Bonsai 101 - Chapter 9: Where to Get Bonsai Material + Soil & Watering Basics
Everything you want to know about starting & buying a bonsai tree!
It brings a special personal satisfaction when you start a tree from a seed, because it is genetically unique and will grow into a tree that is uniquely yours to keep and to share with friends. And – that tree would be much appreciated as a one-of-a-kind, thoughtful gift.
However, the downside for doing so is that you could wind up having too many random seedlings that you can’t even give away.
Years ago, I brought home maple seeds as I got excited seeing the beautiful New England fall foliage for the first time. The seeds germinated easily, even for an amateur…but then I realized that the leaves were too big to make into a small bonsai. Time and effort wasted!
As with starting all projects, plan ahead thoughtfully. Get the right variety of tree by studying what makes good bonsai, and limit the number of seeds and cuttings you start with so that you can focus on learning how to care for them before scaling.
When collecting bonsai, have the discipline to limit the number of bonsai that you can really take good care of. It brings greater personal satisfaction to have a few that you really like than to have many that you don’t really care for.
Another advantage when growing your own is that, essentially, there is no cost – not really! DIY folks don’t generally take the value of time into consideration, or consider how to spend wisely on more productive endeavors. You may think differently if you take into account how long you have to wait and how much work it takes before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.
My recommendation is to do both – try starting from scratch for the learning experience, while also starting with a few bigger plants from nurseries, or from your garden, so that you can be enjoying some more mature trees sooner.
I highly recommend that you buy an established bonsai from a bonsai hobbyist that has been well-implemented for you to learn from. You’ll get to enjoy your bonsai in the meantime and soon will have forgotten how much it cost you.
Starting Material
You can start with seeds, cuttings, air-layering, or by taking divisions.
It is faster to get a plant from a cutting than it is from seeds. Cutting grown trees will also guarantee what you’re getting, whereas seedlings can vary due to their genetic makeup – even when collected at the same time from the same tree.
Seeds
Most seeds need stratification to simulate the winter months before they will sprout. This applies to most of the bonsai material, like maples, zelkova, and pines. You can do that by keeping your dried, collected seeds in the refrigerator for 60-90 days. Before refrigerating, soak them overnight and then store in a moist and porous mix such as equal parts of coarse sand and peat moss.
Some seeds with a hard coating require elaborate procedures like undergoing several hot and cold cycles, and some require cracking mechanically. You can consult AI to get more information. YouTube also contains a lot of useful data, although some work is anecdotal.
Cuttings
Cuttings are usually easy to root and you will know exactly what you have on hand.
If you only want to have a few trees, I recommend that you take cuttings from existing bonsai you admire…so you know exactly how your bonsai will appear a few years down the road.
Either take soft or semisoft cuttings and plant them during the spring months through mid-summer, or take hardwood cuttings from the cooler season on. A 6” long cutting works well.
Softwood cuttings could root in a few months, whereas hardwood cuttings taken in the fall will be ready to plant out in the spring. This applies to most of the bonsai material, like elms, maples, and zelkovas.
Dip your cuttings in a rooting hormone, and it is essential to keep the cutting constantly moist. That means watering your cuttings once a day, and/or covering them with plastic to avoid evaporation…in a mixture of equal parts of coarse sand (make sure it does not contain salt) and Peat Moss.
Air-Layering
This is a preferred way to get a bonsai faster because you can air-layer a good size branch that is already shaped to your liking to give you a head start.
The process involves removing a ring of bark from a branch that you want to have as a new tree. Add rooting hormone [need Amazon link] around the ring and wrap with a ball of wet moss inside a plastic bag. The key to success is to totally remove the ring of bark, and to never let the moss dry out – add water from time to time if necessary.
Almost any tree can be propagated this way. Most bonsai trees (like elms and maples) can be rooted in six months. Japanese black pines were thought to be impossible to air-layer, and that has been disproven recently on Youtube. Turns out that one year-old branches can root in about a little more than a year.
Taking Division
Many trees will “sucker” – that is, over time, they will become multi-trunk trees with each of the branches below the soil rooted. This means that it’s possible to have many trees instantly – simply by breaking them apart.
Buying & Collecting Bonsai Material
Don’t forget to support your local nursery – it will encourage them to continue growing bonsai material and not switch entirely to only stocking decorative flower shrubs.
Additionally, there is probably no better way than to collect material from your garden…like from a hedge. I planted nearly 100 one-gallon prostrata junipers to hold the slope on a hillside, and now, almost thirty years later, I have ample specimens – some are now the 6” across that I use for YouTube demonstrations. How time flies!
The various ways to get bonsai materials are endless…because they are all around you! One simply has to know where to look.
Tips for Growing a Healthy Bonsai Tree
Amply water your trees, because they thrive when moist. Please do not believe in the conventional wisdom “do not over water your houseplants.” All trees thrive with ample water – even succulents. You can only “drown” your plants by letting them sit in rotten water that causes the roots to rot.
Grow your saplings in nursery pots until they are a good size so you can attend to their needs. Gradually move them to larger growing pots and even allow them to grow in the ground for a bit if you want bigger bonsai.
Comb out the roots while the tree is still young. Tangled roots are unsightly, and the bonsai will never be “right” – that is, it will never appear natural.
Pruning. This encourages branching and also helps to shape your trunk.
Re-orient the tree – especially when repotting. This will help to create interesting turns of the trunk as it grows.
Remove redundant branches. Doing so will encourage the branches you do want to keep to thicken. Branches with more leaves that are pointing up tend to thicken quicker. It is this kind of detail that makes a “great” bonsai, as opposed to a “good” one.
Fertilize. Do so frequently in warmer months to encourage rapid growth.
Never let the root balls dry out. Trees in nursery pots are more resilient – especially in oversized pots – as there is ample residual moisture, whereas bonsai in shallow pots can easily dry out. Water tends to run out on the side, leaving the rootball without any water. Place your bonsai in a soaking pan from time to time to allow time for the rootball to absorb as much water as it needs and to let residual water evaporate before watering. Check out our patent pending pot, which in essence puts the soaking feature inside the pot by elevating the drainage hole to allow time for the rootball to hydrate…Your bonsai will love it!
Please refer to Chapter 6 and Chapter 7, which focus on bonsai implementation.
About Bonsai Heirloom
We document bonsai transformations and the philosophy behind them. If you're feeling inspired to begin your own bonsai journey, consider adopting a bonsai from our curated collection. Each tree is hand-selected, artistically shaped, and ready to grow with you.