Indoor or outdoor? The question arises sometimes, is it alright to leave bonsai outside all the time? Well, apart from winter time when even when even hardy trees could use some frost protection, it is important to realise that bonsai are classified as indoor or outdoor, in northern climates anyway. In tropical or subtropical countries all trees would be outdoor, but in our northern climate these would be called indoor bonsai.
Having said that, these trees would benefit from being placed outside during warm sunny periods in summer - but watch out for those nights that can turn cold, keep an eye on the weather forecasts. The sub-tropical varieties should tolerate lower temperatures during the night, but not lower than say, 10c -50f. After all, Mediterranean nights can sometimes turn cool.
The Citrus family is a large one, classed as subtropical, native to Asia, Africa and the Med. Here you have the orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit etc., and can be propagated from either seed (available from the fruit) or by cuttings taken in spring. Citrus need to be watered moderately during the summer, and fed well during the growing season, with the soil just kept moist in the winter. As a rule, this family has a fairly weak root system and only needs repotting every two to three years, in the spring, taking care not to damage the roots.
The Jade, (Crassula) or Money Tree as it is commonly known, is another sub-tropical originating in South Africa, and is a succulent evergreen. I have found this to be one of the easiest plants to strike cuttings from. There have been times when, after pruning, I have stuck some of the pieces in any old spare pot containing compost in the greenhouse and they have quite happily taken root. It has thick, fleshy leaves and requires little watering, and in fact can be left unwatered for two to three weeks at a time. In summer water moderately when the soil appears to be drying out.
A common house plant is the weeping fig, Ficus Benjamina, and this makes an excellent indoor bonsai. It takes fairly easily from cuttings in a warm environment, keeping the soil just moist. As this grows rather quickly you have to watch it carefully if wiring trunk or branches as wire marks will be scored into the bark, and once in these marks will just grow with the tree. It can be pruned at any time of the year, but remember to cut back to a bud facing the direction in which you wish the branch to grow. So if you can get your hands on a mature Ficus you have an almost instant bonsai…instant that is, after you have examined it carefully to assess its future shape, then pruned, shaped and repotted after trimming the roots.
A slight diversion now. I recently made up a couple of handy little benches for displaying my little trees, very simple and very cheap. I was able to get hold of an old disused wooden pallet which I sawed lengthways down the middle. I then looked around for something suitable for legs and found enough pieces of 2” x 2” and other chunky timber to make eight 2' 0” long legs - four to each corner of the two halves of the pallet, screwed or nailed on. The whole lot was then given a couple of coats of golden wood preservative, the cheap stuff that is used on fences and garden sheds. Quite effective and very useful.
A Word on Pines
Pines and conifers are very popular as bonsai; they are hardy, resilient, quite easy to train, and with reasonable care are quite forgiving. One drawback is that if a section of the trunk or branches becomes barren they are most unlikely to regenerate. Let us talk about the white pine - in general that is - as there are many varieties of this as of other trees. They are usually from China, Japan and that general area of the Pacific Rim, so they are more accepted as bonsai, very popular in the Orient. They are usually trained in the slanting style, or the informal upright…just a twist or two in the trunk.
If you are buying stock from a garden centre or shop check that the plant is fresh looking, with healthy needles, crisp and green not sorry looking and brown tipped. Are they in clean pots or dirty containers with dry or damp soil? Check the twigs and needles to see if they are dried up and wrinkled, a sign of dehydration. Check that the soil is not clay mud, a sign that the plant has merely been dug up and dumped in a container. Reputable sellers would have replaced this with decent compost when repotting.
The compost for pines should be kept damp during the growing season, with not quite so much watering in the winter. They will benefit from a water spray during dry conditions, and feeding every three to four weeks.
As with any bonsai it is not advisable to start feeding immediately after repotting as the roots may have been cut and could be harmed by the feed. It is best to wait four to six weeks to allow the cut ends to heal. Neither is it necessary to use the feeding medium at full strength, reduce it slightly. As you can imagine, bonsai roots are fine and fibrous and may suffer from a full strength mixture.
Try to keep a newly acquired tree out of extreme conditions of wind, rain and sun, and certainly out of a centrally heated room. A part shaded position is ideal for pines as full sun can make the tree more yellow sometimes, while full shade is not advisable either, as this also can distort the colour.
A free draining soil is important for all pines, something like 30% sand or grit to a 70% compost, leaf mould and composted bark mix. I find sand and a universal compost quite suitable as long as they are fed to the recommendations. Prune the old needles at the back of each bud every two or three years. If you wish to develop young inner buds along the branch then prune out some, if not all, of the leading tips that aren't required.
All in all, pines make very good bonsai.
