Christine McKinnon

Sooner or later your bonsai tree is going to require pruning to keep it in shape. When the time comes for that very crucial aspect of care of bonsai trees it is essential you know what you are doing.

Like all plants bonsai require soil, water and light. The trick in providing the proper care of bonsai trees is seeing they get just the right amount of these crucial elements. While it's not difficult it does require a little specialist knowledge and without the proper application of that knowledge your bonsai will probably very quickly die.

Despite our best efforts with our care of bonsai trees, our trees can get diseases and we need to be able to identify them and know how to combat such fungal infections such as mildew, rusts and black spot.

It's a scary thought taking a knife to your bonsai tree for the first time. While it's necessary for the proper care of bonsai, it's not something that should be done without careful planning and a little know-how.

It's a scary thought taking a knife to your bonsai tree for the first time. While it's necessary for the proper care of bonsai, it's not something that should be done without careful planning and a little know-how.

The quickest way to get started on what hopefully will be years of pleasure from the growing and care of bonsai trees is to buy a plant that has already been potted. However there are some things to watch out for to ensure you get a bonsai tree that is healthy and unlikely to give you trouble from the word go.

As a beginner to caring for bonsai trees, I was keen to start making it grow the way I wanted, but perhaps I was being a little impatient. Bonsai are not like house plants, they take years to form into the beautiful works of art that I admired.

There is something therapeutic about the growing and care of bonsai trees. A great deal of pleasure can also be found in gazing at the wonderfully aesthetic shapes you help create, and in marvelling at the forces of nature, tamed to your will.

Pruning is a scary aspect to those that are new to caring for bonsai trees, as pruning roots damages a plant, restricting its ability to take up water and nutrients while pruning branches must be done carefully to ensure that you end up with your desired shape.

It was coming into spring, and I thought it would be good to freshen up things around home. I had been looking at some of the pots available for bonsai and I thought it would be nice to update the plastic pot my bonsai was in.