American Bonsai Society

Regional Bonsai Care

Pruning

By Doug Hawley and Tom McCormack

In each issue of the Journal, the ABS Regional Care Series examines some aspect of bonsai care that might be affected by geographical climate - i.e. where you live. Most bonsai resources prescribe care as though everyone lives in the same climate. In reality, techniques and species care can vary quite a bit if you live in New Orleans compared to Vancouver. Thus was born this column, to examine the differences in bonsai care in different climatic areas of the American continent.

Our topic for this issue is pruning and restyling. Well, you might say, how much different is it to cut off a branch no matter where you live? Why would we bother looking for regional or geographic differences in such a topic? Well, in fact, there are some significant differences. We readily admit, these differences aren’t as striking as with some other aspects of bonsai care, but there are still differences. These differences are

more in timing rather than technique, but they give us the opportunity to talk about both.

Pruning and styling, by the way, are what really make a bonsai what it is. We’ll step on our soapbox here and point out that there have been bonsai enthusiasts almost exclusively in America, who, over the decades, have defended a “natural style” of bonsai. These bonsai are styled primarily by selective pruning and defended by the argument that they are more representative of nature than the contrived, over stylized, artificial trees of the Japanese. (Oh, by the way, if you are a proponent of this style, the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily the opinions of ABS; in fact maybe you had just better turn the page).

American Bonsai Society

Regional Soil Report - Louisville, KY

By George Buehler

We like our bonsai trees with healthy limbs and leaves.  In order to have this, we have to have healthy roots. Therefore, soil is probably the most important aspect of bonsai horticulture and is unfortunately often the least understood aspect of growing bonsai. The other two primary areas, watering and feeding (some might include pest and disease control), are indeed important and generally get more attention than soil does.  Without appropriate watering and feeding, a tree will not be healthy, but good watering and feeding will be less effective if a poor soil is used. On the other hand, a good soil can help make up for poor watering practice and helps to make feeding more effective.

Soil for bonsai is more than just “dirt”. It not only provides the support matrix but also stores all the ingredients the tree needs for survival. It drives just about everything you do and don’t do in caring for your bonsai.