GROW MY OWN BONSAI

I always wanted to grow my own bonsai. 

I have spent hours looking at countless images of perfect little trees and forest scenes in books and magazines, drawing my imagination away to far off mystical lands and exciting cultures where entire gardens are grown around this miniature theme.

Tiny trees that can be hundreds of years old, handed down from generation to generation, had me believing that to achieve such perfection in the palm of one’s hand, may have needed the ancient oriental gardeners to use a sprinkle of magic bonsai dust for them to achieve such beauty! 

I have always been interested in Japanese culture and bonsai in particular has appealed to me since I was young. 

I WANTED MY OWN BONSAI

I desperately wanted a bonsai of my own so I could care for a living sculpture that I, and anyone else who saw it could be inspired by its magic and beauty. 

Over the years I have collected many great books on the subject, so I could learn the secrets of the oriental masters and find some direction for growing fine bonsai specimens. Some of these books I would recommended while some others, I felt it was a shame a tree had been cut down for them to be printed on! 

I spent years growing cuttings and seedlings in large pots and foam vegetable boxes, searching discount sales sections at the local nursery and even raiding my families garden for anything that resembled a bonsai, I have tried it all to build my collection of Japanese bonsai. 

One day by sheer luck as I passed a local nursery I spotted a sign saying “BONSAI BEGINNERS COURSE HERE!” 

Although at this point I didn’t think of myself as a complete beginner (as my self education on the subject was quite broad), I decide to enquire anyway. 

After walking into the nursery and being overwhelmed with the quality of their bonsai section, I signed up on the spot!

Who ever had grown their bonsai truly knew what they were doing and I wanted a piece of that! 

BONSAI BEGINNERS COURSE

The course lasted for over 4 hours and it seemed every question I had about creating a bonsai tree was being answered before I even had to ask! 

It was like the teacher had peered over the fence at my place, seen my collection and structured the course around everything I did wrong or didn’t understand that well yet. 

Best of all we took what seemed like every day pot plants or nursery stock, we pruned, wired and potted our very own bonsai to take home, that I still have kept alive to this day. 

WHY WAS IT DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I ALREADY KNEW?

I knew what I wanted my trees to look like, as I had seen so many pictures in so many books, but what was missing was elements of the trunk thickness, the branch placement , shape and size of the pot, all put together to create any one of the five styles of Japanese bonsai. 

What I learnt on that day allowed me to look at my collection of trees in a whole new way and refine them to be a much better quality tree. 

STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER 

That bonsai course was many years ago and now I have become the teacher. 

I regularly teach to enthusiastic bonsai growers who are starting out just like I did many years ago, searching for a way to create and look after my own mystical trees.

 I haven’t discovered where to get any magic bonsai dust from just yet, but I have put together a bonsai course for those of you who can’t get to a nursery that teaches classes. 

If you want to learn how to put the elements of true bonsai together and refine your own trees, or want to create a bonsai from household plants or nursery stock.

Take a bonsai beginners course like I did.