Getting Started with Bonsai

I was asked about how to get started with bonsai and I wrote up a longer-than-expected e-mail that may be useful to others.   

Membership is easy -- our club website (https://abqbonsaiclub.com/) has an online dues submission form (https://abqbonsaiclub.com/dues/).  You'll find a certain amount of useful information there.  And as you may have noticed, the Facebook page has a good deal of traffic where knowledgeable people are happy to help out.  Also, there's a surprisingly good amount of info in the Sunset classic Bonsai:  Culture and Care, which you can find used for cheap online (https://www.abebooks.com/Bonsai-Culture-care-miniature-trees-Sunset/30345814292/bd).  Note that much of the printed material is not applicable to our high desert horticultural conditions.  The club has a library, but it's pretty much closed down with pandemic restrictions.

 

The club has a group membership at Plant World.  (Take your online receipt because there will be a lag between paying dues and our treasurer updating the membership list at Plant World.)  Osuna Nursery is another favored location.  Although Osuna carries a few dozen small-medium bonsai in their green house, most members purchase regular garden stock to shape and repot on their own.  Much less expensive.  In fact, many of us frequent the big box stores looking mostly for inexpensive plants with interesting trunks and good branch potential.  Others have been getting wilding permits from the Forest Service and are collecting yamadori, native-grown trees.  And finally, don't overlook your own yard.  Perhaps you were thinking of digging out a Pyrocanthus, Cotoneaster, Juniperus, or Euonymous for some landscape renovation.  Don't toss it in the compost bin or trash -- repot it and see if you can make a bonsai out of it.

 

All of that said about source material, you'll eventually need a few specialized tools, pots, and wire.  Here in ABQ we have to rely on mail order purchases.  Amazon, Eastern Leaf, Stone Lantern (look for wire on sale), Superfly (plastic training pots), and Dallas Bonsai come to mind, but there are many others.  Club members will often find sales and notify the rest of the group.  Besides a good pair of regular garden clippers, you'll soon want to invest in a pair of concave cutters, the one special tool that is not in the typical gardener's bag of tricks.  Mine are 11".  I am gradually replacing my traditional iron tools with more expensive stainless steel. 

 

Finally, there's a matter of soil and fertilizer.  The club buys bulk pumice, scoria, and a type of nano-fertilizer.  These are free or very low cost to members.  I think club members universally mix their own soil, usually something similar to the commercial Boonmix:  1 part scoria,1 part pumice, 1 part Akadama/Turface/Vermiculite.  Different species need different amounts of organic matter aka potting soil or compost. 

Whew!  I'm getting long winded here.  Let's leave that as a starter kit for you.  Buy your concave cutter and get an interesting juniper, boxwood, or other small plant, maybe order a set of wire (assorted 0.5-3 mm).  Hold off on pots until you know more -- they are the expensive part of the hobby.