How to Grow Bonsai Pine Trees

Cute they may be, but Bonsai is an art. Bonsai is a Japanese word meaning "tray-planted" and refers to dwarf trees or the art of training and growing the miniaturized trees in containers. Bonsai originated in China more than 1,000 years ago, but it has been pursued and developed by the Japanese.Bonsai may be either conifers with small needles or deciduous plants with small leaves. Some bonsai are small-flowered or small-fruit trees. Good bonsai can be kept outdoors.The overall artistic effect is of great significance in growing the trees. Everything must be proportional: the size of the tree, its leaves or needles, its flowers or fruit, and the container in which it grows. The containers, especially, must be chosen to harmonize in size, shape, and color with the tree.There are four sizes of bonsai: miniature, small, medium, and average; miniature range up to only 2 inches; average grow up to 2 feet.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bonsai tree
• Bonsai wire
• Bonsai clipper
• Patience -- it takes a minimum of a year just to get started
• To take a Bonsai workshop

How to Grow Bonsai Pine Trees

1. Buy a Bonsai from a dealer; a dealer may seem pricey, but you’re buying more than a tree that has been created and cared for. The dealer has incurred costs for quarantine; an imported tree also has shipping charges. Buying from a dealer gives you someone to advise you in this endeavor.

2. Look for a tree appropriate for a beginner. Start with a conifer, preferably a juniper type.

3. Look for trees with good, thick trunks and a reasonable number of branches radiating away from the trunk in all directions, like the spokes of a wheel.

4. 
    

   Don’t select a tree with a straight trunk unless you want a formal upright. Look for something with a good taper or with a branch that can make a new top to the tree if you remove the existing leader. Doing this and wiring the new leader upright will give you instant trunk taper.

5. Examine the front of the tree for a good view of the trunk. Look for a trunk without branches growing towards you. If there are branches you can remove, leave minimal scarring. The tree you select may start as a blob of foliage, but will with the aid of wiring and pruning end up as a good bonsai.

6. Take your tree home.

7. 
    

   Take a workshop or class from the dealer.

8. Look carefully at the trunk, consider how the tree looks now and how will look in a few years.

9. 
    

   Mark branches you wish to cut out and remove them.

10. Begin cutting. You may find yourself cutting off more than ¾ of the original tree to find the bonsai lurking under the mass of foliage.

11. Remember, on a well-maintained tree the areas of foliage you keep will develop quickly into reasonable pads. Be brave.

12. 
     

    Cut bonsai branches with secaturs or a small saw, or buy 'wen' or parrot beak cutters, which cut a small dimple into the trunk. This will heal over better than a level cut.

13. Wait a year before the next step: wiring the tree.

14. Do not rush to repot the tree; many young bonsai die when rushed into a pot. Be patient. Experts suggest you let the tree recover for a year before you repot.

15. 
     

    Remove the taproot, a major downward root when you are finally ready to repot into a shallow bonsai pot.

16. Understand the purpose and importance of wiring. Wires are used only temporarily, to hold the branches in a desired position, to add to the impression of age and add to the artistic effect.

17. Buy aluminum wire from a bonsai supplier; it’s available in two types: plain (silver), and anodised (coated brown). Choose whichever one you like; anodized is less obvious, but if you use the plain it will be more noticeable when later watching to see if the wire is biting into a developing branch.

18. Choose wire from different sizes from 1.5 mm to 6 mm; this is very difficult, so ask the dealer for advice.

19. Apply wire in mid-to-late summer; at this time, the tree is in a growth spurt. Shape will set more quickly.

20. Wrap wire around the branch or trunk you want shaped.

21. Keep coils close together to maintain the integrity of the strength of the wire.

22. Don’t trap foliage under the wire. It can damage the tree and possibly cause infection.

23. Apply wire at an angle of about 45 degrees to the item being wired. If the coils are further apart, it becomes less effective.

24. Bend the branch or tree into the desired position.

25. Leave the wire only as long as it takes for the tree to set in the desired position. It may be a few weeks or year, depending on the size of the branch or trunk. Cut the wire from the tree when it has done its job; unwinding may cause damage. (This is not a time to worry about recycling.)

Tips & Warnings

• Conifers may be left in wire over winter. Care must be taken to ensure that as the tree grows, the wire does not bite into it, causing scarring.
• Never wire an unhealthy tree: it is pointless and dangerous to wire an unhealthy tree. You could lose the branch or the tree will die.
• It is best to cut the wire from the tree when it has done its job; trying to unwind it to use it again may cause damage.
• Hang weights, if you want, to cause it to hang down; it’s effective but will take longer than properly wiring.