A cherry tree bonsai brings a touch of Far Eastern exoticism to the garden. Placed in a targeted manner, it attracts everyone's attention, especially when it is in bloom. Japanese flowering cherries (Prunus serrulata) are used in bonsai breeding because of their spectacular flowering.
bonsai art
Bonsai is the ancient Japanese art of growing dwarf forms from seeds or cuttings of trees. The growth of the bonsai is impaired by constricting the roots, pinching off the shoots, growing in small pots with solid soil, low fertilization, so that they remain small (15-80 cm high). The bonsai can be several hundred years old.
Japanese cherry blossom
The basis for the cherry tree bonsai breeds is the Japanese flowering cherry - a profusely flowering woody plant with white to deep pink, often double flowers. This cherry variety is not valued for its fruit, it is an ornamental plant that covers itself with an abundance of flowers in spring and is an ornament of any garden at this time.
Care of the cherry tree bonsai
A cherry tree bonsai is grown from seeds or from a young plant in a bright to sunny place. A mixture of garden soil, coarse-grained sand and peat is used as the substrate. Good drainage is important, as the ornamental cherry does not tolerate waterlogging. However, the soil must not dry out, but should always be kept evenly moist.
When cutting a young cherry tree bonsai, you pay less attention to the flower buds than to the structure of the crown. In order to get a richly branched bonsai tree, it is cut back to two to five eyes or to the old wood after flowering. With a bonsai that has already been cut into shape, the long shoots are only shortened when new flower buds have formed.
The addition of special bonsai fertilizer when the leaves sprout in March to the end of August is recommended. Cherry tree bonsai are susceptible to the same diseases and pests as their adult counterparts. Protective measures, including against frost damage, are required.
tips and tricks
A good gift idea at an affordable price: a young bonsai plant, plus a bonsai starter planting set and maybe a book about bonsai cultivation. On the Internet you can find tree nurseries that have specialized in selling bonsai plants.