Bonsai, by definition, are plants that have been miniaturized and shaped through pruning techniques and deliberately stunted growth. I'm pretty sure that means there are no natural bonsai out in the wild... although it's a large world, and I could be mistaken.
Bonsai is all about the 'art'. It isn't so much about taking one tree and nurturing it for your whole life. In order to get good at any art form, the artist needs to experiment. In bonsai this means using many trees to try things on. Lots of these trees will die. It's something you have to get over, if you want to get good at it.
Nature will not produce a bonsai since bonsai are artistic representations of nature.
Bonsai must be pruned (both stems and roots) in order to maintain shape and health.
Start with a ficus, narrowleaf if you can find it. Actually, start with 10.
Seeds are a bad idea because it'll take you 5 years or more to get to what you can go to nursery and buy for $10.
If you want a plant that's fairly low-maintenance, doesn't need much pruning, and lives indoors on a windowsill, I'd recommend a fig, or natal plum, or a succulent plant. They're all fairly easy to take care of, and I know that the natal plum flowers in the spring, summer and fall. Those are just a few kinds that I'm familiar with, I'm sure there are others that would work as well
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I like the concept of my bonsai being just its 'tree-ish' self without much wiring, too--though it is true that a bonsai needs both root pruning and branch pruning to keep it healthy in its pot. Since a bonsai olive is the same kind of tree as a big olive outside, it's programmed to grow that big if it can, and pruning the roots and branches to keep them proportional gives the bonsai that "minature" feel. It ages like a wild tree, just on a small scale.
One thing you can do to keep it natural, is look at pictures of the kind of full-sized tree you'd like to have as a bonsai .. then try to use pruning to help guide it to the way natural trees look for being the same age.
What kind of bonsai are you thinking of keeping?
Also - what part of the UK are you in? I spent a couple of months in Scotland last year, as well as some time in London and Bath. I wish I could live there. :)
That's a great point, about modelling it on a natural tree. Hehheh.. maybe it shouldn't be such an alien concept to me(!) but I feel better about the whole idea after thinking about that, thanks :)
Hmm.. I think I'll start with a fig, if possible, since it does seem so recommended for beginners. Olives look nice too, I can see why you chose it :) One thing that's particularly interesting for me is the Bodhi Tree (Ficus Religiosa). I've always wanted to see one of those, and didn't realise they could be grown as bonsai until yesterday. They seem a little harder than other figs, though, so I'm not sure about them.
It's hard to choose a species, since most of the great looking ones probably have much more skill and work behind them than I realise, and I also see some bad examples of the same plant sometimes. Maybe I'll just get started with a few easy species, and see where it takes me. It's all good, I suppose :)
I'm in Northern Ireland. What did you like about the UK? :)
There are a number of trees that will remain small-ish just through the virtue of a pot, and in fact some are often too brittle to wire and train in any way other than pruning.
However, you can't really rely on this. What you could end up with is a long, spindly, weak-branched shrub instead of one that looks like a tree. Pruning and wiring not only encourage shape and minitaurization, but they force the diversion of plant resources - your trunks and branches will get thicker and you'll get many more feeder roots instead of a big tap.
Bonsai-ish miniaturized plants do occur in nature, but only because of natural conditions that imitate the effects of pruning (wind, animals repeatedly gnawing, etc).
It is recommended that beginners not start from seed because it takes an awfully long time before you can get to a point where you can do anything with it. It's 3-5 years before you have enough leaves or branches to do anything, except maybe on something like a ficus or a natal plum.
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Nature will not produce a bonsai since bonsai are artistic representations of nature.
Bonsai must be pruned (both stems and roots) in order to maintain shape and health.
Start with a ficus, narrowleaf if you can find it. Actually, start with 10.
Seeds are a bad idea because it'll take you 5 years or more to get to what you can go to nursery and buy for $10.
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I like the concept of my bonsai being just its 'tree-ish' self without much wiring, too--though it is true that a bonsai needs both root pruning and branch pruning to keep it healthy in its pot. Since a bonsai olive is the same kind of tree as a big olive outside, it's programmed to grow that big if it can, and pruning the roots and branches to keep them proportional gives the bonsai that "minature" feel. It ages like a wild tree, just on a small scale.
One thing you can do to keep it natural, is look at pictures of the kind of full-sized tree you'd like to have as a bonsai .. then try to use pruning to help guide it to the way natural trees look for being the same age.
What kind of bonsai are you thinking of keeping?
Also - what part of the UK are you in? I spent a couple of months in Scotland last year, as well as some time in London and Bath. I wish I could live there. :)
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Hmm.. I think I'll start with a fig, if possible, since it does seem so recommended for beginners. Olives look nice too, I can see why you chose it :) One thing that's particularly interesting for me is the Bodhi Tree (Ficus Religiosa). I've always wanted to see one of those, and didn't realise they could be grown as bonsai until yesterday. They seem a little harder than other figs, though, so I'm not sure about them.
It's hard to choose a species, since most of the great looking ones probably have much more skill and work behind them than I realise, and I also see some bad examples of the same plant sometimes. Maybe I'll just get started with a few easy species, and see where it takes me. It's all good, I suppose :)
I'm in Northern Ireland. What did you like about the UK? :)
Thanks for the welcome :)
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However, you can't really rely on this. What you could end up with is a long, spindly, weak-branched shrub instead of one that looks like a tree. Pruning and wiring not only encourage shape and minitaurization, but they force the diversion of plant resources - your trunks and branches will get thicker and you'll get many more feeder roots instead of a big tap.
Bonsai-ish miniaturized plants do occur in nature, but only because of natural conditions that imitate the effects of pruning (wind, animals repeatedly gnawing, etc).
It is recommended that beginners not start from seed because it takes an awfully long time before you can get to a point where you can do anything with it. It's 3-5 years before you have enough leaves or branches to do anything, except maybe on something like a ficus or a natal plum.
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Thanks :)
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