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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Bonsai beginner

25 replies

Bearnecessity · 11/01/2020 22:26

I want to grow my first bonsai tree (olive or cherry). I have no idea how to start, will research online/books but is there any wisdom out there?

OP posts:
yamadori · 13/01/2020 14:59

Bonsai4me.com

Join your local bonsai society and go to their meetings. The UK Bonsai Association is free to join, and their website has loads of info about local clubs and shows etc.

Also there's a book called Bonsai Basics by Colin Lewis that is great for beginners.

One important thing to know is that most bonsai trees are grown outdoors all year round, and are only given minimal protection from the very worst weather. Only a few tropical species are kept indoors.

Bearnecessity · 13/01/2020 18:18

Thank you.

OP posts:
yamadori · 13/01/2020 22:28

No problem - you can buy a tree already in training as a bonsai, or you can make your own, which is cheaper to start with, a lot more fun to practise on, and not so much of a hit in the pocket if it dies Grin

Don't bother with bonsai seeds or seed kits, even if you can get them to germinate, it will take years before you can actually start training it. There is no such thing as a bonsai seed anyway, they are ordinary tree seeds.

For the species you mention, a good cherry for bonsai is Prunus incisa 'Kojo no mai' and you will find a lot of them in garden centres in the spring, when they are in flower. Try and choose one with a chunky single main trunk and smaller side branches that start fairly low down on the trunk. Olives are commonly sold in garden centres in the summer, and similar applies to the shape of those as well.

Another species you might like to look at is cotoneaster, you get flowers and berries, and some of them are evergreen.

Come back to the thread and let us know how you get on Smile

Cheesecake53 · 13/01/2020 22:49

Thank you, yamadori, that is so informative!

yamadori · 14/01/2020 14:03

No problem Smile

If you are anywhere near Swindon, there's a big regional bonsai show there on 23 February, hosted by Swindon Bonsai Society. Lots of bonsai exhibits and also traders selling trees, pots etc.

stripeypillowcase · 14/01/2020 14:11

we have a sycamore bonsai.
the dc 'saved' a seedling from the flower bed...
basically, you need to grow your seedling to the height you want and from then on each winter you reduce the roots and plant it it a low nutrients/sandy soil in a shallow dish.
we experimented a bit with bending the stem to give the tree a more interesting shape.

basically, unless you buy a ready made bonsai it takes years.

yamadori · 14/01/2020 14:50

If you buy a ready-made bonsai and you don't have any experience, you will kill it and waste ££££ Grin

Incidentally, the best time to repot maples (including sycamore) is in spring as the buds start to swell.

stripeypillowcase · 14/01/2020 14:56

yep, at the moment ours is just a boring stick.
end of feb (usually during half term) we take it out it's pot, prune the roots, and contort the branches/stem some more. you could feel quite sorry for that poor plant.

stripeypillowcase · 14/01/2020 15:01

after all, it is a living thing.
and needs to be in it's natural habitat, which is outside for most trees with a dormant period.

yamadori · 14/01/2020 15:39

ours is just a boring stick Grin

The way to get round that is to take it out of the bonsai pot and put it in the ground for a couple of years to fatten up the trunk and get some height. You then dig it up and prune the roots a bit (take off the downwards growing ones and leave the sideways ones) and put it back in the ground again, then after another year or so, chop the now chunky trunk right back down to about 50cm and wait for it to grow a new leader at a diagonal to the original. And repeat. You eventually get a thick tapering trunk with zig-zags in it. Then you put it in a normal plant pot and set about getting it to grow side branches where you want them. About 10 years should give you something that has started to look like what you want.

yamadori · 14/01/2020 15:41

Forgot to mention - for a sycamore to look realistic as a bonsai it needs to be on the large side, so the naturally big leaves are in proportion.

stripeypillowcase · 14/01/2020 16:13

it's about a foot tall.
and after about 5 years looks more like a tree than a seedling.
but thanks for the tips, will certainly try some of those!

yamadori · 14/01/2020 17:21

Have the leaves reduced in size at all? I know sycamore aren't as good as some others at doing that.

Something else to try - as soon as a pair of leaves develops and there is another shoot growing between them, pinch the shoot back and you should get two new branches grow at that point, from the base of each leaf. If you keep doing it you get a lot more smaller branches.

stripeypillowcase · 14/01/2020 19:07

yes, leaves are about a 3rd of the size of a mature sycamore. so not tiny and not quite in proportion.

unbaffled · 14/01/2020 20:01
Smile
unbaffled · 14/01/2020 20:01

Sorry, wrong thread!

stripeypillowcase · 15/01/2020 06:08

there is (almost) no thread where a Smile is not welcome
Grin

Goldenhedgehogs · 20/01/2020 00:32

I did a conker seedling with my kids, worked quite well and the leaves were fairly small, didn't cost anything and used up at least one of the 100 conkers the kids insisted on collecting

yamadori · 04/04/2020 10:58

Just bumping the thread in case anyone has any questions for me Smile

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 05/04/2020 07:47

I was given a Ginko bonsai tree as a present last month. Will I definitely kill it?

One thing I'm noticing is the soil tilts down from the trunk to the lip of the pot so when I water it, water runs onto the ground.

I'm keeping it inside - is that ok?
Can I change how the soil sits in the pot without killing it?

Any other not-killing-it tips?

happysunr1se · 05/04/2020 08:04

The gingko needs to live outside.
Most bonsai need to live outside as they are just very small regular trees.

I do have an indoor bonsai, it's a chinese pepper tree.
And I have managed to grow a pine seedling from a pinecone I found under a really beautiful pine tree so I'm hoping to bonsai-ify that eventually :)

I've got a gingko bonsai too and a gingko variety "Troll" which is not a bonsai, they are beautiful trees.

I'm not very experienced with bonsai, so I cant really help with anything else like pruning or repotting. But I have managed to keep mine alive for 6+ years.

yamadori · 05/04/2020 10:39

@SuperLoudPoppingAction Hi there, yes it will do better outside (as all but tropical species do), but you need to sort out the soil first. It is probably still sitting in the grim soil that it was potted in for transport from the nursery in the far east, then it would have had weeks in a container ship, then six months in quarantine here, then weeks in the garden centre. So the soil has probably had it.

The reason the water is running off and out of the bottom is because the soil is too dry and has become hydrophobic. Sit the whole thing in a washing-up bowl and fill so the water covers the pot and soil completely. You will probably see a bubbles rising for a while. Leave it for half an hour and then put it on the draining board to let the water run out of the drain holes. That should help with the immediate issue.

It will need repotting in suitable soil, the best place at the moment will be online - Kaizen Bonsai sells proper bonsai soil. Also see if you can get hold of a second-hand copy of 'Bonsai Basics' by Colin Lewis, there are usually loads on a well-known auction site.

For the time being, keep it outside during the day in a shady place to get it used to being outside again, and give it a bit of shelter if the temperature is going to drop below about 6 degrees overnight. They are an outdoor species, but this one has been inside all winter and won't like the shock! If it has a drip tray, don't use that outside, they are really only for protecting furniture.

Keep it moist but not wet. Then get the proper bonsai soil and follow the instructions in the book to repot it. I would suggest joining a local bonsai society and someone could show you how to do it, but of course nobody is having meetings at the moment.

Re next winter - they have fleshy roots and although the tree itself can cope with the cold, the roots can split if frozen solid so you will need to give it a bit of protection in freezing weather.

Hope this helps, and good luck Smile

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 05/04/2020 15:38

Thanks so much, both of you.

I'm in north east Scotland so there can be below zero temperatures from November to april.

Would it be possible to bring it in for winter?

Just now it's in my upstairs hall which has a lot of sun from a big velux skylight.

yamadori · 05/04/2020 15:53

Trees need the seasonal changes in light and temperature in order to keep them healthy. Kept indoors, they don't get the winter dormancy to recharge their batteries, and it is like you going without any sleep. You would feel awful, and eventually keel over.

Houseplants and tropical species don't need a winter rest, as they come from parts of the world that don't experience seasons the same way we do in the UK, so they can cope with being indoors better.

How big is it?

Some people keep deciduous bonsai trees in a garage or shed in the winter, to protect them from the wet and wind. They don't need light in the winter as they have no leaves and are not photosynthesising or growing at all. You just keep the soil slightly damp.

You could also dig a hole and bury the pot in the ground or much larger pot and cover with mulch or straw etc to stop the roots from freezing, or put it in a cold frame or one of those little greenhouses. (You need to put a heavy weight in the bottom of those though, to stop them from taking off in high winds).

Another alternative would be somewhere like an unheated room or hallway.

yamadori · 06/09/2020 12:53

Just bumping this thread so people know it's here Smile

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