What is Bonsai Design Japanese Maple ?

The art of bonsai involves the bringing together of tree and pot in visual harmony. The Japanese and Chinese have been cultivating bonsai trees for hundreds of years. These dwarf-potted plants have become very popular in the US since World War II and it is a wonderful artistic endeavor that needs patience and skill. You must think of your bonsai as a delicate balance between the plant itself and the vessel that it is held in. The two must be perfectly melded together to create the beautiful miniature. Bonsai are dwarf plotted plants cultivated by the Japanese and Chinese for centuries. Growth of a bonsai is a time-consuming process requiring much patience care and nurturing. It is also said to take considerable artistic skill an art that has become rather popular in the United States since World War II. A successful bonsai could be described as the union of a plant and its container to create a beautiful picture of nature in a miniature form.

Bonsai Design Japanese Maple Potting Tips

Another way to avoid the tree becoming root bound is to transfer larger and older trees into larger pots.

By having a pot too large, your bonsai tree will look more of a plant in a pot rather then a full grown bonsai.

The base of the bonsai tree container has to be perforated, so that the water surplus can flow, assuring the drainage.

Bonsai Design Japanese Maple Pruning Tips

The species of tree determines the proper pruning time. Full-sized trees of the same species can be used as a pruning guideline.

Finger pruning is not compatible with all plants. Deciduous trees such as maples and Chinese elms require scissor tip pruning. With these trees you must trim the unwanted new shoots back to match your predetermined design or sketch.

Roots must be trimmed with very sharp scissors to prevent them from running out of growing space. It is recommended that you trim the roots to about two thirds of their current length. While you are doing this it is a good idea to eliminate a few older roots and a few of the younger roots. Just be sure you leave enough roots to support the tree.

Bonsai Design Japanese Maple Soil Tips

Proper soil choice is critical. The soil affects the roots feeding and watering of your tree. The size and shape of the pot affects both the appearance as well as growth and health of the bonsai. As a rule of thumb be about 3/4 as wide as the tree is tall and about half as deep. The height of the pot should be roughly the same as the diameter of the trunk. Bonsai soils are designed to optimize drainage. They are usually a mix of coarse sand or gravel with peat or bark added for an organic element. Different trees will need various ratios of grit to humus. Usually dedidious trees need about 70% humus and 30% grit while evergreens will thrive better with 30% humus and 70% grit.

The soil used for bonsai plants vary, but the soil mixture used should always be capable of holding moisture and food. However, it should also be able to provide good drainage and aeration. The soil is usually arranged in layers with the coarse soil mixture at the bottom and the finer soil toward the top. The soil is then topped with a moss fine pebbles or a small ground-cover plant.

Pre-Bonsai material are often placed in "growing boxes" which are made from scraps of fenceboard or wood slats.

Bonsai Design Japanese Maple Techniques

You will either grow your Bonsai tree from a seed or a young sapling. What’s important is to choose a tree that is best suited to the environment where it will be living. Most trees can become Bonsai, but like in life, some are better suited than others. Try to choose a tree that is relatively slow growing with petite sized leaves, and you will be fine.

During overwintering, temperate species are allowed to enter dormancy but care must be taken with deciduous plants to prevent them from breaking dormancy too early.

A plant that has just been uprooted from its source should be planted firmly on the ground first before it should be transferred on a bonsai container. The plant specie should first be given and opportunity to grow and to hold its roots before it is subjected to transplanting again and pruning for bonsai.

Bonsai Design Japanese Maple Tidbits

The branch structure of your bonsai trees will play a crucial role in the trees health. Bonsai trees are created from standard types of trees. Many believe they are some special dwarf species and that's just not true. The small size of the tree is the result of careful pruning of the branches and the roots. Other factors such as the amount of sunlight, fertilizer, humidity, and supply of water are as important as other factors. Each tree has its own special needs. These factors must be studied carefully according to what type of bonsai tree is to be developed.

There are two types of bonsai trees: indoor and outdoor. While most bonsai are outdoor plants certain varieties are adapted well enough to survive in an indoor setting. These would be the tropical or subtropical varieties. If you plan on raising these be sure to put them in a spot where they can get some sunlight in the mornings, and shade in the afternoon. Avoid exposing them to too much sunlight - many varieties of bonsai do not bear up well under intense heat. Indoor varieties of bonsai include the ficus, baby jade, sago palms, serissa fukien, tea pachira, gardenia and some elm varieties. The quality of a bonsai tree is measured on how well it portrays nature in miniature form. The word bonsai is usually associated with those dwarf trees that are placed in ceramic or other attractive containers. People usually relate bonsai growing to the Japanese, but this method of dwarfing trees actually started in China. The Japanese however developed the art of bonsai growing.

Growing bonsai is not as hard as you may think, if you have the right information, you can grow them just as easily as anyone else. Bonsai refers to the miniaturizing of a plant, but it does not identify the type of plant that it is. Chinese silk and synthetic materials such as polyester are the raw materials most commonly used for making silk bonsai trees.

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