Fall

As the calendar moves into Fall, it’s time to bring my trees inside. Night time temperatures are moving into the 50’s F so I’m bring them in a week early but better to be a little safe. I didn’t do much to these trees over the Summer but water and let them grow and they grew very well. Each of the trees developed a lot of new growth with the Texas Ebony really surprising me with its thick, new foliage and strong branches.

I will let both Ficus grow more over the Winter before I do any pruning and re-potting in the Spring but I am going to spend some time cleaning up the Ebony now. I want to prune back the very long shoot that extended the main, center branch and also clip back most of the branches to a more reasonable length that maintains some compactness to the tree.

Finally, I’ll do some pruning on the leaves by cutting any of them that are growing straight down and maintain the leaf pads.

Before pruning

After pruning

Overall not heavy pruning but a good cleanup that retains the shape of the tree. I'm trying to root the large center branch that I clipped off to hopefully grow a smaller Ebony. I haven't had success in the past with rooting Ebony clippings but this branch is much larger so maybe this will work.

Beginning

I have been interested in bonsai on and off over the past several years and had many failures like most people who start a hobby without much research. The typical small juniper is what I started with and that didn’t end very well. Many web searches, you tube videos and a couple of books later helped me get some general knowledge to build upon. This is a chronicle of my bonsai journey and some things I've learned along the way.

  

3 important things I've learned about bonsai

• Understand tree species
• Understand your growing environment
• Determine your time commitment

   

Tree Species

As a beginner, I found the most important thing to consider is the type of tree that you want to grow and it’s requirements. That juniper that everyone seems to start with is not a tree that can grow indoors. No matter how hard you try, most likely you will fail. Picking the species of tree will depend upon where you plan on keeping it, indoor or out. Ficus are a wonderful species that can be grown in both indoor and outdoor environments. They are generally easy to grow and maintain but they aren't the only options. I have a few ficus trees but I've also have some other trees that can do well indoors and out.

  

That being said, for one living in a colder climate, placing trees outside in the summer months and indoors during the winter is the best solution. Even trees that can grow indoors will maintain their health better given some time outside. More about trees later…

  

Growing Space

It goes without saying that space will dictate the direction of one’s bonsai journey. The size of trees that one can grow will be dependent on the size of space with available light. Without a large yard or greenhouse, it’s most likely that some space by a window is the only choice that will provide adequate light depending on the climate. That’s why smaller trees make sense for many people.

  

I have a couple of windows that work pretty well with trees that can grow with lower light in the colder months.

  

Time Commitment

Time commitment is a two part question to consider. Not only is this about how much time one spends on a hobby but also the time it takes to see some results. Bonsai is as much about the process as the final result but one also likes to see some results a bit sooner than later. Many tree species can take many years before meaningful results show. On the other hand, some species grow reasonably fast so that within a few years one can grow and style a wonderful tree. One can learn more quickly and fail more quickly too!