So You Want To Bonsai?

Bonsai, the ancient art of miniaturizing nature, Growing natural trees in a small way. Tree in pot. Sounds easy but when practiced one finds it much more difficult than usually thought. To grow healthy Bonsai trees all of its needs have to be met, from water, sun light, and fertilizers and pruning. Learning all this takes time and research, this time and effort will be well rewarded if implemented.

When starting out to grow your own bonsai trees it is highly recommended to use local native species. You can make a lot of educational mistakes that won't cost you an arm and a leg. Many people start with tropical trees that can be grown inside in the winter in areas too cold for their survival. Tropical bonsai tend to be faster growing than the non tropical trees that usually need a cool or even a cold winter to mature.

Patience is the first and most important attribute that someone needs to grow bonsai. Many of the best trees can actually out live the grower. When the proper care and environment is created a Bonsai tree can live over one hundred years. Many of these specimen trees are handed down through generations. These trees can fetch thousands of dollars if they are ever sold.

Selecting the plant material that you want to use can vary from the tropical to the local trees, but can also include perennial plants like herbs and chrysanthemums. As these plants are not as long lived and also grow much faster will help you on your educational path.

Yes, Using herbs as bonsai has been done for centuries. Small leaves and a mature looking growth in one season can help in the learning process. When I was in Japan I was there for the chrysanthemum festival and on display were a number of different herbs as bonsai. The chrysanthemum on display had feature as intricate as full grown forests. The great thing about Bonsai as an art is to mimic nature in a smaller form. Have fun with what ever plant materials you want to use. Most of the original bonsai art was done with local and native plants.

Today the most sought after Bonsai trees are from Japan, China and Asia, as these trees have the images that people are looking for in the Art of Bonsai. If You seek out these trees be prepared to spend good money to get them. Most important is that as a Bonsai enthusiast getting started is the first step.

The great thing about using herbs and other perennials is that you will get faster growth and you will learn more. The more you try to do the better skills you will develop. And if you make a mistake with a perennial you have not lost a long lived tree. Bonsai can be very rewarding and may teach you a few things in the process. Seek out the help you will need from the many that have gone before you, their knowledge is priceless.

Fall Cleanup New and Improved

OK so for many years I have been a fan of more horse power, power blowers and gas powered everything to help in my fall cleanups. After blowing all the leaves and debris from the garden, I would then pick it all up and then shred it before putting on top the compost pile. I am a big promoter of Organic Gardening and Composting it critical to maintaining a healthy garden.

OK So back to my point... this year I was introduced to a product from BLACK and DECKER. It is their vacuum shredder. It is electric and is a power house of a tool. With this powerful little sucker there is no need to rake out the garden beds and from under the shrubs, all you do is suck up all the leaves and debris and it shreds and bags it all. Just dump it into the compost and you are done!

The time savings was great did my whole garden in just a couple of hours instead of more than a day as in the past. Love this tool and it cost only $79. A bargain and big time saver.



High Performance Blower Vac Leaf Hog
Model: BV4000