Bonsai Tree Guide

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.