Bonsai Gardening

Bonsai gardening is quite an art and it can be lots of fun and allow your creative skills to flow. Bonsai are usually grown in pots that can maintain indoors during the winter and can be placed outdoors during mild weather. Bonsai in be a great skill to add to your resume of gardening accomplishments.

Bonsai gardening is the art of creating miniature trees and plants that look like old, aged outdoor trees. First begun in Japan in the 12th century, some of these plants can be grown outdoors in the ground, but most bonsai are potted.

You can purchase bonsai plants but it is much more fun to create your own. For your very first bonsai, Japanese maple is a good candidate because it is easy to work with and you can advance to other plants once you learn the skills required.

For your first bonsai gardening experience, you'll need a Japanese maple limb, a sharp knife, sphagnum moss that has been soaked in water, a small sheet of heavy plastic, string, and rooting hormone which you can locate at any garden center and most hardware stores.

You can study the various traditional styles of bonsai gardening by reading a book on the subject or reviewing the styles online. However, you can have just as much fun by simply starting your bonsai garden and learning as you go.

For your bonsai gardening, select a branch with a nice shape and structure that is about the diameter of your little finger. Cut around that branch where you want to generate roots. Cut in a circle through the bark and into the wood underneath but do not cut through the branch because you are going to air layer the branch. Make another cut exactly like your first cut but about two inches below the initial cut. Then make a straight cut connecting the two cuts. Peel away the bark in this two inch area. It should come away easily but do not remove any of the green layer beneath the bark.

To root your bonsai gardening specimen, dust rooting hormone around the area of the top cut and wrap the area where bark has been removed with sphagnum moss. Wrap the moss in a piece of thick, heavy plastic and tie the plastic in place.

While rooting your bonsai specimen, keep the moss wet. It will take about two or three weeks before roots begin to appear and you'll be able to see them through the plastic. As the roots thicken and begin to turn brown, separate your bonsai by cutting it from the main plant just below the new roots.

Now you are ready to create your bonsai garden. Choose a container that is shallow and place some pebbles in the bottom for drainage. Partially fill the pot with good quality top soil. Place your specimen, sphagnum moss and all, in the container and fill with soil. While planting, be sure not to damage the newly developed roots. Place a stake in the container to support the bonsai until it becomes established.
Begin shaping your bonsai garden specimen after it becomes firmly rooted in the pot. You can study fully grown trees and, using string, pull parts of the bonsai into the desired shape. After the plant has taken on the shape desired, remove the string.

Prune your bonsai so that it maintains the desired shape and develops into the specimen you desire. Bonsai gardening can be fun but it does require patience. A great bonsai does not develop overnight. It takes time and careful study to obtain a shape that looks like an aged fully grown tree but you can do it if you apply your knowledge and gardening skills to the project.

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