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RE: New Home for a Young Cherry Tree [Bonsai]
This is a very helpful tutorial @creativetruth! I love bonsais and I am always amazed how cute they can be! How do you keep the plant small? Is it by cutting the branches, short and trimmed? And can any plant be turned into a bonsai?
Douglas Fir is a tree I am learning a lot from, because it does not grow the same as other conifers.
It's all about the little buds that form along the branches. Any time the branch forms buds closer to the trunk, I try to nurture those to grow, and cut back the longer branches back to the last buds. Otherwise the branches become too long, thick, and straight.
When the buds open, the needles that first open out can also be clipped to half their length, and this causes a shorter branch to form from the bud.
When new buds form, I pick off all the buds forming in undesirable places, like on long branch tips, or aiming towards another branch, and it tends to help more buds to form along the branch, or encourage buds aimed in better directions to swell with life.
The top can usually be trimmed to the height desired. Many buds form on the top branches, because it receives the most sunlight. Having lots of small, dense branches crowning the top of the tree is considered a good thing.
Many plants work as bonsai, but some better than others. An ideal plant makes lots of smaller branches on smaller branches, forms a thick trunk, can be bent and formed, and makes smaller leaves. I've heard of people turning vines and pepper plants into bonsai. I have a Jade plant I keep indoors that is slow-growing and tricky to form new branches on, but I think it will work eventually.
Thank you so much for the detailed how-to @creativetruth. It helps a lot. I have a plant, a Guiana Chestnut that I am trying to keep it as a bonsai but the leaves and getting bigger and bigger and it is getting taller. I am wondering if I should snip off the top so that smaller leaves will grow from the sides.
Branches will probably grow from the leaves if you snip the stem. You can also defoliate the top leaves to encourage buds to form there. If you are really nervous about that, you can cut the leaves to a smaller size.
It is good to learn how often your tree will form new leaves and branches. Allowing it to continue to elongate the stem doesn't teach you very much about the tree's resiliency. Usually right above a leaf node is a good place to trim. Many people clip as short as to the second set of leaves.