OUTDOOR BONSAI

Outdoor bonsai is a good place to start if you’re a beginner at this art and feel rather timid. Outdoor plants are easier to grow and overwinter. If you want to grow conifers, outdoors is the best place to do this.

How to Choose a Bonsai Plant

With outdoor plants you need to decide first whether you want a deciduous or evergreen plant. Deciduous trees show off more of their form in the winter when leaves are gone and can be quite beautiful. If it’s an evergreen you want, would you rather have one with broad leaves or a conifer with needles? Do you want a flowering plant? All of these are a matter of personal taste and the best way to decide is to look at the plants and also pictures of bonsai to see what attracts you.

Where to Site Your Bonsai

Keep your outside bonsai outdoors. They need the natural elements. If you wish you can bring your bonsai inside one day a week from June to October.

Sunlight is necessary for good, compact growth. Protect all deciduous trees, cypress and spruce from afternoon, summer sun. Turn pots periodically.

How to Plant Your Bonsai

Choose a container that’s the right size for your tree. Generally, the length should be about 2/3 the height of the tree. The depth should be about 1 1/2 times the diameter of the trunk. Wire a small screen over any drainage holes in the pot. The type of soil depends on the type of plant you’re growing, but using a special soil is very important. Please ask our staff or refer to one of the references listed below. Remove the plant from the container it came in and slightly mist the exposed roots. Tease the root ball gently apart. Remove stale soil and check for insects or signs of root rot. Clean this area well. Try the tree in it’s new container. To decide how many roots to remove—look at the foliage. Keep slightly more roots than foliage at all times. Having far more roots than foliage encourages root rot. Trim the roots so the tree can be properly placed in the pot. Add small amounts of soil at a time and thoroughly tamp the particles into place around the roots. Spend time tamping the soil into crevices and air pockets. Keep tamping until no more soil can be incorporated, making sure the largest exposed roots are about 1/3 above the total height of the pot. Carefully brush the soil surface to create the landscape you desire. The soil level at the edges should be 1/4" below the rim. Early spring is the best time to repot plants. Young trees need to be repotted every year, older bonsai, once every 2—5 years.

Outdoor Bonsai Care

Never allow your bonsai to dry out. Water in the morning so the plant doesn’t sit around wet at night and collect slugs and diseases. Spray the soil to wet it enough so it will absorb more water. Spray the leaves and branches to wash them as well. Watering during the rain will accomplish this first step. Then after a few minutes, water the plant well. Wait a few more minutes, then water a third time, drenching the area around the trunk and root ball to flush impurities out. Make sure you water the entire pot, even around the edges so that water runs out the drainage hole. Submersion in a watering tub is best, but overhead watering is fine. In summer you’ll probably need to water every day, in winter perhaps twice a month.

For fertilizing we recommend using Osmocote twice a year as a slow release fertilizer and in addition using liquid fertilizer every other week during the growing season—from April to October.

Pruning must continue for the entire life of your bonsai. Winter is the best time to improve shape and keep your bonsai small. This is highly individual depending on your plant and the shape you want it to become. We recommend taking classes, asking our bonsai experts and reading books.

Winter care for your bonsai is simple. Keep them outside under cover. Protection from temperatures below freezing is necessary. Keep in an unheated room until temperatures increase.

The most common insect problems come from aphids and mites. Spray these with soapy water. Slugs can also be a problem, check the bottoms of pots, collect and drown them in a bucket of soapy water.

Supplies & Sources

• Your bonsai plant
• perfect container
• Screen for the drain hole
• Bonsai soil—we sell pre-mixed bags in pint and 4 gallon sizes
• Osmocote and liquid fertilizers
• Pruners
• Root hook
• Chopsticks
• Decorative rocks
• Books:
• The Bonsai Workshop by Herb L. Gustafson
• Keep Your Bonsai Alive & Well by Herb L. Gustafson
• Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Bonsai edited by Victoria Jahn
• Bonsai; Step by Step to Growing Success by Dave Pike
• Bonsai from Native Trees & Shrubs by Werner M. Busch

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