Previously, bonsai was considered a fad of the rich. Now it has gained immense popularity, especially among people living in cities. To grow a tiny tree yourself, a copy of the real one, is a complex, exciting and rewarding art.
What is garden bonsai
A garden bonsai differs from a miniature pot-grown tree in size and in the fact that it grows outdoors all year round.It will take at least five years to grow bonsai, such as pine trees. And the price for a good copy will be very decent.
And the most interesting thing is that anyone who is interested in this can create these miracle trees on their site. And it is not at all necessary to pay big money for unique expensive seedlings.
Lindens, spruces, maples, oaks, hazels, junipers and many other young trees can be excellent bonsai material for your yard. Here's another option. Look around you while you are at your dacha. Maybe there are trees or bushes that you are already tired of, and you have been planning to remove them for a long time.
And if you look from the other side and turn the boring old into a beautiful new one?
No investment. Only fantasy, your hands and an ordinary country tool.
old jasmine bush
A wonderful plant, with a wonderful smell, practically does not require care. It has been growing for more than a dozen years, and in breadth and height. The territory captures more and more, and even is home to mosquitoes. It's a pity to cut it.Jasmine is very tenacious, perfectly tolerates pruning and shaping the direction of the branches.
With a pruner, remove all unnecessary, with a soft wire tighten long shoots. At the top, you form a big green hat or come up with something of your own.
Well, how? There is a difference?
And the jasmine will bloom, as usual, and will bestow aroma, and even surprise the neighbors.
Garden bonsai requires care and love. Jasmine grows quickly, so shoot arrows must be removed immediately after they appear.
And the hands are already itching to take up the lilac
Everything that is written above applies to lilacs, if you have them in the bush. But, her image can be changed and rejuvenated at the same time. Garden bonsai looks good if the trees do not exceed a height of one and a half meters. This means that everything above must be cut under the root with a hacksaw and pruner. Leave only one, the most crooked, not an ordinary trunk, cutting it to this height.The lilac grows very well. From the overgrown side branches, with the help of a wire, it is necessary to form a rounded cup-shaped shape. Or whatever you come up with. To prevent the branches from stretching up, a load is tied to them. After four to six months, the load can be removed.
Lilac care consists of pruning to maintain the height and shape of the bonsai. After the lilac has faded, cut off all the flower stalks, being careful not to cut off the excess. It is on these branches that flowers will be next year. In garden lilac bonsai, by grafting, you can add other varieties of this plant. Imagine how beautiful it will be.
red leaf walnut
Along with jasmine, he has long conquered all garden plots. If you have an old bush, you can do as with a jasmine bush. But, the result is more interesting if you plant three or four identical walnut seedlings next to each other. A place for planting must be chosen so that the bonsai looks harmonious. It is better when there is free space between the trees.As they grow, the walnut stems must be twisted together. Lateral branches must be removed until the plants reach a height of one and a half meters. Do not let bonsai grow higher, only form side branches in width using soft wire and secateurs. The diameter of the bowl is up to you.
Walnut, like jasmine, gives new shoots from the root system. They must be removed in a timely manner, or put a layer of mulch, or beautiful stones around the trunk.
Many, looking at the bonsai of a one and a half meter nut, are surprised at the bright rich color of its leaves. The answer is simple - choose a sunny place to plant and prune in a timely manner. Young walnut leaves are always brightly colored.
By the way, you can cut trees to form bonsai at any time of the year. And it is better to do it on time, not allowing unnecessary branches to grow. Below, in the photo, a young walnut with pale leaves, growing in the shade, did not know pruning.
Spirea garden bonsai
From the usual spirea, which many people know as a border ornamental shrub, you can create whatever you want. It grows well, is not afraid of secateurs, is very hardy. During flowering, these balls turn white and amaze people with their unusualness and beauty.To create a spirea bonsai, plant several shrub seedlings nearby. Their tables can be braided, or, when they grow up, simply tied with soft wire.
As side branches appear, use a pruner to form any shapes.
Garden bonsai from ordinary spruce
We go for bonsai spruce to the nearby forest, and not to the nurseryGrowing such an amazing bonsai from an ordinary Christmas tree is simple and interesting.
You plant a Christmas tree half a meter high in a spacious place. Let her grow up a couple of years.
And take the secateurs. Everything superfluous - down with.
Pruning spruce should be done in early spring or late autumn. Do the same with ordinary pine bonsai. You can form its branches
I copy classic bonsai, creating more bizarre forms.
More fantasy and experimentation
Unique seedlings for bonsai, already prepared by nature itself, can be found among rocks and stones. On clearings between abandoned trunks and on stumps, sometimes such twisted shoots appear that you wonder and rejoice at the same time.An amazing combination of leaves of different colors or flowers of plants of the same species can be successfully used in bonsai. It is enough just to plant them side by side and weave them together. And when they grow up, to form, with the help of pruning, something funny, unexpectedly beautiful.
The main thing is not to be afraid. You will definitely succeed. And no one will have a second, such a garden bonsai.
Growing bonsai is a constant discovery, discovery and creative work that makes a person truly happy. And to achieve this effect, you need to know the methods and some features of growing bonsai. In order to grow bonsai according to all the rules, you need special utensils, tools, special care, etc. etc. In this article I will talk directly about the cultivation process.
Juniper Sargent Bonsai. Age 15 years. Han-Kengai style. © Cliff
Choosing plants for bonsai in the nursery
From the young plants purchased in the nursery, beautiful bonsai can be formed relatively quickly. Most nursery-sold plants have been grown in containers for many years. Because of this, they tend to develop a well-formed and dense root system, which is ideal for bonsai formation.
The plant is removed from the container, the old soil is removed and the first root pruning is carried out to obtain a flat shaped root system. After that, the plant is planted again in a regular container, now filled with bonsai potting mix. Very soon, such plants can already be transplanted into low special containers (bowls).
The only thing to remember when carrying out a strong pruning of the roots is to observe the correct planting dates, in other words, all these activities are carried out at the end of winter, while the period of active growth has not yet begun.
The range of plants sold in nurseries is very large, and it is easy to get confused in it. That is why in the nursery it is best to thoroughly review all the available plants and try to find the most suitable specimens for the formation of bonsai. In addition, it is worth regularly visiting gardening centers and nurseries and looking into the farthest corners there, where, perhaps, prematurely aged dwarf trees may be.
True, beginners are advised to select younger plants from which it is easier to form bonsai. The choice of plants must be approached very critically. Trees intended for bonsai formation should be densely branched to the ground, so that after pruning, branches suitable for various styles can be left.
When examining plants, the soil around the trunk must be slightly excavated in order to be able to clearly examine the base of the trunk. The grafted plants must be grafted in such a way that the grafting site is not visible in the formed bonsai.
Particular care is needed when buying plants with a very dense crown, the inside of which is usually completely bare. Such plants take a very long time for new shoots to appear on the inside of the branches. This applies mainly to large species of Norway spruce (Picea abies) "Pumila Glauca" and gray spruce (Picea glauca) "Conica".
Rhododendrons with a spherical crown shape are more suitable, since they give young shoots relatively quickly from old wood. For the formation of bonsai, we can safely recommend all undersized forms and varieties of pine, not grafted fan maples, field maple, all types of barberry, local types of elms, not grafted common hornbeam, cedar elfin (dwarf pine), juniper, hawthorn and many others.
Bonsai. Composition of several trees. © Sage Ross Collectors who have the necessary experience and prefer difficult-to-form and expensive plants can only be advised to look for suitable source material in nurseries. Since bonsai became known in Germany, the first nurseries also appeared, which, in addition to the usual assortment, began to grow trees intended for the formation of bonsai.
They now have a good selection of suitable and very inexpensive plants that, after a couple of years of work, can make very beautiful and very valuable bonsai. Therefore, plants from nurseries are the best way to learn how to form bonsai.
Bonsai taken in nature - Yamadori
In nature, there are beautiful trees that, despite their age, are great for bonsai formation. Mostly, high in the mountains, on the border of forests, you can find centuries-old trees that do not exceed 50 cm in height. A very short growing season allows plants to grow only a few millimeters per year. Due to constant strong winds, ice and snowstorms, they remain dwarfed and acquire a bizarre, often very twisted shape.
In order to dig up plants in nature, you must obtain permission from the landowner. When digging up a plant, a seedling is planted in its place, if possible. In order to form a harmonious bonsai from such source material, it is necessary to have the appropriate experience. First of all, it is very difficult for beginner bonsai enthusiasts to make something decent out of this intertwined, intricate and abstractly shaped material. That is why they are advised to look for younger specimens with a compact root system.
80-year-old trees 50-60 cm high often have roots 5 m or more long. Such plants are found on rocky soils, as their roots, in search of moisture and nutrition, grow deep into cracks and crevices of rocks. In order to dig up such plants, it is necessary to cut their long roots with skill. In some particularly unfavorable cases, this procedure is extended for years, so that during this time new roots form at the base of the trunk, thanks to which the excavated plant can survive.
The best time to dig up the plants is in early spring, when the soil has already thawed and the plants have not yet begun to grow. From the tool you need to have a folding shovel, a climbing pick, a pruner, a folding saw, a hammer and a chisel.
The roots of the dug up plants are placed in plastic bags filled with wet moss to withstand shipping. At home, such plants are first planted in large plastic containers.
Japanese clay granulate (Akadama) is used as soil, as large as possible, 6-12 mm. After planting, the plants are placed in a place shaded and protected from strong winds. After about 3 years, they can be transplanted into a smaller container. As a rule, it takes from 5 to 10 years until powerful and imposing bonsai are obtained from dug up plants. Older yamadori take even longer to become well established in a container.
Plants from the nursery, on the contrary, take root excellently, most often in the same year. If strong leaves or needles begin to form at the tops of the shoots, this is a sure sign that the plant is well rooted. Only after that it is necessary to start fertilizing with fertilizer. When transplanted, deciduous trees take root much faster than conifers. Juniper dug out in nature takes root especially slowly in a container.
That is why it is advisable to dig up the plants not in one go, but gradually cut off the long roots year after year. After a few years, such a plant can be painlessly dug up.
A beginner who has yet to learn to recognize shapes in the original plant material and who is still unsure of the techniques of bonsai formation is not recommended to use yamadori.
For beginners, younger densely branched deciduous trees with a trunk as thick as a finger are quite suitable, although they are not typical yamadori. For experienced bonsai collectors, there is also the option to take plants from their garden.
Over time, it is not uncommon for a garden to need to remove some trees because they have been planted too often, or to redevelop the garden is on the agenda. These plants are ideal source material for the bonsai collector. Very often it (material) is distinguished by arm-thick trunks, powerful root bases and strong long branches.
These plants also take a certain amount of time to take root well, so they are first planted in large plastic containers. After about three years, depending on the size of the plant, they can be transplanted into smaller dishes. Already in a plastic container, you can begin to rough form the plant, until after three years it will be transplanted into a suitable bonsai container. For such plants, the rough formation phase lasts approximately 46 years. But later you get a bonsai at the age of about 50, looking very impressive and powerful.
Rhododendron in the form of a bonsai. The plant is 22 years old. © Andreas D Bonsai from native tree species and their benefits
There are a number of tree species native to Europe that are well suited to form bonsai. Often, local breeds are even much more hardy than exotic species. Added to this is that we know better their needs in terms of location, quality composition and soil structure, as well as possible pests and diseases. The trees growing in our forests are frost-resistant, and therefore, they do not need to overwinter indoors.
Many questions can be clarified for yourself at the place of natural growth of the selected trees. In principle, bonsai can be grown from any European tree species that has never been used as a bonsai before. There are many possibilities for this.
First, you can simply experiment on the plant with soil, light and water for irrigation, which, in general, is hardly recommended to do, or prefer a more acceptable solution, which is to find out about the growing conditions of one or another species in nature.
When growing bonsai from local tree species, you can get a clear idea of \u200b\u200bthe growing conditions of a particular tree if you carefully observe it in its natural habitat and ask yourself the following questions:
- What soil does the tree grow on?
- How much light does it need?
- Location of the tree: shaded or light?
- Does the tree grow only in a place protected by a forest or a gorge?
- What kind of places does it prefer: dry or wet?
Example: it is necessary to form a bonsai from black pine. In search of old trees, they usually go to tall woodlands. Tops of black pine are densely covered with needles. The rest of the crown, primarily its lower part, remains transparent. This is because black pine is a very light-loving plant and develops lush needles only at the tops of the crown.
From this one should proceed: black pine bonsai need very bright lighting, therefore, the place for them should be several meters away from walls and buildings and slightly elevated above the ground so that the bonsai also receive some light from below.
Under natural conditions, pines grow on well-drained lime-sand or karst bases. Therefore, for bonsai, a soil mixture of coarse sand or gravel with a small addition of humus is chosen. When forming bonsai from black pine, it is not at all necessary to accurately copy the natural shape of the tree, traditional Japanese forms are also possible.
Thus, the natural forms of trees of any species growing in our country can be used as a model for their subsequent transfer to bonsai. For those who want to pursue the art of growing bonsai more intensively and purposefully, it is necessary to make it a rule to pay attention to the beautiful trees on the street and study them closely, especially those that you pass by every day,
When forming a bonsai, it is not at all necessary to be guided by classical Japanese or Chinese forms. When working with local species, it is even much more reasonable to take as a model the forms of trees growing in our forests. We have some very beautiful trees that deserve to be modeled as bonsai trees.
In addition, it is much easier to carefully consider and study trees in natural conditions and then transfer their shape to bonsai. Isn't it interesting to imagine that an oak tree only a meter high, together with branches and branches, can look like an old mature tree. Among the tree species growing in our latitudes there are at least a dozen that can certainly serve as good source material.
Anyone who from time to time attempts to use tree species that are almost unknown in this capacity for the formation of bonsai very soon comes to the conclusion that not every tree is suitable for the formation of bonsai from it. So, for example, the chestnut tree has amazingly beautiful flowers and leaves, and besides, it also has a magnificent crown, but because of its huge inflorescences and leaves, this tree is not suitable for the formation of bonsai.
Conversely, hawthorn bushes in natural conditions are not very attractive and do not have much charm, however, for use as a bonsai, this is an excellent source material.
Therefore, when choosing local tree species, you need to mentally answer yourself the following questions:
- Does this tree have small leaves?
- Does it produce young shoots from old wood?
- Does it form many branches?
- Does his shoots grow strongly?
- Does it grow well in a small pot?
- Is the base of the roots beautifully formed?
However, in addition to the type of wood, the appearance and condition of the individual plant is also of decisive importance when choosing the source material.
Bonsai. Style Yose Ue (Youse-Ue). © William Neuheisel Bonsai grown from cuttings
Growing bonsai from cuttings is also a time-consuming and patient undertaking. True, growing plants in this way gives a gain per year compared to seedlings.
Cuttings are cut parts of branches (lignified shoots) without roots, which are cut from healthy mother plants and stuck into the soil for rooting. A suitable time for cuttings of coniferous trees is the beginning of September or April.
Cuttings from deciduous trees are best cut from the beginning to the end of June. To stimulate root formation, cuttings can be treated with a special growth stimulant (phytohormone). Deciduous tree cuttings take root in a few weeks.
In coniferous trees, the process of root formation can last more than a year. It is best to use plastic mini-greenhouses as dishes for rooting cuttings. Its lower part is filled by two-thirds with a mixture of sand and peat and the cuttings are stuck into the soil at an equal distance from each other.
Then the cuttings are carefully watered and cover the greenhouse on top with a transparent lid. To place a greenhouse with cuttings, a dark place is chosen and soil moisture is monitored daily, if necessary, the soil in the greenhouse is watered.
When young leaves appear on the cuttings, which is possible in a couple of weeks, this means that roots have already formed. Now the transparent lid of the mini-greenhouse can be lifted from time to time for ventilation in order to harden young plants and gradually accustom them to a normal climate. After a few months, the cuttings are already well rooted and can be planted in separate containers.
For this, a loose, clay-containing soil mixture for plants is used. This year, young plants do not need to be fed with fertilizers, since fresh soil contains a sufficient amount of nutrients. For overwintering of such plants, it is necessary to take care of a special shelter, since their delicate roots are not yet able to endure prolonged frosts. Containers with young plants should be well dug into the soil and covered on top with a film folded in several layers to protect from the wind.
Not all trees propagate by cuttings. For example, cedars and pines cannot be propagated in this way. They are propagated exclusively by seeds. Elms, on the other hand, can be grown very quickly from cuttings, as can most trees and shrubs used for hedges, such as privet, common hornbeam, field maple, barberry, and dwarf elm.
Bonsai from Lanta kamara, plant 3 years old. Sekijoju style. © JCardinal18
Bonsai grown from seeds
Growing from seeds is the longest way to form bonsai. It takes 12 to 15 years to produce approximately bonsai-like plants from seeds. Most of the plants sold in gardening centers and nurseries have this age. Why is such a long journey necessary?
There are some types of trees in which the optimal form can only be achieved if you start shaping the plant from the very first days of its life. This applies, for example, to elms, from which it is planned to form bonsai in a strictly vertical style. In such plants, it is necessary to cut out part of the roots already in the first year and regulate the growth of young stems with the help of pruning.
In about 20 years, it will already be clearly noticeable that these plants are formed at an early stage of their development. This can be determined, first of all, by the base of the roots. All the roots protruding on the surface of the soil diverge from the trunk in the form of a star, and the trunks themselves are beautifully shaped. When looking at the base of the branches, their harmonious distribution is striking.
The proportion of the height of the trunk to the height of the crown forms a balanced spatial relationship. All these benefits come from growing plants from seeds. In annual and biennial seedlings of coniferous trees, the stems can be very strongly bent, giving them any complex shape.
In all coniferous trees with a rough bark, the wire applied to the trunks and branches should grow into the wood to the depth of the bark thickness. Due to this, a curved and uneven trunk additionally receives the effect of healing wounds, which quickly heal in young plants.
Two-year-old black pine trees, for example, can be very strongly bent in winter, which is possible only with seedlings. The superimposed wire is allowed to grow into the bark and is removed only after 3 years, without fear that the plant will be damaged.
Miniature bonsai. © Norio NAKAYAMA Later, the wire can be applied again to again get the effect of scarring of the wounds. When the plant has grown to such an extent that in the next 45 years it will be ready for display as a bonsai, in no case should the wire be allowed to grow into the trunk. Since the stem of plants grows in thickness much more slowly with age, the wounds from the wire ingrown into the bark heal much worse and it will take more than a dozen years for the last traces of the wire to become invisible.
Self-collection of tree seeds is a very exciting and full of surprises activity. While walking in the park or in the forest, you can constantly find more and more seeds of trees and shrubs. If bonsai seeds are harvested in autumn, they can be sown directly into seed boxes or bonsai containers.
In this case, it is necessary to take into account the following: there are seeds that need cold (freezing) for germination.
These are seeds with a hard shell, such as seeds of cherries, blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel, juniper. The seeds of these trees are sown in a flat container with wet sand and also covered with a layer of sand on top. Then the container is covered with a film so that the crops do not dry out. After that, the container with the sown seeds is taken outside to a place darkened from direct sunlight and left there for the whole winter, so that the hard shell of the seeds cracks under the influence of frost. In the spring, the first shoots appear.
Usually, not all seeds germinate. In this case, such seeds are not thrown away, but they try to get seedlings from them for the next year. You can also carry out artificial freezing of seeds in the freezer of the refrigerator. Bonsai seeds with a soft shell can be partially sown in autumn, immediately after harvest. Mountain pine seeds are harvested in August and sown immediately. They germinate in 34 weeks.
A container with emerging seedlings is added dropwise in a place protected from the weather so that tender seedlings do not die in winter from drying out the soil. The seeds of most maples growing in the forests of Germany also germinate in the year they are harvested.
To do this, proceed as follows: the seeds are scattered in a flat container with wet sand, after which they are sprayed with water from a spray bottle. Newspaper is then placed over the seeds to keep them moist and allow some light to pass through the newspaper, as maple seeds need light to germinate. If the winter is mild, then the first shoots appear in winter. A year later, next spring, when the seedlings are a little woody, they can be carefully planted in small pots and shaped pruning during the summer.
Juniper Sargent Bonsai. Grown since 1905. Han-Kengai style. © Cliff Bonsai sizes
Bonsai can vary greatly in size. The smallest of them barely reach a height of 8 cm, however, there are also trees of impressive size with a height of 130 cm. At the same time, things are by no means so that small bonsai are young, and large ones are old, grown over many years.
The future size of the bonsai is approximately set at the very beginning of the formation. More often than not, the main skeletal branches, at least the rudiments of them, are already present on the plant, and they largely determine in what style a bonsai can be formed. And although over the years the bonsai grows a few centimeters in height, the growth of the tree is mainly limited to the development of the ideal shape that the amateur strives for.
The ideal size of a bonsai depends primarily on the size of the leaves. Trees with small leaves can form bonsai of any size.
For trees with large leaves or long needles, a minimum size must be set at which they can be represented in the correct proportion (the ratio of the size of the leaves to the size of the tree itself). So, for example, a chestnut must have a height of 1.20 to 1.50 m to look harmonious.
Juniper bonsai © Daniel Lombrana Gonzalez Suitable trees for different sizes of bonsai:
- 8-20 cm: juniper, irga, rhododendron, spruce;
- 20-30 cm: barberry, field maple, rock maple, privet, mountain pine with small needles;
- 30-70 cm: birch, hazel, pine, ash-leaved maple (American), elm;
- 60-100 cm: beech, oak, elder, false plane maple (sycamore), plane maple, black pine, larch, linden, ash, ash-leaved maple;
- 100-130 cm: plane tree, chestnut, black pine, elderberry, acacia, wisteria.
Features of growing bonsai
To form a certain shape of the branches and trunk of a bonsai, usually, you can not do without the use of wire. It doesn't matter if you wire the branches or change their direction with the help of tensioners, any technique of working with wire is very important for the formation of bonsai.
Wire laying is the most time-consuming technique for shaping bonsai, especially in coniferous trees. Here it is necessary to fix with wire all the branches without exception to the very top of the shoots. In deciduous trees, the shape can often be perfectly controlled only by pruning, and the need to wire the branches is relatively rare.
In trees with smooth bark, such as beech, elm, maple, linden, the wire should only remain on the plants for a short time, since the unsightly traces of the wire ingrown into the trunk remain visible for decades. The juniper or pine trees are quite different.
These trees have a rough bark, and traces of the wire overgrow relatively quickly. However, even in such trees, the ingrowth of the superimposed wire into the bark should not be allowed, since otherwise spiral scars form on the trunk here too.
Wire laying is best in winter or early spring, when the bonsai is also pruned. At this time of the year, the deciduous trees are still leafless and all branches are easily accessible.
With the onset of sap flow and growth of young shoots in spring, the branches quickly become thicker, so the wire must be applied very loosely and subsequently regularly checked so that it does not cut into the bark or does not grow into the wood.
After about three months, the desired shape is usually stabilized and the wire can be removed. It is carefully bitten off with wire cutters, and not untwisted, as this can easily break off the branches.
Proper wire laying requires skill and dexterity. Therefore, before proceeding to fix fragile bonsai branches with wire, you can practice wire on tree branches from a garden or forest.
Copper-plated aluminum wire for bonsai of various thicknesses sold in specialized stores is used as a wire: from 0.7 to 7 mm. To determine the correct thickness of the wire, there is a basic rule: the thickness of the wire \u003d 1/3 of the thickness of the branch fixed by it. Thus, with a branch thickness of 1 cm, it is necessary to use a wire with a thickness of about 3 mm.
Iron wire or wire used in floristry is not suitable for shaping bonsai because it is not flexible enough and will rust. When the bonsai is first formed from the original plant, the wire is applied entirely to all branches, including their thinnest parts.
In this case, no branch should cross with another. In conclusion, each branch is separately given the desired direction and shape. The imposition of wire on a bonsai is not carried out for the purpose of decorating a tree, but only to improve and change its shape.
Bonsai with wire attached to the trunk and branches should not be displayed or displayed at exhibitions. Wire staples are used where it is no longer possible to achieve the desired result by applying wire, for example, when changing the direction of growth of thick branches and trunks.
In bonsai formed in a multi-stemmed style, using wire brackets, you can correct or correct the direction of growth and the shape of individual stems.
The performance of this work requires the application of a certain force. In this case, it is necessary to regularly check whether the wire has grown into the wood, and rearrange the brackets from time to time.
In order not to damage the bark of the tree with wire brackets, pieces of leather are placed under them. Changing the direction of growth of branches with the help of wire tensioners is appropriate where it is no longer possible to apply wire on too thick and powerful branches.
Pulling the branches down, of course, is not as laborious as laying the wire. The disadvantage of wire tensioners is that this method allows you to change the direction of growth of the branch in only one specific direction. This bonsai shaping technique is mainly used where the branches grow upwards and need to be pulled down.
In order to learn how to accurately and accurately form bonsai with wire, some time and training are needed. That is why it is desirable as an exercise to often wire the trees and give the branches a different shape. Only with the help of regular training can you constantly improve your skills in shaping bonsai.
Rhododendron Indian in the form of a bonsai. © KENPEI artificial aging bonsai
To give a relatively young bonsai the look of an old tree, various techniques and techniques are used. One of them is the removal of the bark from the branches and trunk with a knife or wire cutters. The job will be more difficult when the trunk has to be cut or split. To engage in these techniques, certain theoretical knowledge and practical experience are required.
In addition, you need to know that from those branches or trunks that are supposed to be left alive, you cannot remove the entire bark. It is necessary to leave thin strips of bark leading to the top of the branch or trunk, through which water and nutrients will flow to the needles.
The situation is different with parts of branches and trunks that should be dead on bonsai. From them, the bark can be removed entirely and the bare wood can be processed with a carving knife. Removing the bark from the branches and trunk is not particularly difficult, but the processing of bare wood with a carving knife (chisel) requires a certain skill.
Therefore, before you start working with bonsai, you need to practice on a piece of wood. Coniferous trees such as juniper, yew, spruce and pine are the ideal material for artificial aging among bonsai, since their wood is not affected by fungus and does not rot. However, deciduous trees can also be artificially aged.
In order to master these special techniques with confidence, it is absolutely necessary to observe plants in nature. Trees in "war zones", that is, in particularly open and unprotected areas, are the best examples.
Particular attention should be paid to trees marked by lightning, windbreak or drought. Before starting work, it is necessary to prepare the appropriate tool and aids. Among them, there must be a set of knives for wood carving, bark pliers, concave pliers, skin, a special bleaching agent with a dye for impregnating bare wood.
There are also many power tools that make the job much easier. However, they are more difficult to handle. That is why at the very beginning of mastering the techniques of aging bonsai, it is necessary to use a conventional tool. Those who are constantly engaged in this craft, using the appropriate tools, will quickly find out which woodcarving power tool can be used.
Sharimiki- a technique of artificial aging, in which the bark is removed from a significant part of the bonsai branches, after which the bare wood is processed with a knife or a special cutter. Beginners should not use expensive plants for this, because it takes some time until the necessary sense of form develops.
sabamiki called bonsai with a split trunk. Outwardly, they look like trees that have been struck by lightning. Very often they are no longer whole trees, but they are very expressive. In bonsai, this effect can be achieved by splitting the trunk with wire cutters and wedges. Thanks to this, the tree itself becomes more powerful and strong.
Plants found in nature suitable for sabamika, which have the desired trunk thickness, often exceed 2 m in height. To obtain a bonsai of a suitable format from them, such plants are first shortened in height to 70-80 cm. as if struck by lightning. The upper part of the trunk must be conical in order to make the tree look natural. In such places of the trunk, balls can be used.
Bonsai from Red maple. © Quinn Dombrowski Maintaining small size needles and shoots in pines and spruces
Pines growing in the forests of Germany often have very long needles, especially black pine. The size of the needles in such trees can be slightly reduced by watering the plant smaller and using a poorer soil mixture. It is also desirable to fertilize less often.
In order to keep the overall shape of pines and spruces compact and harmonious, the tops of young shoots are broken off from pines from April to early May. In spruces, young shoots are allowed to grow a little, and then they are shortened by half or two-thirds.
Due to the radical breaking out or pruning with the tips of scissors of the tops of young shoots during the summer, new tender buds are formed on the needle-covered part of the branches, which bloom next year. A year later, new apical shoots are formed.
They are allowed to grow long enough and then shortened by one third or one quarter of their length. From September to the end of October, two or three-year-old needles are plucked or cut.
Bonsai from Rhododendron. © Michael Bentley Air layering for bonsai
Bonsai air layering is obtained in cases where a too high trunk violates the harmony of the tree, in addition, with ugly or uneven roots diverging to the sides, or when the tree trunk is rejuvenated down.
You can also get air layering from beautiful branches of trees growing in natural conditions. Bonsai hobbyists and collectors in Germany do not use air layers as often as they do, for example, in Japan. However, this technique is necessary for many bonsai in order to achieve an improvement in the shape of the tree or to get a new bonsai from a beautiful, bonsai-like branch. The technique itself for obtaining an air layer is not particularly complicated. It takes longer for coniferous trees than for deciduous trees.
Technique for obtaining air layering from deciduous trees
Let's say you want to get an air layer on a bonsai with a poorly formed trunk. To do this, above an ugly place, a circular incision is made on the trunk or branch and a strip of bark is removed. Then a small amount of wet sphagnum moss is tied to the cut site. On top of the moss, a kind of larger casing made of a metal mosquito net is fixed, which is filled with soil mixture for bonsai.
Then the plant is watered as usual. In late autumn, the place of the cut is checked. To do this, open the metal mesh and carefully remove the soil and moss. If the roots are formed evenly around the entire circumference of the cut, then the metal mesh is fixed in its original place and its inside is again filled with soil. Now you need to wait until stronger and more powerful roots are formed. The trunk can then be cut off just below the new roots and the new bonsai thus obtained can be planted in a container.
Bonsai in the style of Sokan, Sozhu (Sokan). © Bjorn Watland Technique for obtaining air layering from coniferous trees
Here the technique is slightly different. Not a circular incision is made on the tree trunk, but a loop of wire is applied, after which it is tightly pulled together and rotated so that the wire cuts a little into the bark. Then, with a small hammer, the wire is carefully tapped around the trunk so that small wounds form on the bark. In this way, root formation can be stimulated. A small part of the trunk or branch on top of the wire is treated with a growth stimulator (phytohormone).
Then a handful of wet sphagnum moss is applied to this place and fixed with a bast or twine. After that, a metal mesh is applied around the trunk, as in the first case, and filled with soil mixture for bonsai. After a year or two, new roots form. When they become strong enough to nourish the tree with water and minerals, the bonsai stem between the old and new roots can be cut and planted in a container.
In deciduous trees, air layering is carried out from mid to late April. You can carry out a similar procedure in coniferous trees a little later. At the same time, the air temperature should be within 18-22 o C. Plant care is the same as for freshly planted bonsai, namely: it is necessary to put the plants in a slightly shaded place and turn them every 14 days, since the roots grow faster on shaded areas.
When receiving air layering, pruning of plants is not carried out, since the strong growth of branches and shoots contributes to more powerful root formation. Plants from which air layering is obtained should be healthy and vigorous in growth. Young plants produce aerial layering faster than old ones. In deciduous trees, roots often form after 3-4 months.
Coniferous trees take root very slowly. In pines, the process of root formation can take 4-5 years. For beginners, it is much more reasonable to get aerial layers from young and low-value plant material in order to test the reaction of plants to this method of vegetative propagation.
midori tsumi- pinching the point of growth. By shortening the shoot, you provoke the laying of new buds below the pinching point, thus obtaining dense paws with many branches. Depending on what kind of trees you are working with, the time of work changes:
- for hardwoods - pinching begins during the period of active growth of shoots and lasts until mid-summer. On the remaining branch there are 2-3 leaves (buds). They finish work at the end of July, so that the regrown branches prepare for the winter;
- for conifers - pinching begins when the branch is in the “candle” mode, but the needles have already moved away from it at an angle of 45 °.
Kiri modoshi- pruning all the shoots of the last year to form dense brushes. It is produced at the beginning of sap flow, before the buds open.
Hamu-siri– thinning needles – is used only for pines. All the needles of the previous year are plucked, and the remains are thinned out by half or less (depending on how many shoots you want to get).
Fuse-zukuri- special techniques for changing the shape and direction of growth of shoots.
For these purposes, the branches are bent in the right direction to the required angle and fixed.
When bending, the main task is not to damage the tree, therefore, at the slightest crackle, the slope is reduced, and the branch is fixed. Bamboo spacers, soft copper wire, twine, burlap are used to protect branches from damage. They carefully monitor that the strapping does not grow into the bark - as soon as the branches thicken, they are tied up. Full fixation of the branch occurs after 2-3 seasons.
Shitate- barrel bending technique. Such niwaki styles, like mogi, kengai, syakai require that the barrel is not located in a vertical plane. To give shape, use spacers, stretching, bending to the ground, followed by fixation with pegs.
The trunk can be formed in two ways:
- setting the right direction for a young seedling from year to year (for example, planting a plant at an angle);
- changing the shape of the rootstock in a mature tree (usually used to reinforce existing bends).
There is a risk that the unnatural position of the trunk may cause the root system to not hold it, so the extensions are installed as follows:
Where to start?
We advise a novice bonsaiist to first practice on trees and shrubs growing on the site. Nivaki can be formed from both a young and a long-growing tree. They begin work in early spring, before the buds open. At this time, the shape of the tree, natural curves, strong and weak shoots are clearly visible. For bonsai, choose a healthy plant that can survive the stress caused by drastic interference in its life.
Operating procedure:
- at a tree or shrub, cut off all diseased, broken and dry branches;
- choose the style in which nivaki will be formed, paying special attention to the age of the tree and the natural shape of the trunk;
- decide where the front side of the composition will be, mark the branches of the first order (bases) and the topmost branch crowning the nivkai.
Skeletal branches should emphasize the levels as much as possible - for this they are placed in a plane parallel to the ground, using the techniques described above.
After that, all excess shoots are removed, leaving on the skeletal branches those that will later form the crown. If necessary, stretch marks are installed, directing the growth of shoots in the right direction.
The next stage starts only next year:
Examples of elementary niwaki
Jasmine. The shrub gives abundant shoots, and without corrective pruning after a few years has an unsightly neglected appearance. What can be done? Remove all excess growth, leaving a few of the strongest vertical shoots. Pull them together with a soft wire - at the top you will get a compact “hat”, which in the spring will turn into a wonderful white cloud with a delicate aroma.
Spirea. The lush blooming "Rich Bride" is an excellent material for bonsai. Leaving a few skeletal branches, weave them together, and cut off all excess at the root. Give the stems the desired height, form the side shoots in the form of a ball.
Lilac. An ordinary bush can become a garden barefoot masterpiece if you work a little:
- cut out all the shoots and remove the stem branches under the root, leaving one, the strongest or crooked shoot;
- cut it to a height of no more than 1.5 m;
- using the fuse-zukuri technique, form a crown from young shoots in the form of a bowl, shell or cap at the top of the main branch;
- try to direct the growth of young upper shoots parallel to the ground, tying a load to them;
- be sure to remove all excess growth at the root and adjust the top growth point.
After flowering, be sure to remove all dry candles - this stimulates an increase in peduncles for the next year.
Holly maple. The bright red leaves of this plant are good on their own. But if you give the tree the desired shape, you will get a unique composition that will decorate the shore. artificial reservoir or alpine slide. Plant two young seedlings side by side, which can later be intertwined with each other, or you can grow a tree in the sokan style - with a forked trunk.
Don't be afraid to experiment! For an enthusiastic person, there is no such plant that could not be turned into a masterpiece to the envy of all neighbors.
Scientific name: Picea
Common names: Spruce
General information:
From firs it is very good to form small and medium-sized bonsai. For beginners, spruces are not very suitable, as a lot of fine detail work must be done to make a natural bonsai. For the formation of bonsai, spruces grown in nature from the highlands are especially suitable, where the plants grow very slowly and develop beautiful powerful trunks. Thanks to many years of breeding work, a lot of dwarf forms of spruce trees have also been obtained, which are distinguished by an extremely dense form of growth. Such varieties are also excellent source material for bonsai, as they grow very slowly and most often form branches with dense needles. Often, after 3-4 years after the formation, full-fledged bonsai are obtained from them. Similar cultivars are "Nidiformis1" or "Pumila glauca1" in Norway spruce (Picea abies). The dwarf cultivar "Conica" of the gray spruce (Picea glauca) is less suitable, because young shoots do not develop well on the inside of the branches. Anyone wishing to form a bonsai of spruce with "Conica1" should use a small plant for this, which is easier to give the desired shape. Wintering: small and medium-sized spruce bonsai should winter under a film or in a greenhouse. containers can spend the winter outdoors, provided the plants are healthy.Use of wire: wire can be applied to spruces from September to April.The wire remains on the plant for about 2 years, after which it is removed and re-applied if necessary.On thin side branches the wire should be allowed to grow slightly into the bark, this will prevent stretching (elongation) of the formed branches.However, the wire should not grow into the bark so much that deep scars remain after its removal.
Some varieties suitable for bonsai are:
Piecea excelsa
- Looks like a fir tree. The crown is conical, branches drooping almost to the ground. The needles are needle-shaped, hard, shiny, dark green, located in a spiral around the shoot. Hanging cones, spindle-shaped, thin with red scales.
Picea glauca
- a low tree with a slender trunk tapering to the top, long spreading branches and a pyromidoidal crown. The needles are needle-shaped, gray-green, the cones are small, turn brown as they mature. Exhausts strong resinous aroma.
Peace nigra
- the crown is conical, narrow, dense. The needle needles are bluish-green, the cones are first red, then brown.
Picea jezoensis
- can reach a height of 50 m. A characteristic feature is the long crown. The needles are needle-shaped, green and shiny on the upper side, silver-white on the underside. The tips of the shoots are turned towards the tree itself. The buds are red, turning brown as they mature.
Pisea orientalis
- the trunk is straight, the crown is dense, pyromidal. The needles are very short, thick, not prickly, dark green. Violet cones with hard scales turn brown as they mature.
Temperature:
Many types of spruces start their growing season early, already at the end of winter. They are afraid of night and late frosts, but they love fresh air.
Lighting:
Bonsai formed from fir trees need a light location. Plants must be located at a considerable distance from buildings, walls and trees so that the lower and inner parts of the crown are not exposed. If possible, spruce bonsai should be placed on a raised platform so that they receive sufficient light from below as well.
Watering:
Spruces need slightly more water than all other conifers. They do not tolerate overdrying of an earthen coma, but also stagnation of water in containers. Water quality does not play a special role. Plants can be watered with tap water straight from the hose.
Top dressing:
Spruces that are well rooted in containers, but have not yet developed the desired stem thickness, can be fed with liquid fertilizer for the first time in spring, as it is absorbed by the plant faster and helps to get stronger shoots. After the appearance of leaves and young shoots, you can continue top dressing with organic fertilizers in powder form or in the form of balls, since they are easier to dose correctly and there is much less danger of overfeeding. spruces can be transplanted from March to the end of April. The next transplant period is from September to October. In this case, care must be taken to ensure that the cutting of the roots is not too strong. Spruces are dug in April, since it is at this time of the year that the rooting guarantee is highest. Old yamadori from highlands with complex root systems must be dug up gradually over several years to survive.
Transfer:
Spruces prefer slightly acidic, poor soil and tolerate short-term light waterlogging of an earthen clod, but do not put up with stagnant water in containers. Spruce bonsai soil mixes are somewhat different from those commonly used for other bonsai. For young plants, a mixture is prepared from rotted leafy soil, burnt clay granulate (grain size 2-4 mm) and Japanese clay (Akadama) of medium grain size in equal parts. For old and large bonsai, pure Japanese clay (coarse-grained) with a small addition of humus is used.
Pests and diseases:
Large pine weevil - galleries of passages are gnawed under the bark, needles and buds are eaten away. Control measures: the affected parts of the plant are cut and destroyed. At the first sign of damage, young plants are treated with an oil emulsion. In late March - early April, they are sprayed with insecticides.
Horntail wasp (horntail) - galleries of cylindrical passages in the trunk and skeletal branches. Control measures: During the emergence of adult insects, the plant is sprayed with insecticides.
Sawyers - the needles are eaten away, young shoots are deformed. Control measures: as soon as the shoots begin to lengthen, the plant is sprayed with insecticides.
Hermes - the formation of galls on the tops of young shoots. Control measures: at the end of winter, the plant is sprayed with mineral insecticides, at the beginning of spring - with organochlorine or organofluorine insecticides.
root nematodes.
Bark beetles.
Ognevka.
Leaf rollers.
Silkworms.
Aphids.
Browning of needles - the needles dry out, black pads appear on its underside. Control measures: affected plants are treated with fungicides. During planting, plants should not be placed too closely.
Septoria - the needles dry out. Black pads appear on the dried parts of the plant. Control measures: affected shoots are pruned and destroyed. The plant is sprayed with a fungicide based on copper sulphate.
Spruce cancer - the roots of the tree rot, become covered with a white bloom, the needles turn pale, turn yellow and dry out. Control measures: an earthen ball is shed with a fungicide based on cyben. It is necessary to avoid waterlogging the soil and feed the plant with a balanced fertilizer.
Rust.
Reproduction:
Seeds - collected from September to January, the cones are dried. In the gray spruce (Picea glauca), cones are harvested at the end of August or in September. The seeds are allowed to ripen in cones for as long as possible, and then germinated for 10 days in wet sand. Sowing is done in moist loose soil in April, when the seeds begin to germinate. Usually the first sprouts begin to germinate after 3 weeks. Seedlings are kept under glass, in a shaded, damp place. Glass is removed in June. Seedlings are transplanted into pots next spring.
Cuttings - apical cuttings are cut from the end of June to the beginning of August, cutting off annual shoots along the base with a budding knife. It is not necessary to remove needles from their lower part. Planted cuttings in a warm shaded place. Rooting can take up to 2 years.
Layering - to obtain layering, flexible branches are chosen.
Styles and shapes:
Spruces can be formed into very filigree and natural bonsai. Thanks to this, many forms are possible. With the exception of the broom style, almost all basic shapes can be formed from spruce.
Spruce is quite difficult to grow in the bonsai style, as it is necessary to constantly do a lot of small work on care and shaping. Shaping a spruce trunk is easy enough because of its flexibility.
Some species of Common Spruce (Picea abies) - "Nidiformis", "Pumila glass" and Spruce (Picea glauca) - "Conica" are used as bonsai.
The soil:
Spruce is tolerant of nutrient-poor soil. Use the ratio of clay soil to peat.
Lighting:
Light-loving plant. Grown outdoors all year round.
Temperature:
Grown at outdoor temperature, but in winter should be protected from extreme cold.
Watering:
Water spruce regularly in spring and summer, do not let the soil dry out in winter.
Top dressing:
Feed the spruce during the entire period of active growth, from early spring to autumn.
Formation:
Unlike other conifers, spruce is pinched when the young shoots grow a little. Prune old branches in January and February, during this period resin production is minimal. When applying the wire, make sure that it does not grow into the bark.
Buying a plant:
You can take a young plant in nature, but rooting is very rare, so get spruce in nurseries or specialized stores.
Pests and diseases:
Spruce is susceptible to all ailments of coniferous plants. In case of yellowing of the needles, it is possible to be affected by spruce-fir hermes. Pests are usually located on the underside of the needles and resemble cotton wool, to destroy it, treat the spruce with an antio or rogor solution.
Branches are treated with colloidal gray or Bordeaux liquid from rust (yellowing of needles, orange spots, swelling on the branches). If the disease does not go away, it is advisable to prune the affected branches, as a last resort, uproot the plant to stop the spread of the disease.
