Bonsai Tree Guide

Important Tips For Beginners To Keep Juniper Bonsai
By Cindy Heller

A juniper bonsai is one type of bonsai trees that is suitable for beginners because it is quite easy to be taken care of. The are many types of juniper that can be turned into bonsai, such as Shimpaku, Japanese Garden, Green Mound, Chinese Juniper, Sargents, and Needle. These trees are also adaptive as they can be placed indoors or outdoors. As long as you follow some basic rules in growing juniper bonsai, the plant will flourish without giving too many problems.

One of important characteristics of juniper bonsai is that it needs dormancy period. This period can be considered as hibernation or resting, which is required by the tree to revitalize during spring and summer. If you want to encourage the bonsai to reach dormancy in winter months, then you can expose it to moderately cold weather about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Like other bonsai, proper watering is important for juniper bonsai. Although it prefers a dry period between each watering, you should never leave the plant dry for a long period of time as it will stress and kill it. The proper way to water the bonsai is to soak it in a tray full of water up to its trunk for five to ten minutes. Then you should allow the plant to drain properly because waterlogged soil can rot the roots of the bonsai.

On the other hand, if you use a tap water, you should repeat the process several times. You can water the juniper bonsai, wait for several minutes, and then start watering again. This repetition is to make sure that the soil and the bonsai has stored enough water to grow.

Maintain the right humidity is important for your juniper bonsai. To create the preferable environment, you can place the plant on top of tray filled with small stones and water. The stones prevent the pot to be soaked with water, while the water will evaporate and create humid environment around the plant. Another good strategy in this regard is to use moss on the trunk of the juniper bonsai. Moss will improve moisture retention and additionally it also gives a more natural look.

Sufficient amount of sunlight is another factor that you should pay attention at to take care of your juniper bonsai. Low intensity sunlight, such as in the early morning and late afternoon, is enough for the plant. If you put the juniper indoors, you can place it near a window to get the essential sunlight. Fluorescent lamps can be used as an alternative if there is no enough sunlight available. You need to expose the plant around twelve hours a day if you use this artificial light.

Every two weeks, you should fertilize the juniper bonsai so it will receive important nutrients. Organic fertilizer is the most suitable type for this purpose. Repotting the plant should be done once every year or two years. During this repotting, you should also prune the roots to keep the plant small and to reduce the pressure experienced by the roots as it is contained in a small pot.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. To learn more about juniper bonsai care, please visit indoor bonsai care.

Buying A Bonsai Tree
By Jade Simpson

A Japanese art of emergent minute container-grown foliage, bonsai actually originated from China and range to Japan and Korea. Far from the common notion that the bonsai is a kind of genetically small hierarchy, a bonsai hierarchy is actually a customary hierarchy that is reserved small by endless origin pruning and frequent repotting.

The art of Japanese Bonsai is centered on the attitude that the tree must give a picture of "heaven and earth in one container." A good Bonsai should possess the three forces of truth, essence, and beauty. Therefore, the goal is to make it look inherent and must never show an upset of person intervention. It is because this aesthetic wisdom found in bonsai that it became prevalent and very appealing. This is why it isn't surprising that rising bonsai bowed out to be a good matter venture.

There are now more people selling and growing their bonsai plants. Aside from the fact it is a good hobby, it is also an interesting and single piece of decoration for your family area, living space, and perhaps even for your kitchen. Since there are a category of bonsai plants untaken, you can want the acme lettering limited in an luxurious stoneware pot. It will be a great looking home décor or a personnel accent.

Bonsai can also be sold as gifts. People are now considering bonsai as a great gift idea. Because of the time and age aspect of bonsai, it is an adorable and romantic dowry especially for those celebrating their wedding anniversaries or their birthdays. Finding a bonsai tree that equals the age of a wedding or any annually celebrated juncture is indeed a unique and thoughtful way of commemorating an significance.

Growing bonsai is a good hobby. According to some studies about horticultural therapy, it provides therapeutic relief from known and idiosyncratic illnesses. Some people have testimonials aphorism that it helps their anxiety. It is known to have a holistic remedial result of relieving sting and reducing stress. It is also found to relax the mood and sooth tense muscles while bountiful a largely intuit of well-being, thus improving self-value.

While others have their special reasons for having a bonsai, a bonsai singer's core fulfillment is to originate a well-manicured and creatively molded bonsai tree. Some hobbyists are wholly interested in joining exhibits and contests to showcase their best bonsai leaves.

Obviously, there is an order for these fantastic dwarfed leaves. These are some of the reasons why growing and propagating bonsai leaves to augment the thriving market of bonsai trees is an ability venture.

For tips on canning peaches and freezing peaches, visit the Peach Facts website.

About Basic Bonsai Styles
By Patrick Desnoyers

Bonsai, as a Japanese art form, is more regulated than it’s Chinese counterpart, the penjing. Bonsai attempts to achieve the ideal tree, while penjing attempts to reproduce nature. This is why perfect styling exists in bonsai if you obey the ‘rules’, while penjing leave you free to your creation. As a result these are the basic styles :

Broom (Hokidachi or Hoki-zukuri)

A very harmonious style, this form has branches that develop at a certain height, forming an upside broom. This styling is mainly achieved through a technique called the “V” cut. The trunk is chopped where you want the branch to start to develop and then a deep V cut is performed on the remaining trunk. This will induce buds to break near the cut. Zelkova serrata are notorious for this styling but maple and other deciduous species can easily be styled that way.

Formal Upright (Chokkan)

A tree styled the “chokkan” way has a straight trunk tapering graciously from bottom to top. The first and biggest branch is often situated at 1/3 of the desired height of the tree and is on the right or the left. The following branch is situated on the opposite side, while the third is in the back creating the perception depth. As we look at the branch structure from bottom to top, the branches are getting thinner, creating a pyramidal shape.

Informal Upright (Moyogi)

This style is very similar to the previously mentionned style as the same rules of design apply, however, the trunk is not straight but rather forms a sinuous shape while remaining tapered. This style is commonly used with conifers.

Slanting (Shakan)

Once again, this style is the same as the formal upright except that the trunk is leaning on one side. Branches are grown uniformly on the trunk like the formal/informal upright styles but the apex is tilted to the opposite side of the trunk giving a visual balanced effect.

Cascade (Kengai)

This styling requires an inclined trunk that is preferably at a 45 degree angle. The major portion of the foliage is below the pot line and sometimes goes beyond the pot itself. It often represents a tree growing on the side of cliff. A deep pot is used for this style.

Semi-cascade (Han-Kengai)

Similar to the Kengai style, this style also has an inclinated trunk. However, the foliage remains at the height of the pot line. In nature, we can see this style near a waterway, the foliage having grown on the side and leaning towards the water. While the cascade style uses a deeper pot, this style uses a medium depth pot.

Windswept (Fukinagashi)

A “windswept” tree represents a tree that has been growing in a certain shape due to natural elements . Often caused by strong wind, the trunk is always inclinated in a certain direction and all branches have grown on the same side.

Literati (Bunjin)

This styling is often represented in Japanese paintings. It is a tree with a tall and sinuous trunk. The foliage only grows near the summit of the tree. This styling is somewhat an exception to the rigorous rules of bonsai because it does not have specific rules. It represents what the bunjin movement is in Japan: the search for liberty.

Group/Forest (Yose-ue)

This styling often represents a forest or a small cluster of trees. It is supposed to be styled in a way that will clearly represent the growing habits of trees in a group. Many techinques can be used to achieve this styling and many perception techniques are used to create the illusion of a forest, or as Naka would say, “having the quality of the invisible beauty of nature”. To respect the Japanese art form, an odd number of trees is prefered for this styling.

Raft (Ikadabuki)

The same rules of the group planting apply to this style. However, all of the trunks emerge from one common trunk. This technique is often achieved with a branch placed verticaly in the soil. The roots form this branch and the upper part of the vertical branch develop secondary branches that will eventually become the trunks.

Multi-trunk Style (Sokan - Sankan)

This multi-trunk style has different possibilities. The first, which is called “Sokan”, consists of two trunks emerging from the same visible roots (nebari). The styling of the upper part of the tree must respect the same rules as the formal / informal upright styles previously described. Another variance consists of the same but with three trunks emerging from the visible roots. This is called “Sankan”. You can also have more than three trunks but to respect Japanese bonsai, it is prefered to have an odd number of trunks.

Roots Over Rock (Ishitsuki)

This styling has the specific charactreristics of having many visible roots growing over a rock and finding their way to the pot/soil.

Patrick from

http://www.mishobonsai.com

Avid full time hobby bonsai grower. As been practicing bonsai and gardening for more then 7 years. Owner of www.mishobonsai.com, a website with ressource for bonsai and tree seeds.

If you have just acquired your first bonsai, you must now learn how to care for it. It is impossible to give care instructions for every type of bonsai and for every climate in a short brochure like this, but this will help you to get started. In general, your bonsai will grow best if it experiences
the same or similar environmental conditions as it would experience had it been growing 'wild'. This means that almost all bonsai must be grown OUTDOORS. (A few varieties of tropical plants can be grown as indoor bonsai, but even these will do best if they are grown outside during the summer).

Bonsai can be brought indoors for display for a day or two without suffering, but they really prefer being outside. Bonsai need the daily temperature variations, the intensity of the sun, and seasonal variations in temperature to remain strong and vigorous. The surest way to kill a bonsai is to keep it on top of the television, or on the coffee table. Bonsai are not houseplants. One of the great pleasures of growing bonsai is to watch them go through all the seasonal changes that they would go through in the 'wild'. Deciduous trees will have their leaves turn colors in the fall, and then lose their leaves, just as their full sized cousins do. These same trees will sprout a new crop of leaves the following spring.

Most bonsai owners display their trees in their backyards on benches that are three or four feet high. Bonsai should be viewed at, or near, eye level. Placing your trees on a bench or table will allow you to see and appreciate your bonsai more fully. Apartment dwellers can keep their trees
on a balcony, taking extra care that they don't fall off or get blown off. Do not place your trees directly on the ground. Doing so makes them more likely to be attacked by slugs, insects, chipmunks, and the neighbor's dog. Join your local bonsai club.

Experienced growers of bonsai in your area are your best source of information on which trees grow best in your region. Caring for your bonsai involves careful watering, pruning, re-potting, insect and pest control, pinching, winter storage, fertilizing, and perhaps wiring. With proper care most bonsai should outlive their owners.

Quite simply, bonsai (pronounced 'bone sigh') is the practice of growing trees in pots. It combines both horticultural and artistic skills. The bonsai is intended to be a miniature of a fully-grown, mature tree. The translation of the Japanese word 'bonsai' is literally 'tree in a pot'. There is good evidence that many cultures – Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese - began doing this long ago, but the Japanese are credited with refining this activity to the art form it is today. Virtually very country in the world has practitioners of this ancient art. Many public gardens and arboretums have displays of bonsai, and most major cities have a local bonsai club. The same word 'bonsai' is used both for singular and plural, similar to our English words 'sheep' and 'fish'. Contrary to what many people think, bonsai is not a specific tree species. Bonsai can be created from many varieties of trees, shrubs, and vines.