Bonsai Art

This weekend I dug up a box tree (buxus sempervirens) from my growing bed. I have been growing it there for the last year or so to let it create it’s own branches and grow on a little bigger so that it would be ready for a pot.

On Saturday I decided it was time to style the box tree and place it in a pot. Mainly to do with having not much else to do but also because it was looking ready for styling.

Here it is in the growing bed before the repot. I’ve put the flash on so that you can see the branch structure better -

Here is the angle from the back in the growing bed of the box tree -

I uprooted the tree and gave the roots a soaking under the tap followed by a vigorous trim. It was fitted into it’s small new pot and new soil mix was added making sure all the gaps around the roots were filled. I added some moss around the base of the trunk for effect and watered again.
After that was the simple process of trimming a lot of excess branches off to give a pleasing look to it. Finally I fully wired the tree into a more twisted position until I found it perfect. Here is the result -

Total time to create: about 45 minutes

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“I thought bonsai were supposed to be kept indoors” or “Shouldn’t those trees be inside?” are statements that I hear all too often. Outdoor bonsai are truly better than indoor trees for dozens of reasons.

I think just about anybody would struggle to keep a bonsai indoors for one simple reason: It’s a tree.

Most bonsai that are sold are for indoor use. I think that this is something that has been done by shops to make them more commercially viable. When they are bought and put in the house, most of the time it is a constant struggle of life and death putting new bonsai owners off the idea completely and giving up.

The answer to this is simple! Buy an outdoor tree. It’s where trees are meant to be and you will notice that is is SO much easier caring for them in their natural habitat.

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In the last week or so I’ve noticed that a shrub which forms part of my hedge has died. There is no reason why it should have died, it’s had ample water, light and oxygen.

The secret lies in the waxy coating which cypress have on their needles. It was probably dead a few months ago when I first planted it but the waxy coating has stopped this showing through to the surface.
The inside would have been dead and stopped growing completely. Sometimes it can take months to notice this in a cypress variety and you can go on watering and feeding it for the whole time completely oblivious!

Although very hard to notice it is not impossible. Early signs are drooping of smaller branches and outer needles, stiff or brittle branches and eventually lack of colour.

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I was searching the internet for the proper size for mame bonsai and found this interesting table of bonsai size classes.

Shito, Mame and Komono are also known as SHOHIN

This table was found at Bonsai Outlet

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