Natal Plum - An Intro to Bonsai Tree

Meet the newest member of my bonsai family! As I mentioned, I attended an Intro to Bonsai class at Bonsai West this past weekend and as part of the class, was given a new tree. The new tree is a natal plum tree (Carissa Macrocarpa) and I'm very excited about it. This is not due to the fact that my new tree is particularly beautiful, but to the fact that I made it what it is.

The class started out with some basic instruction on bonsai care and culture. I had attended a free seminar the week before and gotten a lot of the information already, but I didn't mind some individual consideration. After some time, the instructor, Glen, told us to look at the plum trees and choose one that popped out at us. I was one of the first members of the class to reach the trees and was able to pick up each one and examine it. Based on my reading and instruction, I was looking for a tree that had a defined trunk line. I narrowed my selection down to two trees: one was a small, neat looking tree that stood about 6 inches tall with a trunk curving off to the right; the second was a disheveled, 8 or 9 inch tree that also curved to the right. I began looking through the branches of the two trying to see which might be a better choice. The first tree was clearly a good choice, but didn't seem like it needed much work. I eventually decided on the second tree because of the vigorous growth across the entire tree. While there were some leaves that had discoloration, I knew this was because of the dense packing of leaves.

After we had all sat down with our respective trees, the instructor walked over and chose the other tree I had held. I began to feel disappointed that I had made the wrong decision. He proceeded to tell us that he had already pruned this tree to where he wanted it. He showed us how to re-pot a bonsai plant using his model and told us to begin by thinning out the amount of leaves on our tree. I looked down at my messy cluster of branches and leaves totally disheartened. How would I ever make this tree into a bonsai plant I could be proud of?

I began by telling myself that since I didn't like my tree, it wouldn't matter if I attacked it in an attempt to reform it's appearance. While the instructor took a break, I tore off any leaves that were discolored or damaged. The goal here is to remove the weak leaves to give stronger leaves more access to sunlight. At this point, my pruning seemed futile as my tree looked more like a small bush than a bonsai. I stopped pruning leaves to examine the shape of my tree more closely. I realized that my trunk rose from the soil about 2 inches and then curved in a clockwise direction upwards. When the instructor returned, I asked if pruning back a significant portion of the branches and re-potting would kill my plant. I showed him the line I could see and he pointed out a few branches to remove that I was already imagining gone. I began to cut branches that didn't fit my style.

My tree forms a spiral with branches pointing outward. I removed any branch that came off the trunk straight upward or pointing toward the center of the spiral. This created a defined front of my tree. This is a location that a bonsai should always be viewed from. While it is important to examine the entire tree, all bonsai are displayed with a front and an apex (the top focal point of the tree). Upon asking my instructor, I began to trim back the remaining branches in order to maintain the proportions of height and girth. I also removed a few more leaves to balance the density of each branch.

The next step is to re-pot the tree. We all chose a bonsai pot to go along with our starter tree. I selected a dark blue, almost purple pot to compliment the minds impression of a plum. To re-pot, I delicately removed my plum tree from its starter pot and raked away some of the soil around the roots. The goal is to expose some nebari or roots that can be seen and provide character to the tree. I then raked and trimmed away some of the extra roots on the bottom of the root ball. The goal here is to encourage radial growth, not depth. One thing that Bonsai West insisted on is a consistent soil mixture. They claim that being a bonsai master is about being in tune with your trees, but using different soil mixtures will make this impossibly difficult. Using their soil, I added some to my pot and pushed the anchoring wires through the root ball. I then twisted the wires, cut off the excess, and buried it into the soil. The final step is to add soil to the pot and compress it down, and compress it down more, and keep pressing to make sure there's no air around the roots. When this is completed, water the plant by dunking and wait for the bubbles to stop.

I lucked out with how my final presentation turned out. My tree is positioned off center, but the mass of the tree is evenly balanced across the pot. I also added a small rock that has a similar slope to the trunk. The rock duals as a decoration and a watering tool as it is time to water when the soil beneath it drys.

I'm very happy with my plum and I'm glad that I was able to get into the pruning and display some bravery. While I have a new bonsai model in my house that actually looks like a bonsai, I still have to go through the same process with my fig. However, that will have to wait for spring. My plum experienced spring a little earlier in the Bonsai West greenhouse.

Thanks for reading this novel of an entry.