Growing a bonsai yourself is certainly very attractive for friends of bonsai art, but not so easy for beginners. Here you can find out how to proceed to raise a spruce as a bonsai.

Bonsai spruces can be grown indoors or in the garden

Is the spruce even suitable as a bonsai?

Many different trees are suitable as bonsai. A distinction must be made between plants for pure indoor culture and garden bonsai. The spruce is hardy and is suitable for both variants. You can also cultivate this tree as a bonsai in your garden. There, however, it needs good winter protection.

Which spruce is best?

Slow-growing species of spruce are particularly suitable for bonsai training. The most popular species as bonsai is the Ajan spruce (bot. Picea jezoensis) from East Asia. However, this spruce is not cultivated in Europe, nor is it very widespread.

With a sugar loaf spruce (bot. Picea glauca conica), a Sakhalin spruce (bot. Picea glehnii) or a prickly spruce (bot. Picea pungens), good results are easy to achieve even for beginners, especially when working with cuttings that are already woody will. But also dwarf forms of the common or Norway spruce (bot. Picea abies) are well suited as bonsai.

Spruces suitable for bonsai:

  • Ajan spruce, bot. Picea jezoensis
  • Norway spruce (red spruce, Norway spruce), bot. Picea abies, especially dwarf forms thereof
  • Sakhalin spruce, bot. Picea glehnii
  • Norway spruce, bot. Picea pungens
  • Dwarf spruce, bot. Picea glauca conica

How do I raise a spruce to bonsai?

Regular pruning and wiring is necessary to bring the spruce into a beautiful shape. When repotting, which should be done about every two to four years, also prune the root ball.

How do I care for my spruce bonsai?

Basically, the spruce likes a sunny location, but as a bonsai it is grateful for light shade in summer. Since a bonsai spruce is usually grown in a pot or in a bowl, the root ball can easily freeze in winter. The tree cannot draw enough water from the ground and the needles turn brown.

Sufficient watering is just as important as regular fertilizing. About every two weeks you supply your bonsai spruce with special bonsai fertilizer. In September, you can gradually adjust the fertilizer application until spring has finished sprouting.

Bonsai spruce - short care instructions:

  • place in semi-shade in summer
  • protect from frost and icy wind in winter
  • Keep soil constantly moist in summer, only moderately moist in winter and spring
  • Avoid waterlogging
  • Fertilize every 14 days from spring to September
  • prune regularly
  • Root cutting about every 2 to 4 years

tips

Even if a spruce is naturally hardy, as a bonsai it needs good winter protection, not only from frost but also from icy winds.

Category:

Trees