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Decorative leaves, shapely growth and good-natured pruning make the field maple the perfect candidate for a magnificent outdoor bonsai. The native maple species paved the way for many a beginner to the higher spheres of bonsai art. This guide gives tips for the right start and the best care for a field maple bonsai.
The Acer Campestre is almost predestined for bonsai cultivation
Planting bonsai - tip for a quick start
The "quick bonsai" method has emerged as a time-saving prelude to a field maple as an outdoor bonsai. In contrast to growing from seeds, you have solid starting material for a stylish structure right from the start. That is how it goes:
- Select a two to three year old field maple with a shapely trunk and vital root system
- Shorten the trunk to a height of 30 cm
- Dig up the boulder and pot it in a mix of Akadama, potting soil and perlite (€37.51) or lava granules
Since numerous field maple hedges can be found in residential areas, there should not be a lack of suitable boulders for a quick bonsai. Please ask the owner's permission before digging up a sapling.
Caring for field maple bonsai - this is how you do it right
The robust pruning tolerance allows almost all style forms for a field maple bonsai. The following brief instructions summarize the most important cornerstones of the care program:
- Location: sunny to semi-shady, likes airy and without summer heat build-up
- Watering: regularly, several times a day on hot summer days
- Fertilize: from April to September every 14 days with liquid fertilizer or once in April with Osmocote fertilizer cones
- Pruning: branch pruning from January to February or in summer, leaf pruning and pinching from July
- Wiring: from May for a maximum of 6 weeks so that the wire does not grow in
- Repot: young bonsai annually, older specimens every 2 to 3 years
A frost hardness of up to - 40 degrees Celsius allows a field maple bonsai to overwinter outdoors. In the limited substrate volume of the bonsai pot, there is of course the danger that the roots will freeze. We therefore recommend planting older trees in the garden during the cold season, ideally in the shelter of deciduous trees. For reasons of caution, overwinter a young field maple bonsai in frost-free, bright winter quarters.
tips
Field maple thrives as heart roots, which qualifies it for cultivation as a rock bonsai. For this purpose, a suitable stone is clamped under the roots and fixed with wire. One of the most striking styles of creative bonsai art is finished.