Pruning serves two purposes in bonsai tree care. Firstly, pruning removes branches that clutter and hinder the aesthetic design of the tree. Secondly, pruning directs and controls the growth of the tree. There are pruning forms such as branch pruning which include pinching (finger pruning) and leaf pruning to help encourage branching. There is also root pruning where roots are pruned.
Here are some Bonsai tree care tips on pruning:
• Branch Pruning o Pick the branches that you wish to keep and carefully remove the others. o For new plants, allow the trunk to develop before pruning. Pruning branches from a developed trunk will increase the chances of survival of the tree. o Always have a hand-sketch or image of what you want your tree to look like, at your disposal. This will help you to identify and remove branches that clutter the chosen style and obstruct the basic design. o You should start with a light pruning then give it two or three weeks and wait for the bounce back to decide if you need to do more. o If you need to redirect growth, then prune one area heavily and another much less. Thus, growth will be directed to the less pruned area. o Always remember when you are pruning your bonsai that you can always remove something later but it is very difficult to put it back after you have cut it. So if in doubt leave it for now.
• Root Pruning o Select the roots you want to keep and get rid of the bad ones. o When pruning you need to keep the branches and roots balanced for optimum results.
With limited space and small amount of soil in a bonsai pot, regular attention is needed to ensure the tree is regularly watered. Sun, excessive heat and exposure to wind can dry out the soil in a short period of time. Hence, moisture levels should be monitored regularly.
Here are some tree care tips on watering:
During winter, if the trees are kept outside where rain can water them, then you need not worry about watering them, except when the weather is hot or there is little rain. During summer the plants need to be watered several times a week. During very hot periods, it is advised to water the tree atleast twice daily. It is also suggested to move the trees into shade. If the soil appears to be drying excessively fast, group the pots together so that the foliage creates a canopy to help shade the soil and keep it cooler. Clay pots allow additional evaporation from the sides of the pots and watering must be done more often. If there are two or three bonsai trees, you can use a watering can with a fine hose to water the soil and roots. But if you have a large number of bonsai trees, located at certain distance from each other in the garden, then you can invest in a drip irrigation system. If you are away from home most of the time, then it is a good idea to consider an automatic drip irrigation system or automatic watering system for Bonsai trees. The timers in the irrigation system can be set so that the bonsai are watered every day in the summer and every three days in the winter.
Kavita Masthoff is a freelance writer and an expert in Bonsai gardening. She offers monthly Bonsai articles through her website — Quality PLR Articles
No plant can survive without water and the need is even greater for bonsai trees. They are grown in shallow containers with little soil and rely on rain and artificial watering for their moisture
Most bonsai trees that die do so from a lack of water or from being in low humidity for too long. They rely on water to grow as the water is absorbed from the compost to the roots and then the nutrients are distributed throughout the tree. If water is not given so that these important processes can ocurr the the tree will die.
There are a number of factors which will determine how much water bonsai trees require:
Some species will require more water than others
Different soils will dry out at different rates
Small pots may dry out more quickly than larger pots and what the pot is made of will also play a part in how quickly it dries out
Plants whose roots a fully grown will absorb more water than younger trees with smaller roots.
What you need to do is take the time to observe and get to know your individual bonsai trees. As you become familiar with them you will learn when they need water by looking at the soil and the color and growth of the leaves. Each tree should be checked regularly and watered when required. Never allow the soil to dry out completely.
Watering is usually required once or twice a day in summer and maybe every three or four days in winter. Even though there may have been some rain, don’t assume that it will have been enough for the tree as it may only have dampened the surface of the soil. Once again, you need to check each plant, testing the soil about an inch below the surface; you can use a water meter to help you or just poke your finger into the soil.
Morning is the best time of day to water the bonsais so they are ready for the heat of the day. Don’t just moisten the soil but give them a thorough soaking so that the whole container is wet and there are no dry spots where the roots could die. In Japan they often water all the trees then go back to the beginning and water them all again to ensure the job is done correctly. Allow the water to drip out of the bottom of the pot and you may need to prop it up slightly so that it all drains away.
Gentle watering is required; if you use an ordinary garden hose you may find the flow of water too stong and the soil will be washed away. Make sure to use a fine mist or a watering can with a fine rose so as not to disturb the soil. As well as watering the soil you can also spray the foliage with water. The leaves can absorb water and the spray will wash any dust or pollutants away.
However, excessive watering can also damage the bonsai tree; the effects of this will not be immediate but can take some time to become apparent. If the roots are continually surrounted by water then they are unable to absorb air which is essential for a healthy tree. The fine root hairs become suffocated by the excess water, they will die and eventually rot. Of course if the tree cannot get air and nutrients from the roots then the leaves and braches will suffer and also eventually die. In the mean time a sick tree is more susceptible to attack by diseases and insects.
Growing bonsai trees is a fascinating hobby and by using well draining, moisture retaining soil and getting to know your plants you should be able to meet the challenges that watering presents.
Colin Price has been gardening for many years. Find out more about bonsai trees and see how you can take advantage of his knowledge and success and create your own beautiful and productive garden at => http://www.OutdoorAndGarden.com
Growing bonsai trees and caring for them is an excellent pastime or hobbie to take up, it really is very enjoyable and beautiful to create something yourself and watch it grow into an absolutely stunning tree, I know you will love growing your own bonsai.
I’m guessing the fact that you are here then you are having a little trouble with your own growing bonsai efforts, well, that’s what I hope to help you with, I am going to list number of tips that will hopefully give you a better idea of how to grow bonsai trees, here they are:
*Take regular care of your tree – Don’t expect your tree to become something amazing or have the stunning effect that many bonsai trees have unless you regularly take care of it and make sure it does turn out to be what you want it to be. Check up on your tree often and maintain it well.
*Ensure your tree gets enough water – Water is vital for your bonsai trees growth and appearance so you will need to make sure that your tree is getting plenty of water and enough that it needs to survive and grow. You should water your tree at least once every single day.
*Display your tree in the best possible way – Now, this is made up of two factors, they are how the bonsai tree looks and how safe is it, you want to keep your tree safe from animals and other things that could damage it but you also want it to look great and let the beauty shine through.
*Maintain it even after it’s fully grown – Most people tend to just forget about a tree once it is fully grown, this is not the right way to do things, you should regularly maintain your tree even when it is fully grown, otherwise it won’t last very wrong.
Those are just a few tips you can use to take care of your bonsai trees, remember that you should always enjoy growing bonsai, don’t think of it as some sort of “chore” or something like that, you want to enjoy your hobbie as much as possible and it really is an enjoyable thing to do.
Growing bonsai is actually quite easy to do, you just need to do a small amount of learning and you can very quickly get started growing your own trees, I suggest you should look into it and grow your own stunning bonsai trees.
FREE ebook reveals: How you can grow beautiful bonsai trees in no time at all – Bonsai Tree Care
Basically, bonsai trees thrive outdoors; however, as peoples appreciation grew towards these miniature trees, more families have preferred bonsai trees to decorate their homes rather than putting up expensive paintings on the wall. With bonsai trees, its like bringing natures bounty right inside your living room. BeginnerBonsai.com
Growing and caring for a bonsai tree can be both easy and difficult at the same. Therefore it is important that you know how to properly care for a bonsai tree. Care for this type of tree involves watering, pruning and proper planting. A bonsai tree requires a certain amount of sunlight and water. Too much of either can cause more harm to the tree than good and it can actually kill the tree. This is why it is important to know how to take care of the tree before you decide to grow one in your home. One of the most favourite of the bonsai trees is the ficus bonsai tree.
Caring the for the ficus bonsai tree requires a great deal of patience. This type of tree needs to be kept inside all year long. Since it is a small tree and is planted in a small pot, you can occasionally bring the tree outside to give it some fresh air. Just like with other bonsai trees the soil should be given a chance to dry out in between watering. To test the soil you can stick your finger into the soil about an inch down; if you feel moist soil then you should wait to water your tree. However, the key is to not let the soil stay dry for an extended period of time because this could kill the tree. There is a specific way to water a bonsai tree as well. You should allow the tree and the container it is in to soak for about ten minutes. Once it has soaked, you should allow the water to drain from the soil until no more water drips from the bottom of your container.
Replanting of a ficus bonsai tree is an important part of caring for a bonsai tree. It should be repotted once every two years. This is a type of tree that has a tendency to grow slowly but there are times when the bonsai tree will go through a growth spurt and if its container is somewhat small you might want to consider repotting before the two year period has expired. If you allow the tree to grow in a small pot it will begin take over the pot and as a result it will cease to grow after a period of time. If you need to change the pot in which you are growing your bonsai tree you should wait until the early months of spring to do so. After it is in the new pot, it should be watered thoroughly and then kept in the shade for at least a period of three weeks. This will give the root system time to take hold in the new pot.
Caring for the Ficus Bonsai tree means that you need to understand how your tree will react to the different temperatures and weather conditions during the different seasons. It is important that the bonsai tree is kept indoors during the winter months because it is not able to withstand cold temperatures. However, while indoors the tree must be kept in a sunny area so that it does get the proper amount of light. The temperature should be kept between 60 and 65 degrees at all times.
For more information on bonsai tree care,tips to help you care for a bonsai tree and other bonsai tree related information visit http://www.MyBonsaiTree.com
Hello all bonsai devotees. How are you? My name is Suhendra. I want to tell you my experience on how to keep, treat and create black pine bonsai. Perhaps this experience is only suitable for tropical area and I hope those who plant black pine will also have different experience to share. I have tried to plant black pine since 5 years ago (around 1980) when I got the seed from a friend traveling abroad.
I have known and fallen in love with black pine bonsai, since I had learn about bonsai for two years from a foreign book on how to treat and create bonsai by practicing directly, so that I gradually master it. When I learned that book, I saw a picture of black pine and Cemara (Juniperes) bonsai that were so beautiful and robust. Even more so the black pine with its cracked bark so that it looked old, antique and elegant. According to Taiwanese bonsai grower, black pine could live in both winter and summer. In those seasons, its leaves are still green and thriving, so that we can call it evergreen tree. From books I have read, I’m sure that this tree could grow in tropical area. From that time, I had been determined to get that kind of tree and tried to plant and grow it in Indonesia.
In the mids of 1980 I and my elder went to Taiwan to attend an international exhibition of bonsai. While looking for special new trees to enrich the variety of bonsai in Indonesia, from Taiwan I brought home some kinds of bonsai that I’d been always seen on some foreign bonsai books that we couldn’t find in Indonesian market (before 1985). They are: Hokkian Tea (Carmona mycrophylla), Pyracanta (Pyracanta Grenulata), Ulmus (Ulmus Parfiflora), Karet Kimeng (Ficus Microcarpa). After buying those bonsai, one thing I shouldn’t forget to be my prime target of searching is Black Pine. Setting aside my pocket money for returning home, I spent the rest to buy various kinds of pine, starting from seeds, young trees, half-grown bonsai, and grown-bonsai.
Some Taiwanese bonsai grower told me that Black Pine (Pinus Thumbergii) grows best compared with any other kinds of pine they plant. There are three kinds of Black Pine:
1. Those with long leaves (which is generally spread out in the market).
2. Those with short leaves (Seu Sung).
3. Those with mini leaves (Zuen Sau Hei Sung).
The three Black Pines are the most preferred by Taiwanese bonsai grower to be dwarfed. Beside that, I have learned some techniques on how to plant and treat black pine that I want to share with you.
PROCESS BEFORE PLANTING
Coming home, I had all my trees washed because it’s forbidden to bring the soil from Taiwan. This is the regulation among countries to prevent the spread of plant pest. Then I opened the plastic cover of mos (soil substitute covering the root so it stays moisturized along the trip) one by one. After that all the roots that had been cleaned from mos was soaked with plant vitamin or organic fertilizer liquid for about one hour. Last thing to do was to keep the plant out of soaking liquid and planted it on the pot.
MEDIUM FOR PINE (Suitable for Casuarina=Juniperus too)
3 bg sand of 1-2 mm (do not use powder sand) +
1 bg loose soil (Do not use sticky soil such as clay, etc.) +
1 bg humus (or compost to substitute humus).
After being mixed well, it can be used to plant (you can see how to plant in a pot on article of Loa Variegata). I’ve got a little story about sands. In around 1990 in Indonesia there has been found a kind of pit sand (pasir gunung) from perimeter of Malang, so that it is called pasir Malang (Malang pit sand). This kind of sand was found by hobbyist and raw-material (bakalan) bonsai hunter in the nature. The specialty of this sand is clean and has no powder or waste. We may say that it’s been free from pests and germs that are usually found on soil or pit sand. So there’s no need to have it washed it anymore and it has pores to keep water and air. There are several kinds of plant that are better being planted on this sand rather than any other media, i.e. Santigi (Phempis Acidula), Cemara Udang (Casuarina Equisetifolia), Black Pine, Cemara, etc. Naturally Malang pit sand is beneficial for bonsai hobbyists and some devotees of ornamental plants such as cactus, adenium, sansivera, etc. Then I use this pit sand as composite for media to plant Black Pine and other bonsai.
PROCESS AFTER BEING PLANTED
After black pine is being planted in a pot, the trunk always has to be tied tightly into the pot so that the tree is more stable. It’s because any repotting tree is in critical period. Its root hasn’t been converged with its new media so that it hasn’t been normally functioned. Moreover when we cut some of the roots and new roots grow, the latter is still easily snapped off if it is shaken, and the tree will be possibly died. After being tied, put it in the shade then water it perfectly (until the water comes out of the pot bottom hole). Let it be there for about two, but please not to let it be too wet or too dry. We’d better to keep it a little bit dry than to keep it too much wet, in order to prevent its root from getting rotten. This will be different from what we should do to growing black pine (see the description below on watering). After two weeks the trees will look healthy and strong with its green leaves. Now it’s time for the tree to have sun bath gradually. Then wait until new bud comes up, which is a sign that its new root has grown and the tree is ready to have a full sun bath.
There are some bonsai hobbyist who don’t know the media and the planting process, or don’t have much patience in planting and treating black pine (which is different from maintaining ficus or any other kind of bonsai). Doing treatment improperly will lead to the death of black pine. When this happens, they will easily say that black pine could not be planted in Indonesia or will be dead if it’s being re-potted. The worst is when there are bonsai hobbyists and sellers who has just seen black pine picture on bonsai books tell the same things. This makes bonsai newbies or collectors being defrauded and don’t want to treat black pine.
TREATING GROWN BLACK PINE BONSAI
The pruning (cutting the leaves), can be done when we see the old leaves has been grown yellow or looked a little bit dull. We can do it in two ways: shearing or pulling out. The best way is the second one, that is gradually pull out the old leaves. To prevent pulling out the whole group of leaves, use your left hand to hold the lower end of the leaves group, and use your right hand to pull out the old leaves one by one, and leave the young ones. If you prefer the first way, shear the old leaves at about 1 cm higher from the leaf stalk. This is to provoke the new bud from the rest of those old leaves. Unfortunately, shearing will leave brown traces, and these unsightly traces will stay there for months before they disappeared.
To keep the twigs and the leaves short and dense (to avoid disfigured or to keep the good shape), do the following:
1. Gradually pull out the old leaves every year.
2. Cut the twigs, small twigs, and new buds once every two or three years. This is to keep the shape from being undesirable. Two or three new buds usually come up once a year naturally. Cut off the very thriving (big) bud and the very weak (small) bud by shearing from the lowest part. Leave the moderate growing buds until they release their new leaves. Then cut it at the length we intend to. Two weeks later, there will come up the second bud from the trace of cutting. If it is needed, do the same to the second bud, so that we will get the third bud. The second and the third buds will create the short twigs and leaves. This theory is he same with bonsai tree that will have big leaves in the country but after making it bonsai planted on the pot by cutting its leaves several times, the leaves become small such as Sancang (Phemna Microphylla), Beringin Karet (Ficus Ratusa), etc.
3. When the leaves of the new bud have grown, do not cut off too many twigs when the leaves of the new buds has blossomed because in this phase, the trace of cutting will release much turpentine (sap) that will possibly kill the tree. The best time to shape and shear the twigs is when we start to see its old leaves (looks yellow and dull). This shows that this tree is stop growing temporarily and is saving energy before releasing its new buds. It’s the safest time to prune black pine by pulling out or shearing, and cutting the twigs too, because it’s the strongest period of the tree.
THE WAY OF REPOTTING / CHANGING THE SOIL OF BLACK PINE BONSAI
The process of repotting bonsai to be black pine can be done once in three or four years, because black pine’s root grows slowly. Do not repot before two years because its roots haven’t been old enough. If we repot after 4 years, the roots will be too dense in the pot, and this will retard its growth and fertilization.
Please repot this way. After pulling bonsai out of the pot, we may see the lump of root that has been converged with the soil. Throw 1/3 part around the lump by scraping the soil and shearing the roots that is too long. Then put it again into the pot with the medium described above, by scraping, so the tips of the old roots can directly penetrate into and converged with new medium. This will guarantee its life after repotting. Don’t even repot by cutting or sowing the lump of soil and root flat as if we’re slicing the cake and then plant it again. This way make the old root lump covered by the new medium, causing an undistributed heat in the lump and will finally make the root rotten.
According to my experience in planting black pine, we shouldn’t do pruning while repotting. Once my gardener didn’t follow my instructions. When I went out of town and didn’t supervise him, he was repotting and pruning at the same time. This caused some half-grown black pine trees died.
In Indonesia which has two seasons, the best time to repot black pine is between the end of dry season and the beginning of rainy season (around the beginning of September), but pay attention to black pine condition too. Repotting should be conducted when new bud has just come up before the leaves blossom. When the leaves have blossom, then the tree will be weak and the risk of repotting will be bigger.
Well, that’s my experience on treating black pine bonsai. Hope it’ll be useful for those who want to treat or collect black pine bonsai.
Suhendra is the owner of Bonsai Star Gallery (http://www.bonsaistar.com) and former chief of Bandung-Indonesia Bonsai Society (2003-2004). In his site you will get information on bonsai Tree, bonsai plant, bonsai for sale and everything about bonsai.
Pruning bonsai trees is important if you want them to stay healthy and looking their best. If you’re new to the process, there are a few things you need to know. This article will give you a few tips to get you started.
Timing
You should make sure that you prune your bonsai at least once every year. Most gardeners do this during the growing season. By pruning away new growth, you will help maintain the shape of your tree. If you’re looking to get rid of old season’s growth, you should do so in the fall.
Pruning bonsai trees can also be done during the winter if you want. If you have a deciduous tree, it will be a little easier for you to see what needs to be cut. However, you shouldn’t prune if the temperature outside is below freezing. The wood will likely shatter when you cut it.
Branches
You will most likely need to cut some branches away. You should start out by removing small branches that are growing toward the center of the tree where they’ll get little sunlight. Also, it’s important that you remove any branch that is intersecting with another branch.
Leaves
If you own a certain type of tropical or deciduous tree, you may also need to prune some leaves. This is done to get rid of ugly leaves and also to trim away large ones. You should cut leaves using very fine scissors. Make the cut directly behind the leaf instead of further up the steam. Also, if you cut away a lot of leaves, you need to make sure that you leave enough so that your tree can maintain enough energy.
These are a few tips for pruning bonsai trees. In addition to pruning, there are many other things you need to learn about proper bonsai tree care. So, click here now to learn everything you need to know about growing bonsai trees.
Learn special watering instructions are needed to properly care for your bonsai tree, in this free video.Expert: Mike Hansen Bio: Mike Hansen, owner of Midwest Bonsai, has been growing, caring, selling, and instructing others in bonsai care for years. Mike is an expert bonsai master.
Learn some professional tips for growing healthy bonsai trees, in this free video. Expert: Mike Hansen Bio: Mike Hansen, owner of Midwest Bonsai, has been growing, caring, selling, and instructing others in bonsai care for years. Mike is an expert bonsai master.