Pascale’s Garden

How to Choose Nursery Bonsai Trees

Purchasing a bonsai from a nursery is easier to maintain than those you extract from the earth. When you shop for bonsai the first thing you want to do is consider the main branches, shape, and the trunk. The trunk should be well shaped. In addition, you want to find herbs, or bonsai trees that are healthy.

When you shop for bonsai at nurseries, also consider pot plants, sparse, legs, backfields, bins, etc. Fringe regions and plants that will function well in your greenhouse are optional as well. If you spot a potential healthy bonsai that requires minimal attention, you can often prune the tree, which will promote growth.

In nurseries, you may find bonsai plants, which customers ignore. A few helpful details could make the plant worth your while. For instance, if you find older privet, you can shape the branches, and use several trunks to produce miniature bonsai trees in several smaller pots. You can use shrubs to make the windswept bonsai by tilting the plant and shaping it to match the common bonsai style. You will need to learn training techniques to complete this task.

Bonsai is a Japanese name that defines tray garden. The artistic trees are pleasing to the eye, which the trees are often miniature trees and plants that rest in containers. ?Chinese penjing? forms the bonsai as well, which this is where bonsai derived.

Bonsai trees are found in plants, supermarkets, at roadsides, woody areas, at watersides, etc. The plants are grown in homes, offices, nurseries, etc, for many reasons, yet the prime reason is that the herbal trees are majestically creations like no other plant cultivated.

When you search for bonsai in nurseries, you will often find a wide selection of trees and plants. Take your time at what time you shop for the bonsai trees. The best advice anyone can give you on shopping for bonsai, is to instruct you to research the background of the plants before consider purchase. Research will provide you insight that will guide you in the right direction in buying, training, nurturing, etc. For instance, you can purchase a 6-foot bonsai, taper the tree, and form a Jin tip or driftwood bonsai. Research will also protect you against the many sale clerks at nurseries who insist that you are illiterate in plant and tree growth. The sale clerks often strive to sell the plants and trees at top-dollar cost, and provide you brief information in the meantime.

In fact, if I were looking for bonsai trees, the first thing I would do is visit my local library or go online to research the plants and trees before heading to the nursery.

At the nursery, you want to search for bonsai containers, which have moss and deadwood. The debris will make up a good plant.

When you shop at nurseries and have a basic idea of bonsai, you will often find what you are searching to find. Some of the bonsai trees include the temperate, private collection, tropical, and sub-tropical bonsai. Temperate bonsai has variants, which include ash, blue moss cypress, dwarf Japanese Juniper, Chinese Elm, Dwarf Sawara Cypress-Tsucomo Cypress, Hinoki Cypress, the Golden Hinoki, Japanese Lace Leaf Maple, etc.

Sub-tropical bonsai include the Chinese elm, Thousand-star Serissa, Dwarf Japan Juniper, Jerusalem cherry, and the Fukien Tea Tree. The private selection is bonsai trees that tolerate winter temperatures. The collection includes Ficus Exotica, Hokkaido elm, Japan Lace Leaf Maple-Red Maple, Cold Bark Japan Maple, etc. You will find a selection of bonsai at nurseries, yet again research can help you make the right choice of purchase.

Technorati Tags : bonsai trees plants nurseries

How to Train False Cypress Bonsai

The False Cypress bonsai is often created from the family of Chamaecyparis obtusa. This family is kin to the group of Cupressaceae. The amazing False Cypress grows up to 115-feet tall in nature, yet you can train a miniature-sized bonsai from its roots.

Once you seed, plant cuttings, graft, or plant layers you will need to learn how to care for your new False Cypress bonsai. Care requires sun exposure, adequate climatic conditions, ventilation, potting, cleaning, wiring, pruning, growth, re-potting, soil, water, sprays, and feeding. Sprays will protect your trained False Cypress from pests and disease.

Sunlight exposure:
Your new False Cypress requires dense shade. The Cypress bonsai will not do well in fully lighted environments. In hot weather the plant will parch, therefore provide shade so that you plant will survive training.

How to ventilate:
False Cypress can withstand humid winds, but will show unhealthy symptoms when the plant is touched by dry winds.

The plant prefers temperatures as outlined, but first we must consider the specimen before adjusting the climatic, tolerate level. For example, the Chamaecyparis group of obtusa cannot tolerate colder climates. The plant will withstand weather influenced by the sea however, i.e. maritime conditions. The Chamaecyparis lawsoniana groups can stand colder conditions however. The False Cypress specimens will grow well in climatic environments suitable for their growth. The plants grow slow, yet when the Cypress ages it will present to you a steady regal bonsai.

How to pot:
You want a pot that provides adequate drainage. It depends on how you intend to shape your bonsai as to the depth of the pot. The deep pots are ideal however. You can choose any style to grow your plant, including the hexagonal, oval, etc.

How to clean:
In the fall, you want to get rid of any damaged wood, foliage, etc. To prevent pests and disease from claiming your False Cypress bonsai clean the soil often.

How to re-pot:
To re-pot your bonsai wait until three or five years. Re-pot the Cypress in March and April. The plants should be pruned between each month. Prune 1/3 of the plant and take one-half hairs from the roots. The pot should provide adequate drainage and have the depth desired for the False Cypress.

How to soil:
Soil should include 1/3 of loam, leaf mould, and course sand. The soil should be deep to provide ample space. The False Cypress prefers ample light and coolness.

How to prune:
To prune your False Cypress you will need shears, thumb, and an index finger. Use the fingers to pinch the tips of the shoots out. The process is done during the season of growth. The process continues a couple times after. The needles should be left alone, yet you will need to prune the branches at the side. You can move bunches, or the tuft to avoid over-growth. The foliage should be removed about one-third and larger, bulky branches can be cut with clippers.

How to wire:
To train your False Cypress as a bonsai you will need to wire until you reach the desired form. The wiring should start in fall and removed around nine to ten months later. Do not leave the wire on longer. You can re-wire the bark annually.

How to spray:
To protect your False Cypress bonsai from pests and disease spray the plants frequently in the summer. Use mist-sprays.

How to feed:
The plant should be feed in the spring and fall. At the end of fall, you want to increase feed. Use long-winded, macrobiotic acting fertilizers and feed monthly.

Technorati Tags : cypress false bonsai plant

Protecting the Bonsai
How to protect your bonsai

Life is full of bugs, disease, unpredictable weather, uncaring humans, etc. The elements of life lead us to take caution in everything we do, including protecting the bonsai. Bonsais? are not obsolete from disease, pests, uncaring humans, or unpredictable weather; therefore, you will need to learn how to protect your plants, as well as spot potential hazards. In previous articles, I have discussed brief details on the subject, protecting your bonsai from red spider mites, tetranychus, glasshouse mites, caterpillars, etc. In this article, I feel the need to continue the topic while discussing goat moth, leopard moth, small ermine moths, mealy bugs, scale insects, and so on. While I may not finish the entire group of pests and disease, I will attempt to help you protect your bonsais? by providing you as much detail as possible on many species.

How to protect your bonsai from the goat and leopard moths: (Red and/or Yellow caterpillars)
Bugs of the night are known as the nocturnal. The goat and leopard moths will feast on tree bark, trunks, and branches, and will continue feasting until someone steps in with cutters, wire, cotton wool, and carbon disulphide. The moths will feast on trunks, bark, branches, etc puncturing holes and using the holes as a passageway to channel their way up the parts. At the passageway particles of wood start to develop, i.e. sawdust.

To treat your bonsai use carbon disulphide. Carbon disulphide is non-metallic chemical elements that exist in two main forms, such as graphite and diamonds. The chemicals have ability to form huge numbers of macrobiotic compounds that allow living organisms to survive. First, you will need to cut and destroy the parasite, or infested sections. At the passageway, pull some wire through the holes preferably use iron wire. Use the cotton wool along with the wire, wrapping the wire about the cotton wool. The cotton wool should be emerged in the non-metallic chemical elements, i.e. the carbon disulphide.

The minute size ermine moths leave trails of webs around the foliage. The silky threads of web often start at the cleavage of leaves. Ermines leave sheaths, or egg covering, which is the cocoon, is marked on the tree. You will spot ermines, which is a type of caterpillar beneath the leaves. The leaves will fall off the bonsai if treatment is not provided. Treatment should include cutting, ?organophosphate contact insecticides,? etc. Organophosphate is a macrobiotic compound that contains phosphate groups.

Mealy-bugs can eventually kill your bonsai if you do not treat the problem. The mealy-bugs resemble a blob of unprocessed white cotton. The bugs will expel waste from their bodies, such as honeydew. The sweet, sticky substance can cause damage, since insects deposit the honeydew on leaves of plants, as well as other bugs, spinning-off the juices the bugs suck from plants. The honeydew breeds grimy mildew. Mildew will kill the plant, since it drops the photosynthesis process. In short, the active bugs will turn your leaves yellow and cause them to fall from the plant. Use organophosphate to eliminate the problem.

Tetranychus during the early parts of the 80s nearly destroyed millions of acres of Illinois soybeans. In the last parts of the 80s, the infestation increased to several million more infestations. The soybeans were sprayed with insecticides, yet had it not been treated, the soybeans would have died. Tetranychus red spiders are kin to the family of arachnid. The spiders are often spotted in temperate districts, as well as in greenhouses. Tetranychus red will weave fine webs beneath plant leaves while targeting the host. Tomatoes are the favorite plant that these spiders will target, which the spiders will lay eggs. The spider will drain plant cells, sucking the juice and potentially causing viruses to swell. The red Tetranychus mites are only one unit of length, which equals at one thousandth of a single meter. As you see the spider is small, yet this critter can cause major harm to your bonsai.

To treat the problem sprays the foliage generously, especially near the base. Acaricides should be sprayed immediately when symptoms come into view.

Technorati Tags : bonsai leaves plant cotton

Perennial Bonsai Selections
How to care for bonsai

Bonsai includes pineapple sage, lion?s ear, curry, and the Costa Rican mint bush. Curry, lion?s ear, pineapple sage, and the Costa are herbs that are trained as bonsai. The pineapple has juicy yellowish fruits that grow from its vines. The fruit is sometimes thick and lumpy with yellow-brown skin. The tuft has rough pointed leaves near the top. Pineapple is tropical plants that have tall thick stems as well. The rough sword-shaped leaves have dense collections of minute size flowers. Pineapple sage is known as the Salvia elegans. The bonsai grows large healthy plants. The miniature bonsai trees grow up to 3-feet tall. The plant however grows huge before it starts to produce wood. If you grow the pineapple sage outdoors, the tree will grow up to 5-feet tall, once it has been trimmed.

Pineapple sage bonsai desires sunny weather. The warmth helps the plant to grow healthy. Do not leave the pineapple bonsai outdoors in frosty weather. During the season, as the days grow short the pineapple sage will begin bloom. As the plant matures, it grows impressive flowers, providing you shape the bonsai at an early stage. The flowers are brilliant red. During midwinter and throughout fall the flowers are shaped like tubes.

The bonsai has scented foliage. You can grow the plant to produce flavoring, which will enhance the taste of herbal teas. Trim the plant as recommended. The best bonsai trees to grow with pineapple sage are the sweet marjoram and thymes.

How to care for lion ear bonsai:
Lion?s ear or leonotis Leonuris grows healthy shrubs. The foliage grows off the shrubs, which are light green. The flowers are orange. Lion?s ear is one of the favorite-trained bonsai. When the plant is grown outdoors, it grows up to 6-feet tall. The lion?s ear when grown inside should be trimmed regularly. Lion?s ear has large leaves and the trunk will thicken rapidly. You will need a huge pot, since the roots also grow swiftly and large.

How to care for Costa Rican mint bush:
The mint bush is often cultivated and used for flavoring. The plants have aromatic leaves. The bonsai is of the northern temperate and sometimes produce peppermint, spearmint, etc. Costa Rican mint bush is also the Satureja Viminea. The plants grow swiftly and start to develop woody traits during before maturity. At the main supporting element near the trunk, Costa bonsai will grow develops suckers starting at the root. You want to remove the suckers. At what time the Costa Rican mint bush is bruised, it has a strong mint fragrance. The plant will grow attractive lime leaves, making the bonsai one of the most attractive trees. Caribbean regions often grow the Costa Rican mint bush and use it as a flavor to set of meats.

Curry plants or Helichrysum angustifolium is often cultivated to produce spices. The spices are added to meat, vegetables, fish, etc. The spices are also formed as seasons, sauce, paste, powder, etc. Curry plants trained as bonsai grow minute size shrubs. The foliage is vividly silver. Curry plants have a strong aroma, which grow flowers in planting season that resemble buttons. The metallic leaves are often small. NOTE: The curry plants grown, as bonsai are not spice material, therefore do not attempt to use the plant as a season, or spice.

How to care for Curry plants
Curry plants will produce suckers that are strong and thrown at the branches and trunk. You want to remove the suckers when it starts to develop at the tips of the branches. The flowers and trimmings are available to use as arrangements to maintain adequate dryness.

Technorati Tags : bonsai plants pineapple plant

Introducing Bonsai
How to build Bonsai trees

Nature or natural resources are the only method to grow Bonsai. There is no such thing as replica Bonsai, or model trees. Still, you can grow your own Bonsai tree that will make nature come alive.

Komono is one of the Bonsai breeds. Komono has small leaves with citrus and, Nacro orange and grows around seven inches.

How to judge Bonsai
The design is important. Bonsai trees must be carefully pruned. The tree should not have tattered stubs that are untidy or resting on the tree in a discomfited position. The wiring should be maintained also. The wires should not grind into the branches, and should be neat and placed well around the branches. Bonsai trees often sit in its pot at a good stance, or angle. The tree is to sit up high, yet not so high that it interrupts the growth. In addition, Bonsai should sit low, yet not low enough that it would disturb growth. The tree is best seated at an angle, and not directly in the center of the pot.

How to consider Bonsai Roots:
The roots of Bonsai trees are important. The roots starts the growth, which these roots should clutch the earth, or soil decisively. Bonsai requires a degree of organization, which the tree roots should be as even as possible.

How to consider the trunk:
The trunk of Bonsai should be well formed. The trunk should also be tapered correctly as outlined by nature?s effects. In short, the trunk should have its natural older effects.

How to consider branches:
The position and angle of Bonsai branches should have respectable equilibrium. The branches should also have vacant areas to provide room for growth. The branches should have a surplus of growth as well.

How to maintain scale
Flowers, leaves, needles, and fruits should rest on the tree so that it looks natural. If the tree is slanting too far to the right, or left, you need to adjust your Bonsai.

Health:
The health of your Bonsai tree is based on the soils surface, or the groundcovers. If moss is growing around the cover of your groundcover, if thin or feeble weeds grow freely, or if debris is around the soil, you are not keeping up your Bonsai tree well. Bonsai trees should have appealing effects that resemble the Bonsais? that grow in nature. Bonsai also requires proper accessories and containing so that it can grow well. Moreover, Bonsai trees require a clean environment. At all times, you should clean the tree as needed and remove dust, cobwebs, mineral deposits, smudges, dead leaves, etc.
Cleaning your tree regularly will help it to grow productively.

How to judge size:
The size falls back to Komono, Chumono, Keshitsubu, Mame, and Onomo. Keshitsubu is a pea size Bonsai, which grows up to 7.6 metric units of length, or 3 inches. This tree is rare, and is much more difficult to rise than the Chumono, Mame, Onomo, or other breeds. Mame grows up to 15 metric units of length or 6 inches. The smaller tree is around 3 inches, which Mame is the baby Bonsai. Komono grows up to 20 metric units in length, or 9 inches. The smaller tree is around 6 inches. Chumono grows up to 91 metric units, or 36 inches with the smallest being 18 inches. Onomo grows up to 36 inches as well. The last size is the Katade Mochi. The tree grows up to 46 metric units in length, which is around 18 inches. The smaller tree is around 9 inches.

Chumono and Onomo is the largest Bonsai tree, which would take two or four man strength to lift the trees.

Technorati Tags : bonsai should inches around