How to choose a bonsai tree? Which is a Bonsai tree based on our experience, climate conditions, and availability to take care of the bonsai tree.
Choosing a Bonsai tree is more critical than getting a Bonsai tree. You must first decide which bonsai tree suits your experience and ability.
Choosing the wrong bonsai tree for the first time can make you eat bonsai art for the rest of your life, so let me walk you through how to choose a bonsai tree.
Read about the best bonsai tree for beginners. Read now.
Important Tips To How To Choose A Bonsai Tree
How to choose a bonsai tree: Suppose you are thinking of buying or giving a bonsai. In that case, you must know some information and advice before deciding.
I will explain how to choose the best bonsai tree and the most suitable bonsai.
It is essential to know how to choose a bonsai tree before buying a bonsai for yourself or giving it to someone with no experience to know the most suitable species to start in the art of bonsai.
The first thing you should know is that it is essential that whoever is going to own it learn the basics of cultivation.
If you intend to buy a bonsai, you must forget that indoor bonsai exists. Bonsai are miniature trees and need the same things as their “big brothers.”
Would you plant a two-meter orange tree in your living room? Well, bonsai need the same type of conditions as any other tree. They need to feel the inclement weather, light, and air.
If you place your bonsai indoors, you can keep it for a season if you put it in a bright area away from heat sources.
But it will weaken little by little and probably end up dying if you compare it with another specimen grown outdoors.
You will see an abysmal difference in its health (leaf color, foliage density, vigor).
Learn the basic bonsai techniques.
Therefore, the first thing you must consider is if you have an outdoor place where you can place it.
From my experience, I can assure you that they can be grown correctly in a window if you pay attention to them and turn them occasionally so that the sun does not shine only on one of their areas.
Logically, you must opt for small sizes if you place them in a window, but I will discuss the dimensions later.
Learn how to prune a bonsai tree.
How To Choose My First Bonsai Tree Correctly
How to choose a bonsai tree: If you do not have experience, the first bonsai you buy should be easy to grow.
Note: One of the ways to know which species do well in your area is to see it in the nature of your environment.
What species do you see growing in the vegetated areas of your area? What trees are in your environment or live in the forests and the green regions closest to you?
Those species you already know for sure that they support your climate.
Learn how to fertilize a Bonsai tree correctly.
Which Bonsai Tree Is The Best For Beginners And Easiest To Care For?
How to choose a bonsai tree: If I had to advise a species without having information about where you live, I would risk telling you that Chinese elms are very resistant and do not require excellent knowledge to keep them healthy.
They withstand frost-intense heat, are not excessively demanding with the water quality, and will help you carry out multiple bonsai techniques such as pruning, pinching[Link], and defoliation.
Focuses bonsai tree are also very resistant as long as you live in a warm area, and many tend to recommend them for beginners because they support the tasks of the most novice quite well.
If you live in an area with a lot of sun, an olive tree may be perfect for you, and it is not very demanding when it comes to watering.
If I have to say a species, I would tell you that it is the ficus, although the Chinese elms can also support carts and wagons.
If you live in a warm area, I recommend the ficus bonsai, but if the climate is colder where you live, it is better to opt for a Chinese elm.
Although Chinese elm is easy to grow, it is convenient that you learn how to water it and fertilize[Link] it and what kind of design work you can do to them.
Whichever species you choose, keep in mind that you must place it outdoors and that if, for example, you decide on a focus, you must protect it in winter when temperatures drop.
Remember, we have bonsai trees suitable for beginners and can be forgiven for over-watering and ignorance. I recommend you read the best bonsai tree for beginners.
Which Bonsai Tree Species Should I Stay Away From As A Beginner?
Although I do not intend to tell you which tree to choose, I will list some species that, due to their difficulty in cultivation, I advise you to avoid in your first bonsai attempt.
As a beginner to bonsai, Do not opt for citrus conifers or serissas, much less buy a carmona even if you are tempted, because they are straightforward to find in the garden area of significant commercial surfaces.
Nor do I recommend palmate maples or Acer palmatum, even though they are beautiful. Not only because they require quality water.
But because you must have them in semi-shade, finding the perfect balance for them to develop correctly will be difficult for you without having previously experimented with other less demanding species.
What Is The Best Bonsai To Give As A Gift?
Suppose you will give a bonsai to someone with no experience. In that case, you can use the same reasoning of space, climatic affinity, and time I have exposed in this text to select the correct one.
How to choose a bonsai tree correctly? I recommend that you think carefully about whether whoever will receive it will be predisposed to take on the responsibility that owning a bonsai entails.
Please do not give it away because it is an original tree and a curious gift.
Think of the person who will receive it as someone with free time and if they are constant and committed.
If he finally dies or it is overexertion, having to spend time with him, he will remember you, but not for the better.
If you give a bonsai to someone who is already a fan, find out first what specimens they have; that will provide you with an idea of their tastes.
You can ask him which species he wants to add to this collection.
If you do not want to ask him, buy a regular bonsai beginner tree. Read to know the best tree bonsai for beginners.
Once you acquire your first bonsai, you will need to know how to take care of it, so I recommend you start by learning how to water it correctly.
How To Choose The Best Bonsai Tree Size
How to choose a bonsai tree size depends on the space you will have for cultivating your bonsai.
If you have a garden or a large terrace where you can dedicate a good space for your bonsai, you could opt for large trees.
If, on the other hand, you have a small site, it will be better that you buy small size bonsai.
Be careful if you choose smaller sizes like bonsai mame since they are not recommended to start in this hobby.
Mame bonsai requires more attention due to its small size, which makes you more aware of irrigation and climate.
The site to which you will dedicate your trees must meet certain conditions.
It must be an area of great clarity with aeration, and it must be an area dedicated to the cultivation of your bonsai.
Moving them every so often is inconvenient because they “get in the way. Read The Best Location For A Bonsai Tree
Bonsai Tree Need Time And Attention
How to choose a bonsai tree: I will be very strict here. If you don’t have time, don’t buy a bonsai.
If you cannot water it for a few minutes daily, check its condition and do the required maintenance.
Read how often you should water a bonsai tree.
It would be best to look for another hobby because a bonsai is a living being that will depend on you to survive, and you cannot afford to neglect it.
Conclusion
Knowing how to choose a bonsai tree is one of the best techniques in bonsai cultivation. Learn bonsai techniques.
Before buying a bonsai tree, you must know if the bonsai tree is right for you and the right pot to use. Read how to choose a bonsai pot.
Read more about the Effect Of Over-watering A Bonsai Tree.
I hope this article is helpful.