Garden Tips

If this is your first attempt as caring for a bonsai, then buying a ready-made bonsai tree is a legitimate first step, However, if you are an experienced bonsai grower, starting a bonsai from seeds is a very good way to create natural designs right from the start, which surprisingly, can be achieved after a few years. The process of bonsai creation, rather than the end product is essentially an art in itself. It is true that a great deal of patience is required, but growing a bonsai plant from seed and caring for it over many years brings a great deal of satisfaction and a remarkable sense of achievement.

How you sow the seeds is the first technique you must master with this process. The seeds should be obtained from a reputable seed man or, even better, collected from the trees when they are ripe.... Acacias, Elms, Stinkwoods, and Maples are good examples. Those seeds with a fleshy coating (such as the Cotoneaster and Ligustrims) should be cleaned and dried first before sowing. At the end of fall is a good time to do this as it will ensure the seeds are fully developed.


Planting tree seeds in winter is obviously nature's way and plan, so it is recommended that seeds be stratified by placing them in the refrigerator for several days. Stratification is the process of alternate thawing and freezing that occurs in nature and that eventually breaks the dormancy of the seed. Maples will actually germinate if placed on the top shelf of a refrigerator, the not-so-cold spot! A number of tree seeds have hard protective coats, which make them difficult to germinate. If you are working with these types of seeds, they need to be soaked in water and placed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to stratify.

When ready to plant, place a good seed sowing medium, something like an equal mix of part peat and part sand, in shallow seed flat trays. Arranging the seeds is not that important at this point because they will be transplanted into individual pots soon after they have germinated. In planting, arrange the seeds in groups or 'families' with spaces in between. This will give the impression of fields or meadows. Each family must have a dominate tree. The overall design is important in that it must conform again to a dominate group with each group slightly smaller.

Place the trays out in an unheated greenhouse enclosure over the winter or alternatively leave the trays outdoors, covered with a pane of glass. In the spring, the seeds should germinate. Germination is only the first step of the very long process of bonsai creation. The seedling still have to be carefully nurtured until big and strong enough to be shaped by wiring and pruning.

When the trees have reached the required height (not more than one and a half of the length of the container), remove about one-third of the bottom branches and also remove any branches that are growing inwards. Shape each group as a single mini bonsai tree seedling or, if the scene is thickly planted, treat the whole group as a single unit.

Now you are ready to make your first planting. This is really a simple and very natural way to create effective bonsai seedling group planting. It will do away with that contrived look. Place five to ten seedlings in the palm of the hand with a little soil. Squeeze very gently together, then plant as a family. The result is always natural. With this way you can arrange or design your scene with much more ease. It's good fun. Try it!

You can easily master growing bonsai trees,learn more secrets about the care and find more Bonsai Tools at Gardening tools Shop, feeding and maintenance of japanese bonsai trees by signing up for a free Bonsai Tree Care e-course at japanesebonsaitrees.co.cc

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