Bonsai new owner: halp!

Haidee_Hammond

Hi all, I just got myself a bonsai tree, I got a pot on a trip to Japan and been looking to get one for a while, but I really don't know anything about their care or have much time. I figured since I am usually OK googling stuff and manage to keep (most of) my houseplants alive I would be fine. What - the - hell. I have spent the last 2 days checking bonsai books (samples mostly to decide to buy one but none convinced me) and articles. I am lost, I feel I need to upper my Janapense, my English, my tools, my skills and maybe take a masters on botanics with a year course in Japan 😅😂🤦 (only half joking here).

A lot of what I see it's about new trees too. I have a 6/7 year old olive tree (to remind me of home) with a nice shape and for the time being I was hoping to... you know... Keep it alive 😂 But I have no idea of how much should I prune the new growth, or how, how many new tools do I really need. How does the tree usually grow, actually... Are they supposed to grow or stay the same size? What do you do with new leaves? Is the wire needed for not-new bonsais? Will I ever be able to leave on holidays again? It seems like you need to water them much more often than regular plants, I usually have some self watering pots and the like for trips...

Don't get me wrong, it looks cool to get super geeky about it if you have the time (and I am eyeing conifers forest bonsais I would love to attempt at a different point of my life). But that is not now for sure 😅

Thanks in advance!

looksee

I am fascinated by bonsai trees and have read up on them quite a bit, concluding that I really could not dedicate the time and effort needed to support one. We did have one in the house and it lasted quite well but eventually died when it got neglected just once too often. The one thing I did get was that they are not house plants. Depending on the variety they are actually outdoor plants and to some extent as robust as their grown cousins. An olive would be a bit more delicate than a local tree but still it needs at least some outside time.

I'd say you would need to be a really methodical and routine type person to maintain one, which I am not, so I have abandoned any ideas of getting one. Good luck with yours though!

MuttonDagger

I highly recommend making your own bonsais.

Peter Chan is a bonsai master and takes a lot of the fluff out of it .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHdVHr_1XPQ

I've made some from 5e acers from B&Q, mature box woods that were being binned, junipers ,mugo pines etc.

Of course they take some time to come on but acers will look great after 2 years.

Haidee_Hammond

Thanks for the recommendation @MuttonDagger. I will look it up for my conifers forest idea when I have a bit more time in my hands. So far I'll aspire to keep this one alive and hopefully not screw up the pruning too much 😬 I Also thanks for the good wishes @looksee 😅 I intend to keep it under a veranda and in a small greenhouse should the winter be unseasonably cold. But I tend to be away for long periods, so I'll need a fair amount of luck and good planning too 😂 One of the reasons I don't currently have time to do this properly is that I have a baby, which also give me a reason to try to make the bonsai live so it's something cool I could pass on to her in a million years (year up or down) 😂. If anyone happens to have any extra advice on maintenance pruning or care, I would really appreciate it!

macraignil

If you are keeping it under a veranda it won't have any rain falling on it to help keep it watered which could be a problem if you are away for long periods. After seeing some nice bonsai on holiday three and a half years back I said I would try out an oak sapling I dug up from the garden as a pot plant and just left it outside in a nice pot. It's a bit deeper than the traditional bonsai container but the oak is still alive with no extra attention other than trimming a couple of miss shaped shoots to improve the shape. If you were away for a while just giving your bonsai a good soak before you leave and allowing it to sit somewhere that it can get some rainfall and maybe out of the strongest sun would probably keep it going seeing as prolonged periods without rain are fairly rare here.

Happy gardening!

Haidee_Hammond

That sounds very reassuring thanks! I was considering a couple of options for when I leave, outside the veranda, on the small greenhouse (there is automatic watering on it, but it's very much hit and miss) or some reservoir (but I have had those malfunction too, so we'll see). I am very afraid of the pruning too, but we'll see how this goes 🤞🤞