It all started some 5 years ago. I'm not even sure how I got to the point of growing these little, beautiful trees. I guess I just needed some time off from usual, busy, daily routine, and the fact that I live outside the city, where I'm surrounded by pure and untouched nature.
I remember going into the woods to find young trees of various Croatian sorts, and carefully planting them into the pots. You might be wondering what's the big deal with bonsai, and, to be honest, I really don't know.
There is something about them that puts your mind at ease. There is a whole study about Bonsai (planting, growing, trimming, etc.), and I did read much of a literature about it, but if you want to grow bonsai from your local tree sorts, they usually don't make much sense since they are all based on original Japanese sorts. One thing is for sure - logic makes the most out of your little ones.
There is certain (basic) knowledge you must possess like preparation of soil, planting, trimming them, root trimming and re-plant them, and you will see them all here, but later on, as the time for all of those things will come. I will not bomb you with all the things right from the beginning, instead, we will have some fun along the way.
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| Various sorts planted and shaped with wire on a very first year. Many of these plants didn't make it, but you will see some of them are now forming into a young bonsai already. |
When I say the logic makes the most out of your bonsai, you must be wondering what am I talking about. The thing is - you know better than any book about your local climate and trees. When you take a young tree and bring it home then plant it into the pot, you know better than anyone about what is good for that tree and you will learn with some time what is not so good. How is that? The moment you spot your perfect bonsai candidate, no matter what sort you pick, you learn about his natural environment. The moment you dig it out, you see the soil he was growing from. Use all your findings when digging up your future bonsai, and that way the logic will make the most out of it in the future.
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| Once again my hands work. I dug the hill and build this whole thing out of a local blue stone. The picture is not much of a quality since it is taken with a mobile phone some 3 years ago. |
It's my fifth year of taking care of my bonsai trees. I had about 50 tree plants in my second year, and many of them didn't make it. The reasons are usually poor root condition, or even an unpredictable, extreme weather. Those who made it this far are still young and it will take them some time until I could say that they are a true bonsai but are old enough to resist some heavier weather conditions. There are about 15 little trees I'm taking care of now, and I plan to add a few more so I can show you the whole process from taking a tree plant out of its natural environment, to the preparation of soil, trimming the root and planting.
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| This year's bonsai are looking good! They started their growth and blooming. You can see on the right side a wild cherry blossom. We might witness some little cherry fruits this year! |
Read next: Starting a Bonsai Tree From Seed
