Steps to making miniature bonsai

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The height of a miniature bonsai plant should not exceed 10 cm (measured from the part of the plant that emerges from the soil). When making miniature bonsai, we generally choose materials with thin branches and small leaves, easy to grow in pots, unique roots and trunks, bright flowers and fruits, and easy to shape.

Commonly chosen ones include five-needle pine, small-leaved Podocarpus, juniper, black pine, boxwood, phoenix bamboo, fine-leaved holly, Serissa serrulata, asparagus fern, photinia, and nandina domestica. The above tree species can be obtained as plants by cuttings, sowing and division.

In order to quickly shape it, you can also go to the mountains and dig up tree stumps of wolfberry, caragana, golden bean, wisteria, centipede, pyracantha, etc. After digging them out and artistically shaping them, you can plant them in pots.

modeling

It is important to "have the idea in mind before writing" and have the image of the ancient tree in your mind. The shape should be highly generalized. Commonly used methods include palm wire tying method, lead wire winding method, branch folding method, climbing method and inverted hanging method, etc. Among them, the lead wire winding method is relatively simple. Generally, tree pruning is best done in the morning.

The specific operation is to select lead wire of appropriate diameter to wrap around the branches according to the thickness of the branches, and then bend the branches into the required shape. When wrapping wire, it must be close to the bark, with appropriate density, and the winding direction should be 45 degrees to the diameter of the branch. After 1 to 2 years, when the trunk is basically shaped, the lead wire can be removed. Unnecessary and messy branches should be shortened or removed.

Basin

When shaping the tree, transplant it from the clay pot to a purple clay pot or glazed pot. The shape, size, and color of the pot must match the tree.

Generally speaking, tall cylindrical pots are suitable for cliff-style plants; oval or shallow rectangular pots are suitable for planting straight-trunk or slanted-trunk plants; round pots can be used to arrange low winding plants; polygonal shallow pots are suitable for planting high-trunk plants.

In addition, the pot stand should also be coordinated with the shape and color of the flower pots to blend into a complete artistic structure. The ancients had a famous saying about appreciating the art of bonsai: "one tree, two pots and three flower stands".

Maintenance

The maintenance of miniature bonsai requires particular care and meticulousness. The potting soil should be kept moist at all times, and watered when dry, or irrigated by immersing the pot. Place it in the shade in midsummer and spray water on the plant with a fine-hole spray bottle to maintain a moist environment.

During the growth period, apply thin fertilizer frequently, generally once every ten days or so. You can use fully decomposed bean cake water, pig hoof water, etc. You can also apply full-element compound fertilizers, and the best method of fertilization is pot immersion.