The tiny but wonderfully designed bonsai fascinate many people. However, a bonsai is not just a small tree - it needs special care to make it look like this. Lemons can also be trained to be bonsai, but they need a lot of sensitivity and intensive care.
Bonsai training
In order to train a lemon tree as a bonsai, it should be two or three years old if possible. It is best for beginners to buy a tree from a specialist dealer or garden center, because growing a lemon tree bonsai from a seedling is a tricky business that requires a lot of patience. In order for the bonsai to become a bonsai, it must be pruned - both above and below. As a rule, the root ball should be cut back to only a third of its volume, with the taproot in particular being removed. As a result, the roots branch out and grow wider - after all, the bonsai should one day fit into the typical pots. But before you start pruning, you need to think about the future shape of your new bonsai.
basic cut
The basic cut is also referred to as the maintenance cut. All shoots that do not fit into the desired shape are removed or shortened. Just like the topiary of the conventional lemon tree, the basic pruning is best done in the fall.
leaf cut
When pruning, on the other hand, all the leaves of the tree are cut off. This is intended to encourage the lemon tree to branch more finely, and the new shoots are usually developing smaller leaves. Lemons tolerate such a radical cut quite well and sprout again quickly.
wiring
The lemon tree bonsai only gets its actual shape through the wiring. Special wires (usually made of aluminium) are wound spirally around the trunk or shoots and then bent in the desired direction of growth. In this way, the bonsai artist ensures that the tree actually grows as planned.
The care of the bonsai
Even a normal lemon tree in a pot makes quite demanding demands on the owner in terms of care - but a bonsai is even more difficult. Bonsai are mostly in flat pots with little substrate so that the roots (and thus the whole tree) do not grow as much. A lemon bonsai needs to be fertilized much more frequently than a normal lemon tree, although the right amount is important. An excess of nutrients leads to salinization of the soil. Mistakes when watering are also quickly noticeable due to the small volume of soil. In particular, too much water quickly leads to waterlogging and thus to root rot - therefore the watering interval and the amount must be precisely adjusted.
tips and tricks
A lemon tree bonsai needs to be much brighter than a normal lemon already requires. Otherwise, long and thin shoots form, which do not lignify properly and make a beautiful design impossible.