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The Dirt On Bonsai — for Beginners Bonsai instructor Dennis Makishima takes some of the mystery out of the ancient art of growing and maintaining miniature trees. From "The Dirt On..." episode DTDO-103

Bonsai enthusiast and instructor Dennis Makishima came by The Dirt On . . . to offer up a lesson in "bonsai basics." Here are a few tips for bonsai beginners, delivered by a bonsai expert.

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Bonsai trees are planted in shallow pots and carefull pruned to keep them small, creating the fascinating visual of a full-grown tree in miniature.

What's the definition of bonsai?

A bonsai is a tree in a pot that is no more than three feet tall and is artistically pruned. To create one, you basically train a tree that would normally grow to full size to be a miniature version. If you were to take a picture of a bonsai tree, it should look just like a full-grown tree but on a smaller scale.

Is it better to buy a bonsai that's already been pruned or to create one yourself?

For the beginner, it's easier to start with a plant from the nursery because a trained bonsai can be hard to take care of and very pricy. Here's how to start your own.

• The first step is to choose a tree. Since your bonsai will need to live outdoors, pick a tree that is well suited to your area. Good options for beginners include: Hinoki cypress, pine, juniper, camellia, azalea, holly and cedar. Buy a one-gallon size and leave it in the plastic nursery pot as you follow the steps below until you reach the step for transplanting.

• Next, examine your tree to see which bonsai shape it most naturally resembles. There are five basic styles:
  
  • A formal upright bonsai has a trunk that is straight up and down.
    
  • An informal upright has curves in the trunk but the top is always over the bottom.
    
  • A slant style tree has a slanted trunk, but it shouldn't look like it is going to fall over. It should still maintain balance.
    
  • A half cascade has a trunk that dips down but levels out so that no part of the tree falls below the base.
    
  • A full cascade is a tree that goes up and dips down, growing below the bottom of the pot.
  
  

• Once you choose your style, it's time to bend your tree into that shape using wire. You don't want to make these bends to drastic so it's important that your shape resembles the tree's natural form. Choose a wire that has the same amount of tension in it that the tree trunk does. You can either buy specialized wire from a store that sells bonsai tools or you can use something you already have. Stick your wire in the soil a couple inches to anchor it and then wrap it around the trunk (figure A). Slowly and carefully bend the trunk and to approximate the form you've chosen (figure B), being careful not to damage the trunk. This wire will hold the tree in this shape until it can hold it on its own. In about three months you can remove the wire.

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  

  	Figure C
  	Figure D

• Since you want your bonsai to resemble a full size, aesthetically pleasing tree, you'll have to prune it (figure C). To do this you can use special bonsai scissors or your standard hand pruners or pruning scissors. Here is where your artistic abilities can really shine. If you're not feeling artistic, don't worry. Following these pruning steps will get your tree into shape in no time.
  
  1. Snip off any leaves or branches that are sticking straight up like a bad hairdo.
     
  2. Always cut at a joint, where the foliage attaches at the branch. If you cut across the foliage, it will turn brown.
     
  3. Cut off any foliage that grows on the underside of the branches. If this were a full size tree, these leaves would fall off anyway because they wouldn't get enough light.

• At this point, your tree is still in the one-gallon container you purchased it in (figure D). You can leave it in this for the entire first year. After one year, wait until the winter and then cut down 50 percent of the root ball and transplant it into a pot that's half the size of the original. One year after that cut down the roots again and transplant it into a shallow bonsai pot. You don't want to stress your tree by going from a one-gallon container to a two-inch pot too soon.

They take a little more upkeep as far as pruning and watering than your other plants, but caring for them can be very therapeutic and rewarding. "They are" as Dennis says, "a labor of love."

Go to next article in DIY's "Gardening Specialties" series.