Pascale’s Garden

How to Choose Bonsai Variants

Variants of Bonsai Semi-cascade, Cascade, Moyogi, etc, include Broom and Literati. Broom elms are American-based trees, which its trunk extends in a straight line on a single growth. Its circlet has a selection of minute twigs, which glow and form the shape of a broom. Broom bonsai?s are similar to Asian trees, which are cultivated for resisting Dutch elm illness, and are the Genus Zelkova. Learn more about Japanese Greybark Elm seeds to relate to the Broom Bonsai.

Literati trees have elongated, small in width trunks. The trunk grows in a straight line, slants, and/or curves somewhat. At the upper section of the tree, about a third up, branches grow from the tree, and near the top, the branches balance someone at a point.

Variants of bonsai include Italian Cypress, which is one of the Grove series. The tree grows up to 22 inches. Pistachio Grove grows up to 18 inches. Pistachio is an ancient, small Asian tree. The Mediterranean, Asian tree is a member of the cashew family, and yields hard-shell nuts. The kernel is edible. Pistachio Vera is its Latin name.

Jin or Driftwood is another variant of bonsai. Jin may have received its name from Islamic magic spirits, which the mythology of humans and animals take on forms that makes it mischievous of its supernatural powers. The notion of Jin, since it is a broken branch, could represent the soul that forms into spirits, and dies. Since Jin means, ?God,? it is likely that the Jin tree requires careful attention. Jin trees has a trunk and branches that when the elements pass on, it is used or forms driftwood. I mean don?t quote me on this theory, yet after checking a brief background it seems that this logic makes sense.

Windswept received its name, since it always appears as the tree is exposed to the wind. The branches and trunk of the tree appears as though the wind blew it in the same direction. Windswept is a good-looking, piney-like tree that curves at the roots, and up the trunk at the base of the container.

Exposed root, and Rock plants is another of bonsai?s variants. Rock plant received its name, since you can plant the tree on level rock foundations. You can also plant the tree at rocky foundations where pouches of soil reside. The variant of the rock plant is the ?Root-over-Rock.? The rock turns into soil, while the roots embrace the rock, yet the tree is planted similar as the rock plant.

Raft, Grove, Saikei, and the Cloud, and/or Umbrella tree is another of bonsais? variants. Raft trees push its arranged structure to connect together. In short, the branches grow independently as the tree rests on the side.

How to plant groves:
Grove trees line up similar to common groves. The trees should be planted in oversized trays with shallow cavities. To design the tree so that it looks like an independent growth, follow the latter instructions and cluster up to three trees, planting them so that the tree will blend.
Saikei is another of the grove trees. You must use moss, trees, minute size shrubs, and rocks to grow this bonsai. Sand and waterfalls is recommended at times when growing the Saikei.

The Cloud trees, or sometimes called the umbrella tree has a single trunk that aligns straight. At each side of the tree is a flora of lovely branches. The tree grows the multi-flora rose, or sometimes called wild climbing roses. The Latin Rosa Multi-flora has a desirable scent. The umbrella style received its name, since it produces umbrella-like branches. The cloud has many variants to name in one article.

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How to Train Bonsai Lespedeza

Lespedeza is the member of the Leguminosaceae family. The plants are grown in native regions, Asia, North America, Australia, etc. Lespedeza is the genus group that is politically, incorrectly defined. The plant should actually be known as the Cespedeza. Since spelling was never checked however, the Spaniard Crespedeza has not received its honor.

Lespedeza plants or forage is the kin to the pea family. The leaves grow three leaflets. Forage is produced from the leaves to manage erosion.

Lespedeza has counterparts, which include Lespedeza thunbergii. This native, China, Japan, etc, plant has shrubs that grow up to 6 ? -feet across arched branches and light green eclipsed leaves. The leaves have silky undersides. The flowers are brilliantly shaded purpose, and are shaped like butterflies. The bicolor is native grown specie also grown in Japan, China, and throughout Manchuria. The tree grows up to 10-feet tall and develops amazing shapely branches. The branches grow dark green leaves at the crown and underneath the leaves are shades of blue-green. Red and purple flowers flourish at the tilts of the branches, which begin to flower in August and September.

Propagation starts with seeds, cuttings, or layering. Growing seeds is obsolete when growing thunbergii. If you sow the seeds in May, likely you will struggle to produce quality bonsais.

If you manage to sow the plants, you will need care instructions. To care for your plants place the plants in complete sunbeams. Temperatures desired by the lespedeza is warm environments. This plant will not survive frostbite, so keep away from frost. At the end of winter, you can prune your plant however and re-grow if the plants has been frostbite.

How to pot:
You will need to pot the plant in a medium depth container. Use a blue and glazed container for the best results.

How to clean:
Get rid of fading flowers. About one-third down, prune the roots. The plant grows slow, but needs room, so after pruning re-pot your plant into a larger pot.

How to re-pot:
In the spring each year, re-pot your plants. Before you send the plants to another pot, prune one-third of the roots.

Soil:
Lespedeza enjoys half leaf mould and loam mixtures. Permeable garden soil with lighting, dry climates, and sand is a favorite.

How to wire:
To train your bonsai you will need to wire in the spring. At the end of summer, remove the wiring. Create raffia from pines and wrap it around the wire before placing it on your plant.

How to water:
Moderate water is sufficient to care for Lespedeza. Dry grounds is a favorite of this specie. When the flower buds start to take its shape, you can increase water intake. Again, do not waterlog your plants.

How to spray:
The only known pests that target Lespedeza is the group of aphids. The plants are subject however to rhizoctonia, which is a fungal disease. You want to spray light mist over the foliage during the summer.

How to feed:
In spring and fall supply extra feeding, and weaken your feed in the fall and ONLY provide your plant with slow-moving macrobiotic fertilizers.

How to prune:
Sub-branches should be pruned when the branches are long. Cut back one-third of the branch and leave a couple of nodes. Once you get into the development stage near the ending of winter prune the plant. Cut the plant in fad-style, or very low. DO NOT allow your plant to get frostbitten.

Now that we have reached the end of the road, I would like to encourage you to check out Crab Apples or Malus Apples, which are easier to train as bonsai.

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How to Propagate Bonsai
Layering the air

Air layering is best handled during the month of spring, and especially after the plants has distended and has come untied. When propagation starts, you want to consider many details. At times bonsai roots fail to shape, as you like. The branches can also die if proper treatment is not meet. Bonsai is a majestic plant, which requires detailed care to live longer and produce healthy traits.

In the early spring, you can *shorten trees through the air layer process. You can cut slits at the roots to produce hormones. It will take a while to perform this action. Air layers are based on the thickness of the trees braches. You can cut the branches two-inches away from each other. Once the branches are cut, you can remove the rough outer covering, or bark and the layer of cambium. (NOTE: Cambium is the tissue or cylindrical layers of cells found in plant roots and stems. The tissue produces new tissues, which increase girth, especially sap-conducting tissues, such as xylem. This tissue carries water, dissolving it into minerals from the roots and passes onto the leaves and stems. The tissues also include phloem, as well as bark. Phloem is a food-carrying tissue, which conduct synthesized foods that travel to all sections of the plant. The bark is the rough outer coverings of woody stem found on trees or related plants.

Once you remove the cambium and bark, you can brush on a bit of root hormones. *See shorten trees to develop root hormones.

The root hormones can speed the growth of roots; however, it is an option and not a request. Once you add root hormone you can wrap large amounts of moisture and elongated-fiber sphagnum, spreading it over the bare region. Sphagnum is moss formed as peat. Once you spread it over the bare region, hold it in place over the wood. You will need to cut rubber bands so that you can tie the area. Next, wrap the sphagnum with some transparent polyethylene plastic. Moving along, fold the plastic a few times mutually about the elongated edges. Tie the folded areas at each end using rubberized strings or strips. The moss should remain humid. You may have to wet the region if dryness is present. Next, you want to add shade to the area where you added plastic. Use a course cloth or broken branches to provide shade. About every two weeks make sure you check the plant to make sure that it is moist, and that it has not come loose.

To finish your bonsai project you want to keep watch for roots. Once the roots fill inside the plastic it is time to uproot, straighten, and arrange. At the second transplant, you want to remove the moss.

Once you finish the air layer steps you can move onto soil layering, cutting, and so on. Soil layering is the process of propagation. The method is one of the cast iron solutions for growing bonsai. The process makes room for root tips to grow naturally. Soil layering can produce yellow-flowering bushes whereas the shrubs grow small bell-shaped flowers, which turn bright yellow as they bloom in the early spring, the flowers bloom before the leaves. The change takes place when routine rooting of branches arch.

At this time, the grower selects a bent branch pointing to the ground, nicks the base underneath, and opens the wedge with a minute size stone. He then dusts the root hormones and covers the soil. The branch is then held in place, which the grower will usually use an interweaving stick. You can move to anchor the branch inside pot soil at this point. You want to make sure the branch is moist at all times. You can set the pot in polyethylene plastic to reduce care.

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Bonsai Selections
How to select your herbs

Did you know you could purchase particular herbs and train them as bonsai? It?s true and all you need is some training, skill, and a few details to get started. You can purchase specimens in the 4-inch miniature range to create, and grow a sizeable leaf tree. The tree if trained correctly will grow up to 3-feet.

Growers have created rosemary and oregano herbs to create bonsai trees. The herbs prized for growing bonsai include tender perennials-shrubs, annual herbs, resilient perennial, and the semi-hardy perennial. The groups however should be separated, as well as the group of thymes, scented geraniums. See the group of Pelargonium to learn more about each group of geraniums.

If you are new to growing herbs as bonsai, you may want to start with the rosemary specimens. The rosemary is an aromatic evergreen tree, or shrub that derives from Southern European regions. The shrugs come from the family of mint. Rosemary is grown for the scents emerging from its gray to green needle-shaped leaves. Rosemary is also used as flavoring to enhance meals, or fragrances to make perfume. Rosemary has a wood shrub, which is easier to maintain.

Rosemary is similar to pine trees. In addition to Rosemary, the lemon verbena, as well as the sweet bay, or commonly known as laurel trees are ideal for first time growers. The trees grow up to 40-feet however, i.e. in nature. Laurel is a tree that produces leaves, aroma, and berries that are similar to the laurel shrubs. The cherry and mountain laurel is an example of the family of laurel. The wreath of the leaves may be responsible or cultivated in foreign lands for its mark of honor in ancient history.

The lemon verbena is a scented ornamental tree, which is cultivated throughout South America. The tree has minute size lavender flowers, which grow from lance-shape leaves and produces a lemony scent when compressed. The lemon verbena comes from the Latin name Lippia triphylla.

Sweet bay is a North America Magnolia tree, which is a miniature magnolia bush. The tree comes from the Easter United States as well, and often has a huge scented white flower with yellow to green leaves and red colored fruits. The tree is known as the Magnolia Virginia family of plants as well.

Additional herbs that are trained as bonsai is the willows, black berry, junipers, oaks, barberries, citrus, hawthorns, calamondin orange, etc. Willows have elongated branches that flex. The branches grow narrow leaves, which its catkins contain minute size flowers that do not have petals. Willow wood is made from this tree, which is the gamily of Genus and called Salix.

Juniper is a common bonsai plant, which has many variants. The Junipers are evergreen plants that bear cones that bear a resemblance to berries. The tree has minute size purplish cones, which yield oils and is often used to flavor gin. The Genus group is also known as Juniperus.

Assuming you is familiar with the black berry bush, oak, and citrus we can move onto the hawthorns. The hawthorn is a thorny tree that has minute size fruits with red tone. The tree is a member of the rose family and grows a collection of pink or white flowers. Crataegus is its Genus name, which this herb is also known as Haw.

Barberries are a shrub that grows red berries. The thorny flowering tree is cultivated in Asia and is grown widely at hedge plants or in gardens. You can also find the group that produces yellow flowers and a selection of red or orange berries. Its Genus name is Berberis.

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Bonsai Perennial Tender Shrubs
How to choose tender herbs

Bonsai fascinators purchase herbs and train them as bonsai. The herbs include rosemary, laurel, sweet bay, willows, barberries, oaks, citrus, junipers, black berry, hawthorns, calamondin orange, etc. The herbs are actually listed in bonsai categories, yet because the herbs are prescribed in medicinal usage; it is often referred to as herbs.

Blackberry herbs grow as thorny bushes and have small, purplish fruits. The plants derived from European bushes of the rose family. Blackberry has pink and/or white flowers. The Latin name is Rubus Fruticosus.

Oak trees bear acorn and may have lobed leaves. The deciduous trees have evergreen colors, which the leaves have several round, or piercing projections. The Genus, Quercus oak plants grown in Jerusalem have lobed leaves. Oak is a valuable wood also.

Junipers are sold widely as bonsai, however, many people think of the Juniper as herbs, or scents.

Among the citrus family is the Calamondin orange. The shrub is a miniature tree, which its citrus scents derived from the Philippine Islands. Calamondin is a hybrid citrus, which got its name from the Latin, Citrofortunella mitis. Calamondin is one of the better herbs to train as bonsai. Many growers enjoy this herb for its similarity to the mandarin orange. The mandarin is also known as the Citrus reticulata.

The small fruits that grow from the calamondin tree will withstand, although it becomes weighty. The fruits make great preserves or ideal for flavoring meals. The calamondin is also similar to the Nagami kumquat. This Fortunella margarita tree grows miniature fruits. The tree has an awesome scent, i.e. citrus scent as that of the calamondin. This tree is also tasty in dishes, or can be used as preserves.

Olea europaea or the olive trees make great bonsai trees. The olive trees have green and/or black fruits, which are oval-shaped and bitter to the taste. The fruits have pits. When ripe the fruits are black. Olive trees are grown for its olive oil also. Throughout the Mediterranean regions, the olive tree is valued. The tree grows slow. Most growers up bring the olive herbs, training them as bonsai dwarfs. The ornamental trees grown in homes do not produce fruits, yet you can find herbs that grow bonsai olive trees.

Pomegranate is the family of Punica granatum. The plant is used in medicine and food. Pomegranate trees produce round-red fruits the size of an orange. The rinds are tough and enclose several chambers, which fill a selection of seeds that surround tart, juicy red pulp. The Asian species is the tropical breed that comes from Asia. Other types of Pomegranate exist as well. Pomegranate may have variable foliages and a selection of colored flowers. You should keep the room temperature at 65 degrees when training this bonsai. During winter months, the Pomegranate will start to shred its leaves.

The dwarf Pomegranate is ideal for beginners. Dwarfs grow yellow fall leaves and change to red during its growth cycle. Dwarfs also grow flowers and miniature fruits.

Dwarf Sweet Myrtle is another of the bonsai trees grown from herbs. Myrtle is known as Myrtus communis compacta as well. The plant represents ancient rituals and heroes, which Myrtle has miniature shrubs. The scented dark green leaves were once used as an herb scattered over large areas of the body for healing. The sweet odors have produced potpourri, fragrances, bathwater scents, and more. Myrtle trees are available in a variety of shades, colors, scents, etc, including the starry white flowered plant. Experts recommend planting Myrtle in groves. In groves, the Myrtle rather resembles a miniature orchard.

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How to Treat Diseased Bonsai White Pines

Before you can treat ill or pest damaged White Pines you must first detect the cause. For instance, there are many types of pests and disease to watch out for, such as the pine weevils, bark beetles, pine chafers, bee hawk moth, pine hawk moth, pine sawfly, bombyx, or caterpillar, galerucid beetle or chysomelid and the leaf beetle. Disease can include red-band, honey fungus, rust, pine leaf cast, etc.

How to detect pest damage:
All sorts of little bugs roam outdoors and many are attracting to aromatic plants and trees. The bugs will feed and nest on plants and trees, which is their role in nature. The problem is the pests over do them selves? This brings in humans, which it is our role to minimize or eliminate bug damage and decay. When we think of caterpillars often, we consider harmless creatures that grow as beautiful butterflies. The facts however is that these harmless creatures rarely nest or damage Scot pine, yet it will damage other plants. Caterpillars are sometimes called moth larvae, which these pests will feed on plant tissue and weaken the tree. Caterpillars can also cause decaying. The caterpillars are grouped, i.e. you have the bombycoid moths or sponge caterpillars, and the leaf rollers. In addition, you must consider the leaf miners, goat moth, leopard moth, geometer moth, small ermine moth, and so on.

The bombycoid often causes damage to plants and trees. You will notice the damage by spotting silky threads between needles or leaves. Look in the foliage also to spot spongy-like nests. If you notice, damage caused from caterpillars immediately use contact insecticides to eliminate or minimize the problem. Otherwise, the caterpillars will continue feasting on the leaves and needles until the plant is destroyed.

The leaf rollers will feed on buds, flowers, leaves, and youthful shoots. You will notice damage, such as silk threads that wrap about the leaves. The wraps resemble a cigar. Caterpillars will often feed at night. To stop damage and or decaying spray the plant in the spring, spraying it with parathion-based insecticide. Parathion is colorless toxic oil, which is often highly concentrated. The insecticide will kill any bugs crawling or nesting in your plants.

Leaf miners can be treated with organophosphate insecticide. You will notice symptoms or signs of leaf miners by spotting tunnels around the tissue. Holes will appear in the leaves. If you notice dark specks around the cavity, or if carbohydrate production, which uses light and chlorophyll, i.e. photosynthesis interruptions appear, you will need to spray your plant. If the photosynthesis is interrupted and treatment is not available, thus the process of producing basic carbohydrates from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, etc, is minimized which energy will cease and result to fatality.

Pine weevils often nest in the roots of plants and trees. If you notice chewed areas at the chief branches and/or collar of your plant, then you will need to spray the growth with pesticide. Spray the tree or plant at the start of April and at the last day of March. You can cut, remove, and destroy any sections of your bonsai that is infested. If the trees are young, use plant oils to minimize infestation.

If the needles appeared chewed and the branches have undesired shape, likely your bonsai has been infested with galerucid beetles, leaf beetles, or chysomelid. If the plant slows growth and shows, the latter signs spray your bonsai with insecticides.

If the branches and leaves appear chewed or distorted you will need to spray insecticide on your plants, since it has likely been attacked by the pine chafers. The bonsai will show signs, such as slow growth if the pine chafers have attacked your plant. NOTE: Chafers are large flying scarab beetles. The beetles move slowly. Sometimes the beetles are called the cockchafer.

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