Japanese decorative tree. Bonsai: types of trees with photos and descriptions, care and cultivation. Creating cracks and scars

Bonsai cannot be called just indoor or garden plants. These are objects of art, living sculptures, the embodiment of an entire philosophy, which are not measured by the same standards as ordinary plants and even the rarest collectible crops. The approach to growing bonsai should also be special. After all, these plants require completely non-standard handling. They not only embody philosophy, but also require dedication and peace from their owners. Caring for bonsai is not easy, but it is a very special pleasure.

Bonsai. © Claire Vannette

Bonsai plants are not for everyone. They open up a new philosophy to their owners and reveal the essence of Eastern worldviews, and most importantly, they force them to take a fresh look at communication with living nature and the relationship between man and plants. You don’t just need to decide to purchase a bonsai, but weigh all the pros and cons. After all, they are not suitable for those gardeners who often travel or like simple care. Bonsai needs to be practiced constantly, sometimes for proper care have to look creativity, and some procedures are very specific. With such an indoor pet you will have to give up haste and fuss. And when they say that for bonsai you need to grow spiritually yourself, they are not exaggerating at all. But if you were given even a small bonsai or you, succumbing to a temporary impulse, became its owner almost by accident, most likely the plants will open up a completely new world for you and make you love yourself with all your heart and forever.

Bonsai is the art of not only creating a small copy of nature, but also applying age-old traditions special formation trees and bushes, but also the special art of caring for plants. It is simply impossible to treat bonsai the same way as any other indoor plant. You will not only not achieve success, but you will also nullify many years of work with your traditional approach to it. Bonsai differ from each other in the complexity of the care required and actually need individual approach no less than any other indoor culture. But personalization of care is the only thing that growing bonsai has in common with ordinary indoor floriculture.

The most unpretentious and easiest to grow are bonsai from olive trees and testudinary. Difficult care when it is possible to grow plants in ordinary living rooms tea tree and elms will need it. The remaining plants - carmona, euonymus, podocarp, ficus, ligustrum, etc. - require an obligatory place in the fresh air in the warm season.

When purchasing a bonsai, be prepared for the fact that you will have a lot to learn. Most care procedures require special skills, training, and listening to your inner voice. With bonsai you need to trust your intuition - and constantly study the world of this amazing art. If you want to succeed, educate yourself more often, attend master classes, and don’t hesitate to ask experts.

Comfortable conditions and the need for fresh air

We can only speak conditionally about certain conditions that are comfortable for all bonsai. After all, each type of tree and shrub used to create bonsai partially retains its individual preferences. The most comfortable temperature for these living works of art is considered to be an average, restrained temperature of 18 to 25 degrees Celsius during the active growth phase. Almost all bonsai require cooler conditions in winter. If you keep the usual room temperatures and do not lower their value by at least 2-3 degrees, reducing the light will lead to problems with their health. The minimum temperature is limited to 10 degrees for conifers and 12-14 degrees for other types of bonsai.

Lighting for these plants is selected purely individually. Most bonsai thrive in indirect, bright light, but the ability to grow in full sun or partial shade is worth checking for each plant individually. In winter, bonsai of any kind will not refuse bright lighting, and if you compensate for seasonal conditions, you can achieve amazing results.

Among bonsai there are many varieties that are sold mainly as purely indoor plants. But still, most of these living pieces of art prefer fresh air and are much less comfortable indoors. In the warm season, noble and expensive plants will only respond with gratitude to being placed on a balcony, terrace or in a recreation area - where they can “breathe” to their heart’s content. When buying a bonsai, be sure to check whether the plant is accustomed to this summer mode and how it relates to ventilation and drafts. But for most bonsai, you still need to select protected places and more stable conditions.

Watering and air humidity

The vast majority of trees used to produce bonsai are sensitive to air humidity. It will be very difficult to maintain the attractiveness of the shapes and greenery of these plants without measures to increase air humidity. Installing special humidifiers is an ideal option, but you can increase air humidity by placing bowls with water and spraying (tolerance to the latter should be checked for each type of plant separately).

Watering for bonsai requires much more effort than for ordinary plants. Flat shape containers determines the schedule of more frequent procedures. General requirements Bonsai plants do not have to water and their frequency, but it is important to never forget about one rule: bonsai roots should not be allowed to dry out under any circumstances. Drought is detrimental to these valuable plants. But acidification of the soil is also unacceptable. Consistent light to medium humidity is the condition in which most bonsai will thrive. During the cold season, watering is reduced (for deciduous bonsai it is minimal, and for evergreen bonsai the humidity of the substrate is halved), still preventing the substrate from completely drying out.

Bonsai is most often watered using the classic “top” method. But there is one “but”: such plants prefer watering with a sprinkler attachment. It is necessary to resort to water dispersion so that the water is distributed more evenly over a wide container. Alternative way watering - immersing a container with a larger container of water to saturate the substrate, followed by complete drainage of “free” water.

Top dressing for bonsai

The feeding regime must be clarified when purchasing a plant. The classic scheme is the application of fertilizers only during the active growing season with a frequency of 1 time every 2 weeks. In mid-summer, you can make a “pass” to stop the growth of shoots and improve lignification. Fertilizing is not stopped in winter (only for evergreen bonsai), but fertilizers are applied once every 6 weeks and the usual dosage is halved.

Special fertilizers are selected for bonsai (they are produced both by companies specialized in this art and by the best famous manufacturers fertilizers with a wide range of preparations).

Bonsai pruning and shaping

If for the majority indoor plants Regular pruning and shaping are rarely considered a necessary condition cultivation, then pruning is vital for bonsai an important condition maintaining attractiveness. In order for a living work of art to remain as such, it is necessary to periodically shorten the branches, remove unnecessary shoots, and carry out pinching and other shaping. Each type of bonsai has different pruning requirements, but in general, pruning strategy is directly related to growth rate. Slow-growing plants are carefully cleaned once or twice a year to keep them in shape. Fast-growing ones need to be controlled and shaped much more often, every few weeks, from spring to autumn.

The rules for pruning bonsai are very simple. In such plants, as a rule, they try to leave only up to 6 pairs of leaves on each shoot, mercilessly removing all excess. The upper part of the bonsai is always pruned more strongly, not forgetting, like any other indoor plant, to remove all damaged, dry, growing downward or inward, excessively elongated branches. For bonsai, it is important to promptly thin out leaves that are growing too densely. But simply doing pruning works only in words. Miniature plants require such a special approach and are so difficult to trim that they require considerable skill and imagination. And it’s much easier to make mistakes than to achieve success. For the first time, it is better to contact a specialist and attend a master class, find out all the necessary information in specialized centers. Only after gaining skills and mastering the technique, decide to start pruning.

Forming shoots and trunks, giving them “artificial” curvatures and directions is a complex and extraordinary task. For bonsai, formation is carried out using wire (use anodized copper or aluminum, always thick wire). With its help, they fix the turns of the trunk or branches, give them shape, direction and angles. Formation is carried out by winding the wire from bottom to top, literally rewinding the trunk and branches with it, and then directing their growth. But finding the balance between sufficient compression and non-injury is very difficult. And the wire must be removed in a timely manner: after the plant “goes” in the given direction, but not before the film begins to grow into the bark.

When working with bonsai, you need to use disinfected sharp tools. To treat wounds, it is advisable to purchase special wound balm. Kit special tools, suitable for each type of pruning and specific work with bonsai, can now be found in flower shops and on specialized resources. Miniature loppers and scissors of various shapes, brushes and miniature tweezers, forks and tweezers help to perform almost jewelry work. If special tools are not available, try using new and disinfected manicure tools.

On sale you can also find special means for artificial aging, decoration, changing the color of bark, etc. With their help, they enhance the attractiveness of the plant and achieve greater expressiveness.

Bonsai feeding. © Jonas Dupuich

Transplantation, containers and substrate

Bonsai are grown in special flat bowls, the depth of which is many times less than the width. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the fact that the volume of the container must exceed the volume of the roots, and most often there must be at least one hole for water drainage. There is not very much soil in such a bowl, especially since a large percentage free space the container is occupied by drainage and mulch. And accordingly, bonsai have to be replanted much more often than we would like - once every 2-3 years.

Bonsai, like all indoor trees and shrubs, are best replanted at the beginning of the active growth stage - in the spring. But there is individual species plants, for example, large-leaved podocarp, which prefers to be replanted not in spring, but in autumn. Please check all information carefully before purchasing.

The correct choice of substrate is critical for these plants. For bonsai, a special purchased substrate with a permeable structure and a high content of clay and sand is used. It is difficult to independently check the water permeability and air conductivity of the soil, so we recommend using special soil for bonsai.

Just as the above-ground part of the plant was formed in a special way, its rhizome is also formed in an absolutely amazing way, which is restrained and cut off. When transplanting, the roots are usually shortened to prevent overgrowth and free up space in a small container. Rhizome pruning optimizes absorption nutrients and thickens the crown. A layer of coarse drainage must be placed at the bottom of the container. The substrate is completely replaced with new and fresh, and the plant is carefully strengthened by lightly pressing into the soil and using stones or pebbles for stabilization if necessary.

Bonsai is almost never grown with bare soil. For these plants, the method of decorative mulching is actively used: the substrate is covered with pebbles, stone chips, sphagnum or other decorative materials. This coating is selected to achieve the greatest decorative effect and expressiveness.

Prevention is indispensable

A healthy bonsai, with an ideal shape, capable of blooming or delighting with luxurious leaves, as we see it in stores and bring home, needs constant prevention. It is much easier to prevent diseases and the spread of pests than to fight them in these areas. special plants. Reduces the risk of bonsai damage by using only disinfected tools, maintaining comfortable temperatures and lighting and air humidity control. Watering and fertilizing should be neither excessive nor scanty, and plants that prefer fresh air should receive it as much as possible. But the main key to success is constant inspections. You need to monitor leaves and branches, check them for signs of unwanted problems, promptly remove damaged or diseased leaves and shoots, and check the condition of the roots.

Bonsai is the art of growing small copies of nature's creations of plant origin, which first conquered Japan and then the whole world. A skillful likeness of a selected representative of the flora is formed with one’s own hand, so this requires a lot of patience, time and knowledge. In this article we will tell you how to grow a bonsai tree at home and what care it requires.

Choosing a tree for bonsai

To grow without much hassle beautiful tree bonsai at home, it is best to choose for this one of the plants listed below, about which reviews from gardeners are extremely positive. The photos will help you see what such a green pet will look like.

• Indoor types of citrus fruits: lemon, ;

• Decorative varieties of apple trees;
• Barberry;
• Hawthorn;
• Maple.

These are just some of the most popular options. Growing bonsai can be done from a variety of plants that are found everywhere: in parks, forests, gardens. You can also purchase seedlings in nurseries. The price will depend on the type of tree chosen and its height.

Growing Bonsai from Seeds

There are two types of shrub and tree seeds suitable for exotic bonsai. One type of crop can be immediately used for germination, while the other part undergoes a period of hibernation, during which the sprout must wait out the cold season. Stratification at home will serve as an imitation of winter.

• For a period of 3-5 months, the seeds of the bonsai tree are placed in sphagnum moss or wet sand, then the container is put in the refrigerator. Positive temperature regime and a moist environment will help the seed prepare to grow. When it is placed in a warm place, the sprout will quickly awaken;
• You can grow bonsai from seeds from spring until the very beginning of the autumn season. For seedlings that grew at the end of summer, it is necessary to use lighting, which is indispensable in the autumn-winter period;
• To successfully germinate seedlings and make their first months of life easier, you need to take peat tablets, soaked and absorbed moisture, or a light sand-peat substrate. Until the sprouts appear, the container is kept under film in the dark. The air temperature depends on the type of tree being grown;
• The greenhouse must be ventilated to prevent rot and condensation. When the first shoots appear, presence in the room is necessary fresh air, then the seedlings are transferred to the light. If necessary, they are fertilized and watered using a complex composition.

The bonsai plant is replanted when it reaches 10-12 cm in height. In this case, the main root is shortened by 1/3 so that the green pet stops its vertical growth. The future trunk is immediately formed using copper wire.

Growing bonsai from cuttings

You can grow a bonsai with your own hands from cuttings. This method allows for faster growth times compared to previous version for almost a year. First you need to collect suitable cuttings. It is better to do this in the spring.

• Choose semi-woody or green shoots 5-10 cm in length and about 5 mm in diameter;
• Cuttings must be planted in sterile soil, additionally treated with hormonal powder (if possible).

A short master class on planting cuttings:

• Fill the bottom layer of a deep pot with a diameter of 15 cm about a quarter with a mixture of akadama and fine gravel in equal proportions;
• We fill the remaining space of the container with a soil mixture suitable for the selected plant;
• We remove all the branches at the bottom of the cutting, cut thick branches obliquely;
• If desired, we treat the cuttings with a special hormonal powder, which can be bought in plant stores;

• We insert the seedlings into the soil, leaving sufficient gap between them;
• Carefully water the soil;
• We remove the pot out of reach of direct sunlight so that young bonsai leaves do not get burned;
• Lightly moisten the soil, but do not flood it;
• It will take several weeks until germination occurs. It will be possible to plant the shoots in a year, and after another couple of years it will be possible to begin forming the bonsai crown.

How to choose soil and pot for a bonsai tree

It is advisable to plant home bonsai in a shallow and small container so that it does not grow to enormous sizes. At the same time, it is necessary to form and trim some of the roots.

The bonsai pot is chosen very carefully. It is taken into account that from year to year the plant will become heavier and may become unstable, especially if it has a cascading, inclined or irregular shape. Consequently, for the “green friend”, which ranges in size from a few centimeters to a meter, ceramic bowls, containers or pots are made, usually massive, of different shapes and styles. Their bottom should have several drainage holes used for exit excess moisture and for fastening the future tree.

Scalding with boiling water or a hot solution of potassium permanganate is very suitable for treating the pot. This will protect your Japanese bonsai from root fungus.

The soil helps the tree retain moisture and provides nutrition, and thanks to the soil, the roots of the plant are fixed in small pot. Therefore, in order to grow miniature copies of maples, oaks, lemons, lindens, etc., they resort to using a special substrate. This mixture, which is based on certain types of clay, is called akadama in Japan.

The granular substance is “flavored” with sand and fertile soil for good looseness and nutritional value:

• To grow flowering crops, take three parts of sand, seven parts of soil with turf and part of highly nutritious humus, which are mixed together;
• Deciduous bonsai trees grow well thanks to a substrate with three parts of washed coarse sand and seven parts turf land;
• Conifers love loose soil, consisting of two parts washed sand and three parts turf soil.

Before planting a bonsai, the soil must be sorted out and all excess that can damage the root system must be removed. The substrate is also sterilized and sifted, and drainage is made at the bottom of the container.

Bonsai crown formation

To give a miniature tree a beautiful fancy shape, copper wire is usually used.

• First, all the branches from the lower part of the trunk and all the “dry wood” are removed from the plant. Next, select three main branches on the crown, which visually form a triangle with equal sides, and remove all remaining branches between them. You can also leave 2 or 4 branches - it all depends on your desire;
• To bend the trunk, remove the top soil layer from the roots and carefully tilt the trunk to the required angle. One end soft wire dig in and fix in the ground at the trunk base from the inside of the bend. The trunk must be tightly but carefully wrapped with wire to the base of the remaining branches, so as not to damage or tear off the bark;

• You can also create bends in bonsai branches using thin wire braided so as not to touch delicate plant tissues;
• It is necessary to remove the wire from the trunk of a formed tree after a couple of years, otherwise it may return to its original state. The branches can be released after six months;
• To maintain the aesthetic appearance of your bonsai, do not forget to regularly trim long shoots that have grown beyond the crown perimeter and old foliage to allow new young leaves to grow.

Video: Bonsai pruning and crown formation

How to care for a tree at home

Your main goal is to successfully water the miniature crop. After all, a shallow pot filled with roots and a small volume of soil create certain difficulties. Best fit drip irrigation or irrigation, which will allow you to moisten the substrate under the plant in doses, without blurring.

Only settled, melted or soft water is suitable for irrigation. IN growing season green pets require a lot of moisture, and in the fall watering is reduced and becomes less frequent.

Miniature plants respond well to algae-based mineral fertilizing, which is carried out every 2-3 weeks. You need to care for trees carefully, do not leave them without “food”, but most importantly, do not “overfeed”:

• In the spring season, with maximum growth, it is necessary to add 2 times more nitrogen to the fertilizer than phosphorus and potassium;
• In summer, the same proportions are used, but the concentration is reduced by 1/2;
• At the end of August, especially for deciduous crops, the content of phosphorus and potassium is increased by 2 times, and nitrogen is reduced;
• Fruiting and flowering shrubs, and trees require more potassium, which goes into the formation of ovaries and buds.

In winter, the tree requires the following care:

• In mild climates, plants are kept outdoors or on unheated terraces;
• In a small pot, the roots may be the first to suffer, so they are well covered and the substrate is dried a little;
• In spring, the bonsai flower awakens. Now it again needs to be watered, fed, and the crown and roots formed.

The video below will help you see the process of growing miniature plants more clearly. If you don’t want to wait a long time, you can buy an already formed tree. But its cost will be several thousand rubles. If you do not have the time and opportunity to carefully care for such a green pet, then make one, which, in terms of its aesthetic properties, will be no worse than a living one.

Video: How to care for a bonsai tree

One day, the Chinese emperor ordered the creation of a miniature empire for his palace, with mountains, plains, meadows, forests and rivers, the sight of which would delight his heart and eyes. To fulfill the ruler's command, gardeners created tiny living trees, miniature analogues of the growing giants.

The art of bonsai (translated from Japanese as “a plant grown in a tray”) is the process of growing in a small shallow container an exact replica of a tall tree grown in natural conditions, but reduced to miniature size.

The birthplace of this fascinating art form is China, where it originated about two thousand years ago, and six centuries later, together with the Buddhists, it ended up in Japan, where it received its development: the Japanese not only improved the methods of growing graceful trees, but also systematized them (Japanese bonsai from Chinese is distinguished by great grace).

If we talk about Japanese art, it is necessary to take into account that it is not just a process of growing a dwarf tree, but represents a whole philosophy, since the person doing this must have the appropriate attitude: to be wise, benevolent, delicate and have a sense of justice.

Since the art of bonsai became extremely popular in the twentieth century, this approach to growing miniature trees by Europeans was somewhat simplified: for those who want to have such a miracle, it is enough to take the work seriously, with love and show maximum attention to the plant. In this case, miniature trees are quite capable of living for more than a hundred years, uniting several generations of a family with their presence.

Appearance

Bonsai of pine and other plants should completely resemble a tree grown in natural conditions and even through the leaves have clearly visible branches and a strong trunk with clearly visible roots. Home bonsai should be planted in a shallow vessel of a simple shape with a discreet color.

Trees grown using this method are usually small: the most big plant has a height of 120 centimeters, the small one does not exceed five. In this regard, the following classification of plants is distinguished:

• Large – height from 60 to 120 cm;
• Medium – from 30 to 60 cm;
• Small – from 15 to 30 cm;
• Miniature – from 5 to 15 cm;
• Tiny - up to 5 cm.

The most popular are indoor bonsai from five to thirty centimeters: they are so beautiful, fragile and graceful that causing involuntary awe, they create the impression that they belong to an amazing magical land of miniature things.

Dwarf trees in the house

Before creating a bonsai at home, you need to keep in mind that experts do not recommend forcibly turning large and medium-sized plants into dwarf ones.

In order to grow a bonsai at home, it is advisable to either buy an adult tree of the required size, or grow it using seeds.

Experts recommend that people interested in how to grow bonsai purchase seeds of plants with small foliage or needles. For example, bonsai of pine, dwarf bamboo, cypress, buckthorn. Ficus bonsai Benjamin is also good - evergreen shrub(despite the fact that this plant does not belong to traditional Japanese art, it is very popular in the world due to its ease of care and rapid growth).

Before you grow a bonsai with your own hands, you need to take into account that this is not an easy task and you will have to constantly look after the tree: in order to get a full-fledged plant, it will take at least four years (this is exactly how long it will take for the seeds to germinate and a strong trunk to form).

You should also keep in mind that indoor bonsai are trees, therefore, like other plants of this species, they need fresh air and sufficient light. For example, pine bonsai can grow both indoors and outdoors, but Japanese black pine prefers to grow only outdoors, so in winter you need to place the plant in the most cold room and monitor the lighting.

Features of cultivation

Create dwarf trees from tropical and local plants. Before making a bonsai, you need to consider the following points:

• What kind of soil does the tree grow on?
• How light-loving it is;
• Where it prefers to grow - in the shade or in the light, in wet or dry areas.

Having selected suitable soil and looked at the place where the bonsai you created with your own hands will be located, you need to decide which method to grow the tree: by cuttings or using seeds.

A person interested in how to grow bonsai should take into account that growing bonsai from seed is the longest process. It is impossible to create a bonsai of pine, cherry, oak and other trees that do not take cuttings well any other way: only with the help of seeds.

Seeds of plants that grow in temperate latitudes must be cold processed. To do this, they must first be placed in a container with moistened sand and placed in the refrigerator. At the same time, there is no such hassle with seeds of plants from subtropical and tropical latitudes, but the day before sowing they need to be soaked in slightly warm water.

The soil in which the seeds should be planted must be loose and well-permeable to air (an excellent soil for germinating seeds is obtained by mixing peat with sand). In order for the seeds to germinate, the soil must be moist and the air temperature must not be lower than 25 degrees.

But after the sprouts appear, the situation changes dramatically: the air temperature should be no higher than eighteen degrees. At the same time, young shoots need moderate moisture and a lot of light, otherwise they will become weak and susceptible to disease. After three to four weeks, they are placed in separate vessels (it should be borne in mind that in large containers the plant may die, since its small root system cannot cope with the abundance of moisture).

As for propagation by cuttings, this is more quick way. It must be borne in mind that cuttings of many trees do not take root well, and therefore, in order for everything to work out, optimal conditions must be constantly maintained: combine high air humidity with low soil moisture.

The age of the trees from which cuttings will be taken should be from 5 to 10 years, and if the plant is considered difficult to root, then younger (from 2 to 3 years). What time of year to take cuttings largely depends on the latitude where the tree grows: for deciduous plants in temperate latitudes it is May and July, but for coniferous trees this period begins either in early spring before the buds begin to swell, or at the end of summer, when active growth ends.

To get a cutting, you need to take the middle or upper part of a shoot up to 20 cm long, which has at least two nodes. A cut is made two centimeters from the lower shoot, after which the cutting is inserted into the ground so that its lower node is completely immersed in the ground: this is where the root system will be located.

As with seeds, the substrate must be porous to allow air and water to pass through well. The sprout needs to be sprayed periodically or placed in sufficient damp place(the planted cuttings can be placed under glass jar or cover with plastic). The air temperature should not be lower than twenty-four degrees, and the place where the cutting will be located should be well lit and ventilated.

Tree shape

When forming a composition, you need to remember that everything should look natural, and all components should be combined with each other. For example, you cannot plant flowering and fruit trees, grass and shrubs, or shrubs and trees. Also, the composition should not contain a lot of greenery or color.

One of the most difficult tasks is to create a tree of the intended shape, for which methods such as pruning, tying, trimming branches and other methods are used (the plant should not have more than two or three branches). Among the variety of forms, the main types of bonsai are distinguished:

• Straight - the tree has a straight, slightly thickened trunk at the bottom;
• Sloping - grows at an angle;
• Multi-trunked - a tree lies on the ground, and several trunks grow from it;
• Cascading - the top of the tree is inclined below the soil boundary.

Necessary care

While the plant is just forming, it should be taken into account that it needs to be watered very often, but not flooded, give fertilizers in limited quantities, and replant once a year, in the spring, removing excess roots. As for the soil in which the tree will be planted, it is advisable to make it yourself by mixing humus, clay and fine-grained gravel or coarse sand (soil sold in stores is not very suitable).

When caring for miniature trees, you need to take into account that it is easier to grow them in the fresh air, since room air too dry for him. If you keep the plant on the balcony or in the garden, it is quite easy to care for it (the only thing is that in the summer it needs to be protected from direct hit sunlight, and in winter hide from precipitation and wind). But indoor bonsai require careful care, so they are usually short-lived.

There are trees created specifically for apartments, and therefore, having greater endurance, they require less care. But they still need to be kept away from heating devices: they need high air humidity. Also, when caring for these plants, it is necessary to take into account that they are afraid of drafts.

In any case, both miniature trees created for the street and for the room are among the most demanding indoor plants, and therefore they are not easy to care for: improper care either kill the tree or turn it into an ordinary plant that does not attract attention.

Considering that bonsai is mainly a plant of tropical and subtropical latitudes, the temperate climate is not suitable for it, therefore, it must be created independently.

When growing a tropical tree, you must remember that since the days are shorter in temperate latitudes, additional lighting needs to be created for the plant (this issue is especially relevant in winter). Considering that each tree needs a different amount of light, it is advisable to check with specialists or on the Internet on special thematic forums about how to care for your plant (exactly how much light it needs and where exactly to place it).

Subtropical trees, such as rosemary, pomegranate, olive, are kept in a room in winter, the temperature in which ranges from 5 to 15 ° C, and in summer they are taken out into the fresh air. But tropical trees are more difficult to care for: they do not like the cold, so they are kept indoors, the temperature of which ranges from 18 to 25 ° C, and even in summer they are not recommended to be placed on window sills made of stone. It should be remembered that the higher the atmospheric temperature, the more the tree needs light, water and nutrients.

Since the small tree is in extreme need of moisture, it needs to be provided with it. To do this, you need to place the pot with the plant in a flat vessel filled with water, at the bottom of which there are pre-laid pebbles or a lattice. The water should be at the same level all the time, and the tree itself should be regularly sprayed with water.

As for watering, you need to take into account that the soil should be constantly moist (subtropical plants are watered less often). Concerning tropical plants, then they do not tolerate cold water, therefore it is advisable to use either melted or settled water.

Bonsai is the name small tree, having an unusual shape of trunk and crown. These trees originated in ancient China, and then in Japan they became not just plants, but turned into works of art. IN modern world The word “bonsai” refers not only to trees, but also to the methods of growing them.

The goal of gardeners who grow bonsai at home is to be able to reproduce the creation of nature. These small replicas of trees follow all natural laws and have all realistic proportions. deciduous tree, for example, blooms, loses foliage and is covered with it again, and so on.

But it must be remembered that forming a tree, growing and caring for it is a labor-intensive task that takes a lot of time and requires certain knowledge and patience.

People who have never cared for bonsai trees think that special seeds are needed to grow them, but this is not the case.

Actually everything miniature plants grow from ordinary seeds, but humanity has come up with ways to hold back the growth and change the shape of trees, and uses them successfully.

Small trees have different shapes and vary in placement in pots:

In addition to trees, the pots contain figurines and small houses. The soil is often hidden under a layer of pebbles or green moss.

Tree formation

To grow the right bonsai, you must have certain skills and knowledge.

For planting, you can use seeds, cuttings or layering of trees. To stop growth, the same techniques are used as in wildlife: severe frosts, winds and droughts.

In small trees, the roots are pruned, the branches are also pruned, twisted, and additionally tied with wire. All leaves, buds and shoots must be removed.

The trunks are bent or pulled back, depending on the chosen shape.

Growth can be slowed down in the following ways:

• squeezing tree roots;
• selection of small pots by size;
• use of rough soil, without microelements;
• exclusion of substances necessary for growth;
• influence of strong wind;
• influence of strong heating;
• the influence of strong and sharp frosts.

Trees also require rules regarding the shape chosen for the tree. To create the desired appearance, they combine naturalness and the necessary form. Trees should not exceed 30 centimeters in height.

Growing plants from a nursery

When purchasing a young tree from a nursery, you can form a bonsai fairly quickly. After all, nurseries sell plants that long time grown in a container, due to which they already have developed roots.

The plant is transplanted from the container into prepared bonsai soil, after cutting off the roots. Plant purchase and replanting must be done in early spring, before the growth period.

It is also necessary to trim the roots correctly and not damage them when digging. The plant is transported by placing the roots in a bag with moss, and at home it is planted in containers. big size, and placed in a shady place, protected from drafts.

About 3 years will pass before the tree can be transplanted into a small pot. And in 5-10 years it will be possible to get a fully formed bonsai.

Trees grown in nature require a long time to take root. Therefore, sometimes preparations for replanting begin several years in advance, gradually cutting off the roots.

This option is well suited for trees from a personal garden, which you can monitor and gradually remove the length of the roots. Trees from the garden are also first planted in a container, and after three years they are transplanted into a pot.

Rough formation can begin in the first years, then after 50 years you will get a bonsai that looks powerful and impressive.

It’s quite easy to form a bonsai from an already almost grown tree and replant it correctly. difficult task, and not suitable for beginners.

Bonsai from seeds

The method of growing from seeds is quite time-consuming. It takes about 15 years to obtain a full-fledged bonsai. At this age it is easier to buy seedlings in a nursery.

But there are plant species whose shape can only be changed if you start the changes from the beginning, such as elms. And so they plant seeds, grow sprouts and begin the formation of more sprouts from the first year.

When the tree is fully formed, it will be very noticeable that it was formed from the very beginning.

The roots of such trees diverge in the shape of a star, and the trunks are formed smooth and beautiful. The bonsai turns out harmonious and proportional.

Sown trees at the stage of thin sprouts can be bent in any direction and given any desired shape.

Seeds can be bought in stores or collected yourself in parks or botanical gardens. Some seeds can be sown immediately, such as oaks, spruces, pines, and some need to be stored in a cool place until spring, such as juniper, hornbeam and others.

Before planting, all seeds are special treatment, to prevent diseases. Then they are soaked for several days and only then planted in prepared soil in containers or peat cups. After planting, the soil is compacted and watered abundantly.

Seedlings are grown following standard care standards: regular watering, ventilation, diffuse light and fertilizers. When the seedling reaches 10 centimeters in height, it is transplanted and first molded.

Growing bonsai from seeds is a labor-intensive and difficult task, but the result will be excellent.

Bonsai from cuttings

Compared to the seed method, this method will speed up the formation of bonsai by a year. Cuttings must be taken from a healthy tree shoot. They are cut and rooted in the ground or in wet sand.

The final size of a bonsai is clear already at the beginning of the formation of a miniature tree. The main skeletal branches and trunk are usually already present and further growth will be limited.

In order to achieve perfect size You need to pay attention to the size of the leaves. If the species has small leaves, then the bonsai can be formed of any size. And if the castings have large or long needles, then it is necessary to set the size of the tree based on the proportions.

Features of growing bonsai

In order to form a certain form branches and trunk, you cannot do without wire. It can be applied to the branches or trunk, and this technique is quite labor-intensive and complex.

All branches and shoots are secured with wire. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the wire does not grow into the tree bark. It is most often applied in spring or winter, simultaneously with annual pruning.

To stabilize the desired shape branches or shoots usually take about 3 weeks. After this, the wire is removed with wire cutters.

The wire usually used is aluminum, coated with copper. And with its help they change the direction of branches, change growth, and form trunks.

Bonsai tree care

With constant restrictions on growth, crown formation, growth in a limited space, the life of a tree changes dramatically. Its care also changes.

The most important thing to remember when growing miniature trees is that they need to be protected from drafts and the pot should be placed away from radiators central heating. Avoid direct sunlight best.

Landing. For proper cultivation For bonsai, choose a pot with drainage holes. An additional mesh is placed at the bottom of the pot to prevent soil from being washed out.

Before planting, the roots of the plant are trimmed. The tree is planted in a pot, fixing large roots and filling all the gaps with soil. Then the soil around the trunk is compacted and watered. The container with the plant is quarantined for 10 days in a shaded place.

Watering. For irrigation use soft water, settled or melted. During the period of active growth, plants need to be watered frequently, and in winter watering is reduced.

You can water your bonsai using a special watering can or using the submersible method. In the modern world, drip irrigation or irrigation is widely used.

Feeding. They are carried out approximately once every two weeks, and different fertilizers are used for each type of tree or shrub. It is very important to avoid overfeeding. Therefore, a specific fertilizer application schedule is usually used.

Wintering

In winter, it is necessary to provide a period of rest for coniferous and deciduous trees. It is better to put them outside or in an unheated room.

In this case, the root system must be protected with additional means. When spring comes, the plants awaken, and the watering and fertilizing regime is restored.

Transfer

Transplantation is performed annually at the end of winter. When transplanting, the soil is removed from the roots, washed and trimmed. The pot must be larger than the previous one. When transplanting, the roots are placed horizontally, sprinkled with soil and watered.

Crown formation. To ensure a beautiful tree crown formation, annual pruning is necessary. At the same time, it is useful in sanitary terms and rejuvenation. The crown is usually formed conical.

The first pruning is performed immediately after planting. And then every year after wintering they repeat. With the help of pruning, you can set the direction for bonsai growth and redistribute energy from strong shoots to weak ones.

Bonsai formation methods

Sometimes they carry out artificial aging trees to young tree looked like it had lived. One such method is to remove the bark from the trunk.

To correct the shape of the tree, you can use the air layering method. It is especially effective if the bonsai grows with a trunk that is too long.

For this method, in the spring, an incision is made on the tree trunk and the bark is removed. This place is soaked in growth stimulants and covered.

In the fall, the incision is opened, roots should form there. Then part of the trunk is cut off below the roots. And planted as a separate plant.

Thus, you can grow a beautiful and spectacular bonsai tree at home. But this will require some effort.

According to legend, the Chinese emperor decided to observe his country with his own eyes, for which the masters of the Celestial Empire had to create tiny copies of houses, people and, of course, trees. Bonsai, almost fifteen centuries ago, first conquered Japan, and today this amazing art has conquered the whole world.

Like many centuries ago, the goal of a gardener passionate about bonsai is to reproduce the creations of nature itself. Small copies of oaks, maples, pines, sakura or ficus trees have realistic proportions, they live according to nature’s routine. If a deciduous tree is grown in a pot, it blooms, becomes covered with leaves and goes into winter dormancy.

Because the craftsmanship of a real tree is shaped by hand, growing and caring for a bonsai is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and requires knowledge, patience, and an understanding of your green pet's needs.

And yet, more and more newcomers are enthusiastically taking on difficult but very exciting work. How to grow a bonsai at home and care for a small copy of a real tree?

How to grow bonsai at home: common methods

If a gardener is just beginning to become interested in bonsai, the easiest way is to purchase a plant that has already been formed, for example from a ficus or citrus tree. It will help you master all the care techniques from regular watering to pruning and adjusting the shape of the trunk and branches. The accumulated experience will allow you to move on to more complex tasks.

There are several ways to grow bonsai at home:

• through sowing the seeds of the crop you like and the subsequent “education” of the seedling;
• using a rooted cutting;
• forming a seedling from a nursery or wild nature;
• transferring an already adult cultivated or wild specimen into a pot and correcting it.

The fastest of the listed methods is the formation of the crown and root system of a one- or two-year-old seedling. Such a plant already has developed roots, while its above-ground part gives room for imagination and can be modified according to the gardener’s plans.

Enthusiasts interested in how to grow bonsai from seeds should know that this path is the longest, but also rewarding. Here, a person has control over the plant literally from the moment the seed is pecked, and changing the shape of the shoots and roots is easier because of their flexibility.

It is not necessary to choose an exotic type of tree or shrub. The main thing is that the plant has small leaves and a small annual growth, otherwise it will be much more difficult to “tame” the future bonsai tree.

Choosing the right tree for bonsai

What types of plants are suitable for bonsai, Japanese style tree? To quickly get an attractive tree, you can pay attention to:

The choice of trees suitable for bonsai is incredibly large, and many of them are indigenous to Russia and are found in gardens, parks, city squares and forests. Magnificent compositions are obtained from serviceberry, hawthorn, acacia and birch, elderberry and linden, euonymus and oak.

Before growing a bonsai, based on the type of plant, its future height and style are determined.

How to grow bonsai from seeds?

Seeds of trees and shrubs suitable for bonsai are divided into two types. Some crops are immediately ready for germination, but the evolutionary “program” of many species includes a period of hibernation, when the sprout waits out the cold season. At home, stratification will help imitate winter.

Tree seeds for Japanese bonsai are placed in damp sand or sphagnum moss for 3–5 months, after which the container is placed in the refrigerator. At a slightly positive temperature in a humid environment, the seed prepares for growth. When it is transferred to warmth, the sprout quickly awakens. For evergreen species and plants with seeds that have a particularly durable shell, heat or temperature contrast is used to awaken.

Sowing of seeds is carried out from spring to early autumn. Seedlings obtained in the second half of summer already need lighting, which is simply irreplaceable in autumn and winter.

For germination and the first months of seedling life, a light sand-peat substrate or peat tablets that have been soaked and absorbed moisture are used. Until a sprout appears on the surface, the container should be kept in the dark under the film. The air temperature is selected depending on the bonsai tree being grown.

To avoid the formation of condensation and rot, the greenhouse is ventilated. When seedlings appear, a small amount of fresh air is provided inside and the seedlings are transferred to light. Seedlings are watered and fertilized as needed. complex compositions. When the plant reaches a height of 10–12 cm, it is replanted.

At this stage, the main root is shortened by a third to slow down the vertical growth of the tree. They immediately begin to form the future trunk, for which they use copper wire.

Choosing a pot and soil for bonsai

It is not for nothing that the bonsai tree is called tray-grown. To limit the pet’s growth, it is planted in a deliberately small and shallow container, while simultaneously forming and cutting off part of the root system.

When choosing a bonsai pot, you need to take into account that over the years the tree becomes heavy and, especially with an irregular, inclined or cascading shape, may lose stability. Therefore, for bonsai ranging in size from a few centimeters to 9 meters, massive, often ceramic, pots, bowls or containers of the most different forms and styles.

There should be a drainage hole at the bottom of the container and more than one. They are used not only to drain water, but also to secure the plant.

Treating the bonsai pot with a hot solution of potassium permanganate or scalding with boiling water will help protect the plant and protect it from fungal infection of the root system.

Bonsai soil is not only designed to provide the plant with nutrition and retain moisture, it should help the roots to gain a foothold in the relatively small volume of the pot. Therefore, for miniature copies of real oaks, lindens, lemons, maples and other trees, a special substrate is used.

In Japan, for many centuries, such a mixture based on certain types of clay is called akadama. For greater nutritional value and friability, add fertile soil and sand:

1. For deciduous bonsai trees, a substrate containing 7 parts of turf soil and 3 parts of coarse washed sand is recommended.
2. Flowering crops are grown on a mixture of 7 parts turf soil, three parts sand and 1 part highly nutritious humus.
3. Conifers, the most popular among bonsai lovers, need particularly loose soil, for which take 3 parts turf soil and 2 parts washed sand.

Before filling the pot, the bonsai soil is sorted out, removing foreign matter that could damage the roots, sifted and sterilized. A drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the container to drain excess moisture.

Caring for a bonsai tree at home

It is not enough to purchase a miniature tree, get a young seedling, or root a cutting of the species you like. It is important to know how to care for a bonsai tree.

By constantly limiting growth, shaping the crown and growing a bonsai in a small pot, a person completely changes the life of a tree or shrub. Therefore, caring for such a crop is very different from caring for other indoor plants.

The main task of the gardener is to organize watering of the bonsai, which is not easy to cope with with a small volume of soil and a shallow pot filled with roots.

Previously, gardeners only had at their disposal a specially shaped watering can or the ability to immerse a bonsai pot in a bowl of water to wet the soil from below. Today, plant irrigation or drip irrigation is actively used, which allows the soil under bonsai to be moistened in doses and without the risk of erosion.

For irrigation, use only soft, melted or settled water. During the growing season, plants need more moisture, with the onset of autumn and the approach of the dormant period, watering is reduced and carried out less frequently, focusing on the condition of the substrate.

Feeding is carried out at intervals of 2–3 weeks, using your own mixtures for different cultures and seasons. For Japanese trees For bonsai, there are mineral fertilizers based on algae.

You can’t leave plants without food, but it’s equally important not to overfeed your bonsai. Therefore, when caring for bonsai trees at home, fertilizing is done very carefully:

• in the spring, at maximum growth intensity, including twice as much potassium and phosphorus in the fertilizer;
• in summer the proportions remain the same, but the concentration is halved;
• closer to autumn, especially for deciduous crops, the content of potassium and phosphorus is doubled, and nitrogen, on the contrary, is reduced.
• Flowering and fruit-bearing trees and shrubs need more potassium, which is used for the formation of buds and ovaries.

With the arrival of winter, nothing changes for exotic evergreens, but coniferous and deciduous trees must prepare for winter. How to care for a bonsai tree in winter? If the climate allows, they are left outside or brought onto unheated terraces. Root system in a small bonsai pot it may be the first to suffer, so it is additionally covered and the soil is dried a little. With the onset of spring, the plant awakens and again needs watering, fertilizing and the formation of the crown and roots, which is mandatory for bonsai.