You have seen the little juniper bonsais in the mall or the home store - and you have resisted buying one, because they are expensive, or because they are difficult to care for, or due to the fear of it dying.
There is a way you can have a beautiful Juniper bonsai, for only a small amount of money, and you can learn to care for it and keep it healthy, without fear of your treasure getting sick or dying, just by following the tips below.
Selection and Acquisition There are several varieties of Juniper suitable for bonsai.
The best one for beginners, and the one you most often see at the malls or home stores, is Juniperus Procumbens Nana, commonly known as the Japanese Garden Juniper or the "Green Mound" Juniper.
Here's the secret: These Junipers are sold in landscape nurseries, and in the garden department of your local "big box" hardware store for use as ground cover.
They come in one and five gallon sizes, but the one gallon will make a fine small bonsai.
You should be able to find one for a fraction of the cost of a bonsai.
Supplies You Will Need: Here is another secret: You do not need expensive bonsai wire to shape a bonsai.
While you are at the garden center, pick up a plant stake - the kind you would use to stake a tomato plant.
Get some plant ties as well.
You should also try to find a plastic flower pot or better yet a bulb pot.
You need one that is twice as wide and half as high as the one gallon pot your juniper comes in.
Get some potting soil and some sand from the building supply department while you are there.
If the building supply department has pea gravel, get some of that, too.
If you do not own a good bypass pruner, get one of those, too.
Pruning and Shaping: Now that you have your tree at home, take it out of the one gallon pot.
Find a strong upper branch to form the upper trunk of your tree.
Use the pruner to trim away the undergrowth.
For your first tree, do not be overly concerned with style.
Prune it into a shape that looks like a tree.
If you want to make a single trunk upright tree, cut away all the lower branches and leave one strong upper branch.
Then tie this branch to the stake with the plant ties, to keep it upright.
Potting: Now mix your potting soil, sand, and pea gravel in equal parts in a bucket.
This is your bonsai soil.
Comb out the roots of the juniper with a cultivator, and trim back any overly long roots with the pruner.
Now pot the tree in the bulb pot, place it on your patio, and enjoy it.
Feeding and Watering: The author typically waters every day in hot weather, every other day in the spring and fall, and every third day in the winter.
The easiest fertilizer to use is a time release granular fertilizer, such as Osmocote.
Sprinkle a tablespoon full on the soil, and the watering will do the rest.
In a few weeks, when the fertilizer granules disappear, add more.
In a year or two, when your new tree fills out its branches, then you can repot it into a proper bonsai pot.
You will have something much better than what is for sale at the mall, and best of all, you created it yourself.