Great Tips to Keep Your Bonsai Plant Healthy All Year Round

Just as with a full grown tree in nature, a miniature bonsai tree will also have a change in appearance including a change in the color of it's leaves, the falling of its leaves in fall, etc. When the seasons change and your bonsai trees move from one life cycle to another, it's needs change. Because of this you will also need to change the type of care that you are giving your bonsai trees.

Spring Care

When winter is over and spring has arrived you will begin to discover signs of new growth in your bonsai plant and trees. All gardeners, including bonsai gardeners, know that this is the busiest time of the year.

One routine springtime task for the bonsai gardener is to re-pot and prune the roots of his bonsai trees. Be careful that you get all of the re-potting done before the first buds open on your bonsai plant.

You should try to prune any dead branches from your bonsai tree during the springtime as well, before they are hidden by leaves. Springtime is when new shoots will appear and you need to be sure to cut them back.

If you are training coniferous trees, spring is the time to apply the wires, or get rid of any wires that may appear to be cutting into the tree's bark.

If you have re-potted and pruned any of your bonsai plants you will want to be sure that you fertilize with a very diluted mixture so that you don't burn the tree's roots.

Summer Care

Your outdoor plants are going to experience their maximum rate of growth during the long sunny days of summer. Any root pruning and repotting should have been accomplished in late winter or early spring. To keep you plants looking their best you will want to continue to trim, pinch, and prune your bonsai trees and plants throughout the summer. This doesn't cause them any harm. The shoots of deciduous trees should be cut back to one or two pairs of leaves, and the buds on conifers should be delicately plucked as they begin to enlarge.

Now is the time to apply wire if you want to train and shape your deciduous bonsais. Remove any wires that you may have applied during the previous summer to make sure that it doesn't cut into the tree's bark and cause damage.

Monitor the soil of your potted bonsai regularly, making sure to never allow the soil to dry out completely. In excessively hot weather you should water daily, and in some cases more than once a day.

During the summer you should fertilize your trees every 2-3 weeks using a high nitrogen blend. Most trees will require feeding throughout the summer months.

Fall Care

When the number of hours of sunlight per day begins to get fewer and fewer, which signals the change of season to fall, the growth rate of your bonsai trees will slow down. Most deciduous trees, like the Japanese Maple Bonsai or the Chinese Elm Bonsai, develop magnificently colored leaves at this time of year, just before they eventually fall, leaving the trees bare during the winter.

Fall is not a good time to prune deciduous trees because it will cause a late burst of new growth. You can, however, continue to prune your pines and junipers.

Training wire that you might have applied during spring and summer should be removed in the fall if the branches and trunk have set into their desired positions.

Don't put away your watering can in the fall; your trees still need water but you won't need to water them nearly as much as during the hot summer. You'll only need to give your bonsai plants a slight watering whenever the soil begins to feel dry. For outdoor evergreens that don't drop their leaves, like junipers and pines, you will need to continue watering them throughout the winter since they can still lose water through their leaves.

It is recommended that you harden off the current years growth by applying 1-2 applications of nitrogen-free fertilizer to your bonsai plant beginning around mid-autumn.

Winter Care

Bonsai trees will not require a lot of care during the winter months as they are in a stage or dormancy.

This is not the time to prune or wire, but it is an excellent time to quietly contemplate your trees, get to know them better, and to visualize the resulting masterpiece that you will once again be able to work with come springtime.