feet and mature in about three years after training begins
You can start your bonsai tree from seed or a cutting. When starting from seed you will find it very rewarding turning a seed into a piece of art, when using a cutting it will take time to mature but will still be rewarding. With cutting there are two types of bonsai trees, hard wood and soft wood, hard wood cuttings are taken at the end of the years growing season with growth starting the next season. Soft wood cutting are taken in the summer, most bonsai trees are started from cuttings except pine trees.
It is important to learn how to grow bonsai trees because of the small containers they grow in and the small amount of soil. Roots should never be over watered, to keep the bonsai tree healthy as possible always use special bonsai tree soil, this is designed to dry out faster than houseplant soil. But you must remember that because there is so little soil, bonsai trees need frequent small amounts of water. Bonsai trees also need nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in spring and again in fall.
Bonsai trees like humidity so it is wise to place on the container on top of stones or flat rocks that are in a bowl, but not that the water touches the bonsai tree, this will help give it the humidity needed. Bonsai trees also love sunlight, growing bonsai trees is a great hobby and learning how will take a lot of patience’s.