Bonsai4me Bonsai Basics

206 Pages·2013·11.36 MB·English

by  Harry Harrington

Bonsai4me: Bonsai Basics
by
Harry Harrington
Author: Harry Harrington
Bonsai4me: Bonsai Basics
Copyright © B4me Publishing 2013
All Rights Reserved.
This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of the Publisher, nor be circulated
in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the
subsequent Publisher.
All text and images by Harry Harrington unless otherwise stated.
Edited by:Harry Harrington
Front Cover Design and Diagrams by: Ninoslav Pirs/Tresh Design
Table of Contents
Introduction to Bonsai4me
Bonsai Basics Introduction
Chapter 1 An Introduction To Bonsai
Chapter 2 Starting Out In Bonsai
Chapter 3 Indoor Bonsai
Chapter 4 Growing Bonsai Outdoors
Chapter 5 Watering Your Bonsai
Chapter 6 Bonsai Tools
Chapter 7 The Importance Of Timing In Bonsai
Chapter 8 Improving Mallsai/Mass-Produced Bonsai
Chapter 9 An Introduction to Bonsai Soils
Chapter 10 Why Repotting is Essential to Bonsai
Chapter 11 When To Repot Your Bonsai
Chapter 12 A Photo-guide to Repotting
Repotting a Large Privet Bonsai
Chapter 13 Bare-rooting A Bonsai
Repotting and Bare-Rooting a Collected Privet Bonsai
Chapter 14 Fertilising Your Bonsai
Chapter 15 Maintenance Pruning 1-Apical Growth
Chapter 16 Maintenance Pruning 2-Pinching Out Deciduous Bonsai
Chapter 17 Maintenance Pruning 3-Pruning Decidous and Coniferous
Bonsai
Chapter 18 Styling:The Basic Forms of Bonsai
Styling: A Guide to Bonsai Styling and Critique
Chapter 19 Wiring
Chapter 20 Repairing Snapped Branches
Chapter 21 Propagation
Propagating From Seed
Bonsai From Cuttings
Chapter 22 Developing Nursery Stock into Bonsai
Chapter 23 A Basic Guide to Pests and Diseases That Affect Bonsai
Chapter 24 Species Guides
Buxus/ Boxwood Bonsai
Ficus/ Fig Bonsai
Juniperus/ Juniper Bonsai
Ligustrum/ Privet Bonsai
Olea/ Olive Bonsai
Sageretia theezans/ Chinese Bird Plum Bonsai
Serissa foetida/ Tree of a Thousand Stars or Serissa Bonsai
Ulmus/ Elm Bonsai
Zelkova/ Elm Bonsai
Chapter 25 Glossary of Bonsai Terms
Chapter 26 Glossary of Japanese Bonsai Terms
Final Message
Introduction to Bonsai4me
www.bonsai4me.com started life as a collection of private notes about
bonsai that were first published as 'Species Guides' by Harry Harrington
in 2001; the first comprehensive study of plant species suitable for bonsai
available online.
Since that time Bonsai4me has grown on an annual basis and now
attracts over 1.5 million different visitors each year from around the world.
The success and popularity of the 'Progression Series' (articles and
photoseries showing the development of a bonsai over many years) in
Bonsai4me.com has led to Harry Harrington writing and publishing 2
books on the subject via B4MePublishing; Bonsai Inspirations 1
published in 2011 and Bonsai Inspirations 2 , published in 2012.
Bonsai Basics Introduction
The Art and Practise of Bonsai conjures an aura of mystery and wonder that
draws many first-time enthusiasts to it.
Until the 1990's and the onset of the Internet, bonsai enthusiasts were few
and far between. Information was very scarce and only available in a handful
books written by Western 'Bonsai Masters' who had worked in isolation for
many years. There was a lot of trial and error on the part of both these 'Masters'
and enthusiasts.
This trial and error period didn’t necessarily lead to good information......
Individuals lacking in basic knowledge and experience (relative to today’s
standards) wrote books and the misinformation contained was passed around as
gospel. It is no wonder that people who took up bonsai were often confused. It
can be extremely difficult to decipher between fact and fiction when even
reference books seemed to contradict each other!
With the advent of the Internet, enthusiasts were finally able to link up across
the world and compare experiences, improve their overall knowledge and
discover many pre-90 bonsai books are inaccurate and in some cases downright
wrong! Unfortunately many vendors and 'authorities' on bonsai still hark back to
the old days and continue to perpetuate myths and bad practises.
Upon finding that I work as a professional bonsai artist, many people will
remark that they once had a bonsai, but it died and with some regret, they gave
up.
It is hoped that this book, 'Bonsai4me: Bonsai Basics', will arm those new to
bonsai with a solid foundation of knowledge that will enable them to
successfully keep their bonsai alive and well, through very simple practises, and
continue to enjoy, what for many that practise the Art, is a life-long passion.
Bonsai4me:Bonsai Basics takes the reader through the basics of caring for
their first bonsai with honest, simple and straightforward advice from the writer
of Bonsai4me, Harry Harrington.
Over 29 chapters, Bonsai Basics offers guidelines on subjects such as
placement, watering, indoor and outdoor bonsai, pruning, wiring, repotting and
rootpruning as well as fertilizing, wiring and styling.
All based on a website, Bonsai4me.com, that has been widely regarded and
referred to for over a decade by millions of enthusiasts around the world.
An Introduction To Bonsai
Chapter 1
The word bonsai comes from the Chinese words pun sai, meaning quite
literally ‘tree in a pot’.
Originally a practice of containerising ancient wild trees in China, bonsai
was exported to Japan around 500 years ago where it has become an art form.
Regarded as a novelty in the West until the early 20th century, Bonsai has now
been embraced as a serious horticultural art form by the Gardening
Establishment here in Britain and the West as a whole.
Prunus incisa 'Kojo-no-mai'/Fuji Cherry 'mame' bonsai by Harry
Harrington
The ‘tree’ can be a vine, a shrub or a tree. A common misconception for
beginners is that the plants used for bonsai are ‘dwarf’ plants or even ‘special
bonsai plants’. Quite simply, bonsai are everyday shrubs, trees and vines. For
this reason, they go through their normal seasonal phases, flowering, fruiting and
shedding leaves. Bonsai require the great outdoors in the same way that their
‘untrained’ garden counterparts do.
Trees growing in the wild can elicit a number of emotions in all of us; they can
be powerful statements of age and strength as well as beauty as this Cedrus
Libani photographed at Tattoon Park in Cheshire does.
Plants have evolved over thousands of years to take advantage of natural
light, wind, rain and seasonal changes. Cultivating them in the unnatural
environment of our homes mean they have to cope with poor light and low
humidity levels. Your tree may be able to ‘exist’ for a few months indoors but it
will never thrive. Continual indoor cultivation for outdoor trees nearly always
results in death unless the tree is given a position outside to regain its health.
There are a few plants that will cope with indoor cultivation for short periods of
time; often these are tropical species that require winter protection against the
cold, but even tropical species need outdoor conditions after the threat of frost