General Chat

Mr Owl and I finally feel we are ready to take on a huge responsibility. Jim is only small and at 60 years old having moved from China to Berkshire then Whitburn, Bathgate, Whitburn again, Windsor, Maidenhead and now hopefully a final trip to Edinburgh won’t be too traumatic . We know he will need lots of love and care and hope he won’t mind moving to yet another house.

Anyone know how to look after a bonsai tree :-D

With love and gentleness :-D

I thought you were going to say 'tortoise' :-D I think they are illegal now though?

No to Bonsai - way too much responsibility :-0

Jim was Mr Owl’s grandads and when he died in 2010 granny ensured Jim went with her. Now granny’s gone too Jim needs a new home and we couldn’t let him go to just anyone.

Like Island - too much responsibility for me :-S

Says she, whose big bruv is, according to a website " one of the U.K.'s most well respected bonsai potters"!
Not only does he make pots, he grows Bonsai.
A while back, when he went to America for a few years, I refused to look after his trees, as I'd seen, in his youth, when he started, how he loved those trees.

For my 60th, he gave me a 'cascade' pot - not something he usually makes - but it's perfect for fake sunflowers :-D :-D

Yes. OH has grown bonsai for most of his adult life and you can spend as long, or as little time on them as you want. If you only have one, simply keeping it alive is easy and takes very little time. After that, you can spend as much time as you want.

The main thing to remember is that they are not houseplants - they are trees, and should be outdoors. The exception to this is tropical trees, which are happier indoors, where it is warmer.

I suggest you get a copy of one of the various books on the subject of "Bonsai for Beginners", usually available at libraries or to buy at garden centres. Both of course are unfortunately shut just now.

What variety of tree is it? If you've got any questions, just ask and we'll answer them if we can.

Thank you. It’s a Banyan Tree.

I have never heard of anyone trying to bonsai a banyan, but a bit of googling shows that it can be done.

First. it is a tropical tree and should be indoors. This is a link to a good basic description of how to care for it. Good luck :-) :-)

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-banyan-bonsai-87860.html

Thank you