Sticks and Stuff

[Bugbear]

I looked over my trees a while ago, and none are ready to go in a bonsai container. It can take a very long time, five to seven years, to get them somewhat like a bonsai tree. Basically the first several years are spent growing a trunk of the tree that is very fat at the base or root flare, and that, in most cases, has a substantial taper . The placement of the first few branches is also a factor in the first few years. How this is done depends on the species of tree, but often involves chopping the whole tree back to a stump or low branch one or more times a year etc.

The tree has to have a good root system to generate that much growth, so they are usually either grown in the ground or as a branch of a full grown tree, possibly in a very large container. The bonsai, when in it's proper container, almost stops growing, so is very easy to kill. Which I have done to many of my trees.