Bonsai
Watching bonsai develop and shaping them into beautiful sculptures is a fascinating and extremely rewarding hobby. Growing bonsai trees is not an expensive pastime with only a few specialist tools required, but a beautiful bonsai tree can be much more of a centrepiece in your home than many ornaments can. A bonsai is a true living sculpture.
Bonsai are container grown trees that are grown to be a miniature of of the full sized counterpart. Bonsai trees can be created from almost any perennial woody stemmed trees and shrubs that produce branches and can grow small through container confinement with the assistance from crown and root trimming.
Bonsai can be developed from seed, young shoots lifted from the wild, (please have regard for any laws regarding removing wild plants in your area), or can be purchased as mature planted bonsai trees. Although growing bonsai from seed is the slowest method, but you will have total control over how your bonsai will look.
Bonsai trees are planted in special pots that not only contain root growth, but also further enhance the look of your bonsai. Special soils can be purchased that provide the perfect conditions for your bonsai tree to grow in.
Many specialist techniques are used to sculpt and give character to your bonsai tree including trimming leaves, wiring, grafting, dwarfing and deadwood, (a method of aging bark). Few specialist tools are needed to sculpt bonsai, and these are readily available very cheaply. All that you need to get started can be easily bought from a bonsai nursery.
Bonsai are available as both indoor and outdoor varieties, many bonsai trees are improved if left outside during warmer summer months and brought inside during the winter.
For those that like the idea, you can even purchase artificial bonsai.
If you are wondering if growing bonsai trees is right for you, I would say give it a try, bonsai are easy to grow, and take a small amount of your spare time, each and every bonsai is unique, and who doesn’t admire a bonsai whenever they see one.
