How is a bonsai tree started?

[MigAce312]

Anyone know how big trees are grown miniature size?

 

[Orsorum]

Well, when a mommy bonsai and a daddy bonsai really love each other...

Google it or something.

 

[Bulk Beef]

Just take a regular tree and put it in the dryer.

 

[Jzero]

It's nothing magical. Just take a regular young plant, put it in a small, shallow pot, and prune it so that it looks like a miniature tree.
They aren't special breeds of plants, in fact some "funny" Bonsais involve using a plant that fruits or flowers. The fruit is particularly weird because you have a tiny little plum tree with a full-sized plum growing on it.

 

[LaBang]

i think that they are big trees grown from seeds and carefully cared for. It is an art to prune the tree just the right amount to sculpt it into what you want.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: LaBang
i think that they are big trees grown from seeds and carefully cared for. It is an art to prune the tree just the right amount to sculpt it into what you want.

Without killing it...

amish

 

[Cerebus451]

Any tree can be grown smaller, just keep it in a small pot. The tree cannot outgrow its roots, and if you do not give the roots room to grow, the will not, and the tree remains small. This link has some basic info on the art of Bonsai.

 

[Wallydraigle]

Depends. Usually it's just a normal plant like was said, but sometimes a technique known as layering is used. If you see an odd branch that would make a cool bonsai if it were a whole tree, you just score the bark, pack some sort of soil material onto the wound, wrap it up, and in a year or two it will root and you can lop it off. Soil materials and scoring technique vary according to the type of tree you are trying to layer.

 

[CStroman]

A lot of bonsai are collected from the wild. The best places to find them are places with harsh conditions that prevent the plants from growing quickly, like a mountaintop or a yard where the tree is repeatedly run over by a lawnmower.

 

[Peetoeng]

Thousand years ago lived a very very minute boy in the island of Hokkaido. He wanted to climb trees just like normal boys his age. But trees were just to big for him to climb, until his parents devised how to grow bonsai tree. That's the true-honest-to-goodness history.

 

[ChefJoe]

My grandparents do this stuff... while there are special "miniature" trees like dwarf maples, etc, many types of trees (pines, etc.) will stay a small size if not allowed to grow (no big pot, pruneing, etc). So, in many cases, any tree will do as long as you keep it trim and cut it back.

 

[nihil]

Bonsai trees are awesome. I had one, but my parents killed it somehow.

 

[Eli]

Pretty much what others have said. You basically juse any normal tree. You can start from seed, but it takes longer. It would be best to look outside..

Check out this site, it's cool.. I have several small larch trees growing right now.. Along with many others.. noble fir, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, sitka spruce, and pacific yew.

I'm a Conifer-fanatic.. lol..

 

[Evadman]

Start it just like a Bonsai Kitten.

 

[yakko]

It starts just like a regular plant.