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To complete the overall image of your bonsai, it is important to choose a pot that will complement your bonsai plant and create a sense of harmony that enhances the basic form and characteristics of your tree. Although there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to choosing your pot, like every other aspect of bonsai gardening, there are however, a few guidelines bonsai enthusiasts must follow to help you choose the best pot for your bonsai plant.

More on Bonsai Gardening: Choosing the Perfect Pot for Your Bonsai Plant

When selecting plants from a bonsai nursery, there are five things you should always consider in determining if a pre-bonsai plant meets the requirements of a good tree. These are:

Stable Roots. A good bonsai nursery stock will have roots that give the impression of a strong and stable foundation. It should gently spread out in a radial pattern and entice you too look further to its trunk.

Stylish Trunk. The trunk should have sturdy, thick base that gradually narrows into a slim tip for a tree-like look. It should also have interesting curves that indicate a sense of movement, as well as an appealing branching pattern that is well-proportioned to the trunk’s structure to give it dimension and establish a basic tree form.

Fully Grown Tree-Like Shape. Your bonsai nursery stock must also have the appearance of a fully-grown tree. This includes a bark that gives the feeling of maturity and age, slightly exposed root structures, and parts that are perfectly scaled to the size of a mature tree.

More on Bonsai Nursery: Five Things You Should Always Check in Bonsai Nursery Stocks

One thing bonsai enthusiasts must be aware of is that bonsai care regimens must also be modified with the changing seasons. As seasons change, bonsai plants are subjected to varying situations, which might affect its ability to survive. This is especially true during the summer months where the high temperatures drastically alter your bonsai’s environment, creating problems for your plant.

To make sure your bonsai withstands these changes, there are three basic considerations you must make: the amount of water your plant receives, how much sunlight it gets, and the conditions of the place you keep it in.

First, since the high temperatures of summer can cause water to dry-out quickly, your plant will require more frequent watering. However, good bonsai care still requires that you check the plant’s soil and drainage conditions to avoid over-watering.

Second, when exposing your plant to sunlight, you should take care to limit its exposure to about 3-5 hours, making sure it’s keep in a shade during afternoons.

And third, you should make sure that your plant is kept in a cool place at night. So if you keep your plant indoors, ensure that the interior of your house is well-ventilated for bonsai care.

In the end, good bonsai care during summer requires keeping climate conditions controlled, and avoiding the extremes like heat, wind, and light – especially if you live in a place where summer months can be cruel for bonsai care.

Here is a good reminder to keep an eye on your ground cover like MOSS for example and make sure your bonsai does not suffer from a tightly packed surface. If not checked, moss can make it difficult for water to properly penetrate the surface and thus giving your bonsai adequate watering.

Make it a practice to check that the water is flowing out the bottom of the tray, also try using the technique of poking a pencil into the soil to allow for good airation (be very careful not to damage roots by doing it gently and if you feel resistance, move over a bit).

I cover this in detail in Mastering the Art of Bonsai HERE

Here is a new Bonsai Care Video for you on the subject of Pruning your bonsai. This is critical if you plan to learn the art of Bonsai because no matter what experience you have, sooner or later you will be faced with having to prune your Bonsai to keep it healthy and to shape it the way you want. After all this is where the true art of Bonsai is found and where you get to create your very own Bonsai masterpiece.

It’s not that hard with some practice and a few good tips that I will show you:-)

Enjoy!

Creating the acient look of your Bonsai is dramtically enhanced with the right ground cover

Adding moss or other living ground cover to your bonsai design can result in a beautiful complement to your tree. Or, it can be a distraction. The goal is to keep the tree at the center of the viewers attention. But that needn’t mean it must be the only thing the audience looks at every moment. You can add pictorial elements that provide balance and interest without overwhelming the scene.

One means of achieving that goal is to add sculptural items around the ground beneath the tree branches. Some are cheesy - miniature Buddha have been way over done. But some are elegant, tasteful and even beautiful in their own right.

Deadwood is a popular choice, and for good reason. Gnarled bits of wood add a natural looking element, while at the same time many are a delightful combination of art and artifice. Curved branches of the same species help lend a natural appearance in miniature - the goal of every bonsai design.

Take care when using deadwood, however, that it doesn’t become a source of potential disease or decay in the tree or other ground cover. Even tree branches long dead can break down, as they do in nature, and add to the soil. Most of the time that’s harmless. But, over-wet deadwood of certain types can support the growth of fungus and soil bacteria.

This example really accentuates the exposed roots and gives the proportion and scale a great balance

Growing Bonsai: - The art of matching your Bonsai to It’s Container

The Japanese have a word, ‘wa’, that roughly translates to ‘harmony’. It refers to relations between individuals, and man and nature. But it can also refer to the elements comprising a work of art. The art of bonsai uses this concept when coordinating the choice of species and style with the container in which the bonsai tree resides.

Color, material and above all shape and size are considered when matching the right pot to a given tree. Given the variety of tastes in the world, there are no agreed upon rigid rules, but tradition and a sense of symmetry heavily influence the choice. Each is selected to complement the other, giving balance to the overall design.

But there are practical factors to consider, as well, Growing Bonsai is about harmony.

The size of the pot must physically balance the weight of the moist soil and the tree. Bonsai are typically displayed on a stand or bench or shelf and, being small, are easily tipped over if the pot is too small and light, or the tree is out of balance.

There are four sizes of bonsai: miniature, small, medium, and average. Miniatures range up to only 2 inches (5 centimeters) in height. Started from seeds or cuttings, they mature in about five years. Small bonsai are from 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 centimeters) and take from five to ten years to train. Medium bonsai are from 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters), and average bonsai are up to 2 feet (0.6 meter); both sizes can be produced in as little as three years.

The bonsai are dwarfed by pruning roots and branches. Their shapes are controlled by wiring the trunk and branches. The wires must be removed before the bark becomes scarred.

Bonsai originated in China more than 1,000 years ago, but it has been pursued and developed by the Japanese. A bonsai industry of considerable size exists in certain sections of Japan. It has also become popular in many parts of the world.

The art of raising bonsai–dwarfed potted trees–has enabled the Japanese to admire nature in an indoor setting. Bonsai are able to bear fruit and to drop their leaves in season, thus reproducing nature in miniature. A skillful bonsai artist can prune, bend, and shape branches to suggest trees standing tall and upright in a field or bent and gnarled by age or weather. The beauty of a natural landscape is evoked in the viewer’s imagination.

How to grow Bonsai trees.

This new Bonsai guide is simply amazing, if you are a beginner to advanced it will give you the tools to grow stunning bonsai

If you are interested in taking care of your Bonsai Tree/s with ease…then this is going to be the most exciting message you ever read. Heres why. . .

There is now an amazing new e-book called, ‘Bonsai Tree Care Secrets’. It covers nearly everything you need to know about Bonsai Tree Care.