Anyone care to pipe up with some Bonsai advice for a beginner?
I’ve done a little homework and think I have found the perfect tree to start with, a contorted willow (salix matsudana ‘tortuosa’) thats about 2 years old. They’re hardy in my USDA Zone so it should be able to live outdoors year round.
Any advice on how not to kill my new little tree would be greatly appreciated.
Well, I don’t know much about Bansai, but I have espaliated several trees around my house. Fruit trees mostly, apples and pears.
The idea is practically the same, but Bansai may incorporate certain Feng Shui ideals and methods of which I am not familiar.
The technique is the same and I would relate it closely to a chess game. You have to look at the direction in which the buds are growing, and predict where they will be later on down the line. I can spend a whole day on one tree, like my magnolia, planning and plotting what shape I want it to take or maintain. That’s my most dificult prune every year and my neighbors have paid me in the past to prune their magnolias as well.
Basically, pruning is the same thing as Bansai, but on a larger scale. I can’t imagine that there could be much more to it.
One of my best friends on Long Island in New York just bought the bonsai nursery he’d been managing directly from the owner. He also has his own dojo for jujitsu. I’d be happy to pass along questions if anyone has any.
Esprix
I meant to define espaliating. It is when you grow a tree against a flat object like a house or fence. I first saw it while touring the grounds at Mount Vernon. They had all types of beautifully espaliated fruit trees and it looked so easy, I thought I might have a go at it myself.
The tree must be trimmed and trained from it’s youth. Every bud that grows off the tree must be examined very carefully to provide a balanced look to the tree without extensive wiring and training.
I’m not as worried about my ability to prune the leaves and branches as I am about working the roots and establishing the tree in its first pot. Soil mixtures also concern me as I tend to be a little weak in that area despite my regular gardening, all of which is done in containers. I’ve become better with soil over the last year or so but I lack confidence. I’ll probably opt for a prepackaged Bonsai soil just to be safe.
wishbone, what a cool landscaping technique. This may be a silly question, but how do you keep the tree roots from messing up the foundation of the house?
Soil mixture and watering are important. I’m not sure what “USDA Zone” means, but your bonsai should be outdoors anyway.
For most young trees, full sunlight or full shade are both not good. Dappled shade, such as through shade cloth or the leaves of an evergreen tree, is usually the best. Of course, there are exceptions for different tree types.
Soil mixtures are usually quite sandy (33% to 50%), or even gravelly. As a result, they don’t retain a lot of moisture, in the way that a clay-ey (!) soil will.
Because of this, if you’re in a hot area, you may have to water the little guy more than once a day, but in most temperate areas once a day or once every two days is enough, if you keep an eye on the tree.
I would suggest that you throw caution to the wind, and start with more than one tree. They don’t take up too much time, and it will give you more to play with if you have three or four.
In my opinion, a mature bonsai, say 20 years or more, that has been properly presented is one of the most beautiful natural things that can be created or helped by mankind. That fact that it is living makes it even more fascinating. If you can, grab a copy of Deborah Koreshoff’s book, Bonsai. It’s worth it for the pictures alone.
I don’t see what the big deal is. Everthing I plant stops growing after about 8 inches. 
I thought the technique was referred to as espalier.
Who say bonsai kitty? WHO SAY IT?! I want name!
I have no idea. I have one pear planted against my neighbor’s garage and I thought about that at the time. It is a dwarf pear, if that has any bearing on the root strength, I know not. My neighbor knew that I had planted it but he may have not considered the possible headache it may cause him in the future. I may have forgotten to tell him. Anyway, he’s pretty wise, I don’t think he cared.
The rest of mine I have wired to my deck rail. I have some climbing vines that climb the sides of my house that are potentially as dangerous, but since my basement is all finished and drywalled, I may not see it for quite some time. Just have to wait and see.
dwyr Yes, espalier is the name. The words I used were the espaliated and espaliating. I made them up. I also made up espaliator, which is the word for me. I could be wrong, since I have developed my technique myself(it’s very simple if you understand how plants work) and have never officially researched the subject.
Nah, no feng shui ideals in Bonsai. There are schools, which have their own views on technique and style, but it’s not linked with any chinese school of thought.
True, but you also have to take into account branch placement, direction of growth, spacing, aesthetics, and design principles.
Well actually, it shouldnt take you all day to decide where to prune a bonsai. I’ve seen demonstrations at the Buddhist temple here where they bring in a master who will start a tree in less than an hour.
Not exactly. While pruning is a large part in controling growth and form, it’s not the only thing done to the trees. Pruning gives shape, but it’s not the only thing used to shape the trees. Bonsai also requires wiring, which shapes the branches and helps to give an impression of age. The wires also help the trunk to look old. Root pruning is essential, not only to keep the trees healthy, but it also helps to keep them small. There’s also techniques of bark removal that gives impression of age, and also techniques to make leaves smaller.
As my Japanese Mind professor said, the intention in Bonsai and Japanese gardening is to make something that’s “more natural than nature” (if that makes sense).
One of the easiest plants to use in bonsai is your common bamboo. I have a very small one (in a real bonsai pot) that looks very nice (I did cut out a center culm because it was declining, i’m waiting for it to fill in). And through pruning of the leaves, it’s grown more leaves and is taking on a very nice form (the leaves have also been reduced as a result). Bamboos require no pruning, because you want the straight stems. They’re more accent plants though.