Bonsai gardening is an ancient art form of training trees to grow in minature proportions.  The practice itself is more than 2000 years old, and started during China’s Han dynasty.  The Chinese word meaning bonsai gardening, pen’jing, literally translates as “tray scenery” or “tree or shrub planted in a shallow tray”.  It was given the name bonsai by the Japanese, who adopted the style around the ninth century. 

Bonsai gardening is definitely one of the most unique and beautiful forms of art in the area of gardening. Since its early beginning in ancient China up until the present day, it has developed into many striking individual styles.  Once miniaturized, however, maintaining the look and well-being of the bonsai requires an amount of care and attention by the gardener.

There are several styles that comprise the art form of bonsai gardening.  These styles include:
– formal upright
– cascade
– forest
– slant
– literati
– root-over-rock

Bonsai done in the more formal upright style are trained to have upright trunks that are straight and tapering.   Cascade style bonsai are intentionally groomed to resemble trees that grow on the sides of mountains. Forest style bonsai are reasonably self explanatory.  They are comprised of a number of trees planted together in odd numbers.  This type of bonsai gardening has the intention of mimicking the diversity of age and height which is common in the wild. 

Slant style bonsai are aptly named.  Their trunks are straight, as in the formal upright style, but lean at a slant from the garden’s surface.  Literati bonsai were inspired by ancient brush paintings of trees that grew in inhospitable climates.  Therefore they have few branches.  What branches they do have are usually clustered at the top of the trunk, which is generally contorted.  In the root-over-rock style, the roots of the bonsai are wrapped around a rock at the base of the tree. 

An important element of bonsai gardening is discovering how to care for your bonsai.  Bonsai require a warm location with lots of light in order to thrive.  Avoid placing them near window sills, due to the wide ranging temperatures that can be present as a result of drafts.

It’s not necessary to water bonsai as you would typically water a standard houseplant.  Bonsai trees require immersion of the entire pot or tray in water for several minutes.  Once removed from the water, allow the bonsai to drain.  During the summer, bonsai need to be watered daily, and every second day during the cooler months. 
 
Bonsai also require a lot of fertilizer.  Fertilizer should be given to the bonsai only after watering.  A typical feeding schedule would be once every two weeks during the summer months, reducing that to once a month for the rest of year. 

Bonsai are living trees, and will therefore grow and develop new branches and limbs over time.  When it’s time to prune this new growth, follow the original style of your bonsai.  Remember, you only need to maintain the look of your bonsai, so don’t prune too much – just enough to remove the new sprouts and shoots. 

When you’re just starting out, there’s a lot to learn.  So it’s a good idea to have some bonsai information on hand, such as Bonsai Gardening Secrets.  If you want to create and own beautiful Bonsai Trees, then this quick and simple step by step guide to creating your very own Bonsai Trees is invaluable.

 To find out more about bonsai gardening, check out http://www.gardeningzoneonline.com