Bristol Bonsai Lets Talk Bonsai Tools In this blog we will talk about tools, more specifically the top six tools you should own when starting out in Bonsai. Tools are one of the most important parts of Bonsai. They are used to trim branches, remove branches and roots. They help you remove the tree from the pot. There are a number of tools which have been designed or adapted for Bonsai. As your skills and confidence increases, you will want to add to your Bonsai tool collection. Below are my top six must have tools. 200mm Long Handled Shears This tool is us ..read more

Bristol Bonsai How To Trim And Shape Your Bonsai Tree As the Chinese Elm is one of our best sellers and one most people say “I was given this tree as a present but…..” I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to trim them back and go over some loose rules of shaping. I have selected this tree randomly from our shop and as you can see it needs a good trim as the branches are all over the place. We trim trees every so often to produce new denser growth, keep them in shape, clear out any overcrowding and dead branches.  Getting close to the tree you can examine all aspects of the ..read more

Bristol Bonsai March Madness What a strange month March has been……… Normally a great month for repotting but this March we have had high winds and not one but two lots of snow.  Thankfully we still managed to get out and help a client repot a few of their trees and advice on the others. The client owns an incredible Hornbeam which I have seen twice now but both times have been in the winter. I can’t wait to see it again but in full bloom. We held a couple of one-to-one classes that were very successful. Everyone had a great time learning about choosing a pot, root pruning, repotting and ..read more

Bristol Bonsai How To Repot A Bonsai Tree Following on from my previous Blog this one will go through step-by-step on how to repot a tree. March is the best time to repot your trees as they recover a lot quicker from root and branch pruning. Make sure you have everything in front of you: Tools Pot Soil Turntable (optional) Potting tray (optional) Rubbish bag Tree                                 I would normally let the soil dry out (but not totally) a week or so before repotting. The reason for this is that it ..read more

Bristol Bonsai How To Prepare A Bonsai Pot February is traditionally the start of the repotting season for Deciduous trees only do not repot Evergreen trees this month. At the start of the month I select the pots and the trees Im going to repot. Clean the inside and outside of the pot with an insecticide/Fungicide). Make your wire staples. Cover the holes with mesh held in place with wire staples. (This will keep the soil medium in and insects out). Use a long piece of wire so you can hold the tree in place. (In the next blog I will go through step-by-step on how to repot a tree ..read more

Bristol Bonsai Introduction To The Blog Introduction to the Blog So we have decided to create a Blog….. Each month we will try and create an interesting blog that will cover things you should be doing each month to your trees, pots, soil, benches etc. We will also add photos of trees in the garden and in March we will go through step by step on purchasing a garden centre tree and watch it progress through the season. As its January there isnt much to do Bonsai wise.  The main task is to protect the trees from very cold weather. If you have placed them in winter protection i.e. under ..read more