Pick the right tree

Arguably one of the most important task in bonsai, especially for the beginner, is picking the right tree. Choosing a suitable tree won’t guarantee a great bonsai, but choosing an inadequate one will guarantee the bonsai will never be truly great. While some bonsai artist can work well with even bad trees, most people can’t. And event the best experts can’t fix truly inadequate trees.

The trunk is all-important. It is also the hardest deficiency to overcome through normal growth. Bonsai can be grown from skinny whips of saplings, but it is often the case to spend large sums of money buying a bigger tree to begin with. Especially considering the amount of time it takes to grow a tree from saplings or seed. In nursery plants, the best trees are the ones that have been grown specifically for bonsai.

Look for three things.

1. Nebari: They are the roots that are or will be exposed. Use your fingers to scratch next to the trunk so you can get an idea what these roots look like. Choose a tree whose roots you can see, roots that taper out from the trunk, either at or just below the surface.
2. Taper: Look for a trunk that is fattest at soil level, tapering evenly to smaller diameter above that.
3. Interesting Features: Buy the tree with interesting bends in the trunk, unless you want a straight, formal upright style, such as with a redwood. It is difficult to make new angles in tree trunks that are very large, but is quite possible in smaller trees and in most branches. Sharp angles can be obtained by removing the entire trunk above a prominent branch, and making that branch into the new trunk. And the trunk can be curved in various ways if it is not too thick.

Don’t worry too much about how branches look because you will grow the tree to look the way you want it to look, which often means cutting off the top two-thirds. In fact, if you buy a large nursery tree grown for bonsai, you will probably have far too many branches. This gives you the opportunity to cut away all but those that will make the best design.

Make good roots

Just about everyone who doesn’t grow bonsai thinks they are made by starving them and chopping off most of the roots. In fact, very nearly the opposite is true. Bonsai must have a thriving root system, must grow in a medium that provides conditions for maximum growth, and must be frequently watered and fertilized. It is true you have to chop off  some roots to make sure the trees fit in the smaller pots though. Generally the way this is done is to remove the large roots that provide stability for the tree in the wild, especially those that grow straight down. In the bonsai pot, we substitute for that loss of stability by using wire to anchor the tree snugly in its pot.

So, do remove thick support roots when you repot your tree, but keep most of the network of fine feeder roots. The exception is the feeder roots that are so long that they would hang over the edge of the pot if stretched out. There may be a lot of these on a tree that has not been repotted for several years. Cut these roots to fit the limits of the pot when you remove the fat roots.

Fertilize and water enough

As a rough rule of thumb, most trees should be fertilized year-round (with some exceptions) about every two weeks. A simple way to do that is to fertilize on the first and fifteenth of each month. It is possible to damage trees with too much fertilizer, but if you use an organic low-level fertilizer and go a bit easy this is unlikely. Frequency of fertilizing is important; lots of fertilizer is not. You will see boxes of fertilizer with numbers like 8-6-4, or 0-10-10. Choosing numbers of 10 or below will help keep you out of trouble. These are the “N-P-K” numbers, which are the chemical symbols for the major nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen makes green leaves, and the others nourish roots and blossoms. A good dose of nitrogen is needed when green growth should be encouraged, such as springtime. The exception is flowering plants such as wisteria. Here, nitrogen should be withheld until blooming is finished. 0-10-10 may be used instead.

Planting medium and watering are also of upmost importance. Many people consider the best planting medium to be one that is relatively coarse and that does not become packed and hard, like clay. This will allow the fine roots to develop more easily and allows air to reach them more effectively. Unfortunately it has virtually no fertilizing power and does not hold water for very long, so it is important to fertilize properly and to water often enough. On hot sunny days your trees may need to be watered twice a day. On days that are cooler and less sunny, water only when the soil has started to become dry, which may vary from tree to tree.

Fill out the foliage

If you have made it possible for the roots to function at their best, you will have gone a long way toward providing rich foliage. But there are other things that will also help.

The concept of “back-budding” is crucial. Back-buds are new growth that pops out, particularly during the strong spring growing season, closer to the trunk, rather than at the ends of branches. We can encourage such growth by cutting off the far ends of branches, especially branches that have become long and “leggy”. It is important to leave some green growth at the end of the newly shortened branch so that sap will still be drawn through the branch. The branch will then have more than enough nutrients flowing into it, which it will often turn into new growth in the form of back-buds that fill out to make the branch look healthy and full.

Foliage growing in the shade of branches above, or shaded by heavy growth closer to the ends of branches, is often anemic and unhealthy looking. This is overcome by removing unnecessary branches so more of the trunk is visible, by positioning branches so that they don’t shade those below, by removing excessive growth at tips, and by removing dead material, especially during fall “cleanout”.

Do things at the proper time

It is tempting to do work that needs to be done when you see it. Yielding to that temptation is how I lost more than one tree. It is far better to wait until the proper season. For example, most trees are best repotted just when they begin to wake up in early spring. In San Francisco repotting time begins in January.

There are occasions when you must repot at the wrong time. You may be successful, as I was when I collected an old rosemary bush in hot weather, but if it’s not really necessary you may risk losing your tree by repotting at that time. Likewise, there are best times for pruning, for fertilizing heavily, for defoliating and decandling, and for most other procedures. Sometimes you can get away with it, but cultivating patience will give you better results in the long run.

Final thoughts

Don’t forget that each type of tree is different and unique. Learn what each tree needs to make it flourish and look like a bonsai. For beginners i suggest starting with hardy trees such as ficus, Suriname cherry, or possibly a small juniper. These trees genrerally are easier to care for and are good for starting out. And always remember that bonsai is the art of making a tree into a miniture version of itself. So always be on the lookout for interesting trees in nature to get inspired about what you can achieve. And finally, always remember you get what you put in. To make great bonsai you must be willing to put in alot of time and effort to make sure your trees stay healthy and grow. Funny enough it is much like taking care of a child. And most of the trees I have killed, and there have been alot, have been due to not paying enough attention to them. Particularly in the winter time. Hopefully these hints will help the less experienced bonsai enthusiast to avoid some of the errors I made. And maybe encourage a few of you to try out this enjoyable task.

Work comes in many forms where bonsai is concerned: repotting, pinching, trimming, wiring, unwiring, styling, bending, cleaning, fertilizing, watering, transporting and probably many more things.  One of the most frequently asked questions is when to do what.  While getting into a routine is a good idea, proper timing of work depends on the growth and health of your trees.  Here are a few things that can help your bonsai improve as quickly and logically as possible:

Water by hand – yeah, it sounds like a pain, but watering by hand every day forces you to actually look at each tree that you own.  Using watering systems is convenient but with weeks between each time you look at your tree you may well miss a critical chance to improve your tree. But as you get to know your trees you can do what I do and use a zoned system and keep trees that need more or less water together. You will still need to monitor them but you can get away with not hand watering them.

Wire- well, it’s that simple.  Just do it.  Wiring can be a long process on a large tree, but the results of wiring and bending will do more to improve a tree than almost anything else.  Make the tree harmonious by making complimentary bends in branches and sub-branches, move an element that is jutting beyond the silhouette to fill in a void. It can be a hassle but your trees will look alot better for it.

Repotting – This really is the single most important thing that you do during the year to ensure that your tree grows well and remains healthy.  Using the proper soil mix will mean that your tree flourishes.  Repotting can seem complicated, but the most important thing is that when you acquire a tree you repot it at the earliest opportunity so that it is in a soil that you are familiar with and which has properties the same as that of all the soil you use.  This will make it so that you know exactly when a tree needs to be watered and when it does not.

Pinching, pruning, trimming – this is the thing that most people latch onto.  Cut off the part of your tree that you dont want.  But recognizing that each bit of growth is like a bit of paint on a brush, you must use as much of it as possible to complete the vision that you have for a tree.   Cutting it off is sometimes the right thing to do, but in many cases wiring is actually the better option.  Because afterall, don’t you want more branches?

Fertilizing – You will see the difference – no fertilizer no growth.  But what to do with that growth….remember, it’s like paint on a brush, use as much as you can.  Cut off the parts that you can’t.

All these things are work, if you miss the opportunity to fertilize your tree that is time lost waiting for it to grow, if you don’t wire a branch when it is young it will never have fluid movement, that is time lost.  If you dont repot your tree may become sick, more time lost.  Look at your trees daily, work on them when they need it, every week if needed. If you are like me you will go through ebbs and flows were you pay alot of attention to your trees and then times were you may miss a few days. But one thing is certain, the more effort you put in the better the results!

I have been a few weeks since I started to re-arrange the bonsai on my deck to get better sun and to also look a little nicer so I figured I would do a quick photo post on the subject. Between long work hours and family time this has taken weeks when it should have taken hours but it was well worth it!

My reasoning behind this change was some of my trees were getting to much light and some were not getting enough. So to fix this I put the light loving trees on the outside edge of my deck.

The smaller trees and the the semi shade loving trees I put on the edge near the roof were they get sun all day except the late afternoon. Some of these trees like full sun so I will probably swap these out and put them on the edge on a week by week basis. If you notice I put small bamboo shelves on the back of the bench to hold my smaller trees.

Here is my phoenix graft juniper and a bald cypress I will be working on shortly
My large Chinese Elm. It is one of my favorite trees though it hasn’t gotten enough sun this year so far.
Some of my tropical trees. A severely overgrown Surinam Cherry, shohin crape myrtle, and a new bougainvillea.

This Juniper I plan on moving out into the yard soon. But the 2 Wisteria, Weeping Willow, and Trident Maple will probably stay.
I love watching my trees bloom. Here is my new crape myrtle beginning to bloom.

Some blooms on the new bougainvillea.

Methods:

• Mulch – Use a mulch that covers the lower first or second branches of your tree.  In addition, placing your bonsai under any structure that protects it from heavy icing and dry winds but allows moisture is also recommended. If you must water, do it earlier in the day and only when temperatures warm to 45-50 degrees.  Rule of thumb is: if the rootball is solid, don’t water – if it’s loose, water sparingly.
• Unheated greenhouse (or the equivalent) – Make certain that if there’s the possibility that the temperature can hit below freezing, use a small heater to sustain a moderately cool but not freezing temperature.  If you opt for this method, don’t bring you bonsai in and then put them outside again on a warmer day.  Consistency is important during dormancy.
• Cold Frame – Make a cold frame, outside, that’s raised, allows for light (but, not direct sun) and which can be opened, from time to time, to aerate your dormant bonsai.

Timing

Whatever method you choose, putting your bonsai into protection before the first freeze is your first best step to successful wintering over.  Conversing, taking your tree out of protection too soon in the Spring can have the same affect.  Wait a bit longer to make certain all chance of freezing and frost have past before introducing your bonsai back to a shaded, outside spot. For my purposes I am doing 2 of these. I am putting most of my trees outside in a mulch bed but a few more tender ones are going to stay in the basement. I plan on posting pictures of my setup once I get home and have time.

These Pictures were Uploaded earlier this year after the anual Brussels Bonsai Rendezvous event. This is really an old post but I want to populate some interesting posts. Rendezvous is an annual convention held Memorial Day weekend at Brussels Bonsai in Olive Branch, Mississippi. (near Memphis, TN) Several top Bonsai masters were on hand for the event. I have been to 3 of them and had a blast every time!

The first pic is a display tree from a previous Rendezvous. I don’t remember what kind of tree though.

This is another previous Rendezvous tree. I like the overall look of it especially since it is still young. I also like the presentation alot.

Yet another past Rendezvous tree! An Azalea this time. I have always wanted to get an azalea bonsai but for some reason every potted azalea I get dies from pests or disease so I can’t bring myself to get a specimen tree.

This is probably my favorite of the past Rendezvous trees, probably because I am partial to juniper and pines. I particualarly like the deadwood on this tree. I generally have mixed results with junipers depending on when I get them.

One of my favorite Bonsai masters at rendezvous is Marc Noelanders. The next several photos are from his demonstration at the beginning of the event. It is always interesting to watch him work and learn from his experience during these types of events.

This is a close up of the juniper Marc is working on showing the wiring process and some jin’s and shar’s

Another closeup this time of the almost completed demonstration tree. If you compare it to the pictures above you can tell just how much work and vision went into this tree.

The finished tree with the front marked.

This year my wife Elena also did a workshop. She picked the gardenia workshop with bonsai master Kathy Shaner. Here is a picture of what her initial tree looked like.

Here is a close up of the branches after a little bit of trimming as they tried to decide on a style for the tree.

Here is Elena working on her tree during the event.

Kathy and Elena working on her tree together. It looks fairly bare now but actually hers was one of the least trimmed trees in the end.

Here is a pic of the tree from the proposed new front after some severe trimming.

The main workshop I took this year was the black pine with Marc Noelanders. Here is a picture of what the trees looked like before we started work. Notice just how bushy and overgrown it is.

We ended yo deciding to chop off the top of the tree and here is the result. I am still deciding if I want to try to Jin this particular top or just trim it down even today.

Me and Marc working on the tree after an initial styling attempt.

The finished tree after we completed work on it at the workshop. Next year I hope to initially pot the tree and and refine it.