What is Bonsai Gardening?

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Bonsai is the ancient art form of creating miniaturized trees. The art of bonsai itself is over 2000 years old, and commenced during China’s Han dynasty. The Chinese word for bonsai gardening, pen’jing, translates “tray scenery” or “tree or shrub planted in a shallow tray”. It was given the name bonsai by the Japanese, who adopted the style around the ninth century.

Bonsai gardening is certainly one of the most unique and beautiful forms of art in existence. Since its early beginning in ancient China through to the present day, it has developed into many interesting individual styles. Once miniaturized, however, maintaining the look and well-being of the bonsai requires a bit of care and attention on the part of the gardener.

There are a number of styles that comprise the art form of bonsai gardening. These styles include:
– formal upright
– cascade
– forest
– slant
– literati
– root-over-rock

Bonsai done in the formal upright style are grown to have upright trunks which are straight and tapering. Cascade style bonsai are intentionally grown to resemble trees that grow on the sides of mountains. Forest style bonsai are relatively self explanatory. They contain several trees planted together in odd numbers. This type of bonsai gardening is intended to copy the diversity of age and height commonly found in nature.

Slant style bonsai are aptly named. Their trunks are straight, as in the formal upright style, but lean at a slant from the surface of the soil. Literati bonsai were inspired by ancient brush paintings of trees that grew in inhospitable climates. Therefore they don’t have many branches. What branches they do have are generally clustered at the top of the trunk, which is generally contorted. In the root-over-rock style, the roots of the bonsai are wrapped around a rock at the base of the tree.

An important part of bonsai gardening is discovering how to care for your bonsai. Bonsai require a warm location with plenty of light in order to thrive. Don’t place them near window sills, because of the varying temperatures that can occur from drafts.

It’s not necessary to water bonsai as you would typically water a standard houseplant. Bonsai trees require immersion of the whole pot or tray in water for several minutes. Once removed from the water, allow the bonsai to drain. During the summer, bonsai need to be watered daily, and every second day during the cooler months.

Bonsai also require a lot of fertilizer. Fertilizer should be given to the bonsai only after it has been watered. A typical feeding schedule would be once every two weeks during the summer months, cutting that back to once a month for the rest of year.

Bonsai are living trees, and will therefore grow and develop new branches and limbs over time. When it comes time to prune this new growth, follow the original style of your bonsai. Remember, you only need to maintain the look of your bonsai, so don’t prune too much – just enough to remove the new sprouts and shoots.

When you’re just beginning, there’s a lot to learn. So it’s worthwhile to have some bonsai information on hand, such as Bonsai Gardening Secrets. If you want to create and own beautiful Bonsai Trees, then this quick and easy step by step guide to creating your very own Bonsai Trees is invaluable.

To find out more about bonsai gardening, check out http://www.gardeningzoneonline.com