Newbie Question on Outdoor Bonsai

tiki

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and will read as much as I can, however, I do have a quick question before I wind up killing my tree. I purchased an awesome 4' Juniper Bonsai tree this weekend at a nursery. I was told I could replant it in my yard and it would do fine since Juniper does well here in Northern California. However, in my searching on the internet for ideas for the rest of the area that contains the bonsai, I started getting concerned when I didn't see any gardens with planted trees. Everyone seems to have them sitting in pots. My tree is in the front yard, so sitting in a pot will have "steal me" written all over it. I buried in the ground with some really good potting soil mixed with the native clay soil. I ran two drip lines with 1/2 GPH drippers running for 30 mins on mon, wed and fri. mornings. Hopefully you experienced growers aren't already cringing.
Can anyone give me some pointers or info to tie me over before I get a chance to read through the site? I am at work and can't spend time on here reading articles until the evenings, but if I need to yank the tree out of the ground and rebury it in a pot, I would like to do that quickly before it gets a chance of getting killed.
I bought the tree from a really nice gentleman who is of asian descent and seemed to know what he was talking about when he was giving me the replanting ideas. His son seemed to concur that it coould bo into the ground, but, like I said, from searching the net, it seems that I am the only one doing this. So, I don't have that warm fuzzy "this garden will rock" feeling anymore.
I was trying to get ideas on other plants and things like rocks that would look good with it, but, I just keep seeing potted plants.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Tiki

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lehket

Tiki,

"Bonsai" means "tree in a tray", so by definition it's not bonsai if it's not potted. Plants in a Japanese garden are, of course, planted in the ground, but bonsai are not.

For bonsai purposes, the primary reason to plant a tree in the ground is to let it grow a thicker trunk. (It can also be done in some cases to help sick trees recover.) Once the tree reaches the desired thickness, it would be dug up and placed into a pot, often a "training pot" at first and a bonsai pot suited to the size and style of the tree farther down the line.

That said, right now isn't a good time to be digging up and potting trees. Generally you want to do that at the end of the tree's dormant period, late winter or early spring depending on the species. (Some trees are better repotted at other times, but late winter/early spring is the most common.) So for now what I would suggest is simply do a lot of reading to get an understanding of what bonsai is, join a club if you have one in your area (I'm not much of a joiner but joining a bonsai club is the most helpful thing I have so far done with respect to learning bonsai), and maybe get some other trees to practice on.

You might also think about setting up an area in your back yard where you can keep bonsai. Something simple will suffice. I just put decking boards on top of some cinder blocks to make mine. It doesn't have to be much, but be aware that once bitten by the bonsai bug, a person's collection tends to grow at an alarming rate.

__________________
--Dale
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Co-author of Spiritual Telemetry,
Host of Planet Baha'i and the Planet Baha'i Forum

tiki

Yeah, I read that. I guess I have to stop calling it a bonsai.
I plan on learning to shape my own and keep them in my side yard where I have plenty of room. Thanks!
I'll look for some clubs tonight.
Thanks,
Tiki

lehket

Well, if you plan to eventually pot it, you can call it prospective bonsai material. A bit wordy, but accurate.

__________________
--Dale
----------
Co-author of Spiritual Telemetry,
Host of Planet Baha'i and the Planet Baha'i Forum

Graydon

Perhaps this book will help inspire you as well as direct you in the way of the pruning is achieved in Japanese gardens. It's called Niwaki Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way by Jake Hobson. It is available from Stone Lantern
here.

Best of luck!

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PatArizona

"...prospective bonsai material..."

PBM is OK, but "pre-bonsai" is more commonly used.

Pat

__________________
BONSAI isn't about surviving in a storm, rather, how to dance in the rain.
THE ONLY WAY: Always remember, and don't ever forget, that whatever you read here is not cast in concrete... the intent of any advice is to help. In no way should you feel that I’m saying that my way is the only way…heaven forbid! I've seen far too much of the "my way or the highway" attitude in bonsai as well as in other areas of life.