Bonsai from Nursery Stock

When selecting your potential bonsai from nursery stock look for material that has a lot of branches, medium to small leaves and if you know the flower size check that they are smaller rather than larger. In some nurseries they have a ‘throw away’ bin or somewhere they put their plants the general public do not want. They are usually on a discount or cheaper stand. They can also be looking quite disheveled and unloved. If they can meet the following suggestions then they can and sometimes turn into very good bonsai. It is this tough beginning of life that can put some character into the bonsai.

When you have identified a potential bonsai from the nursery stock then you need to start looking more closely at it to refine your selection. Scrape back the soil so that you can find the first major roots. Remember that the plants in the nursery are usually grown deep in the soil. This gives the young plant support. The trunk then grows straight up which for most cases does not make ‘natural’ looking bonsai. The best bonsai come from the shallow grown plant because the trunk can move around in the wind and does allow the trunk to bend. Generally you have to get through some fine roots before you get to the more substantial roots. This is where the soil level is going to be when the bonsai is established. While you have the soil scraped back look for the first curve of the trunk. If you put you finger into the curve and sweep it upwards the direction in which your finger goes is the direction of the bonsai apex.

The very next thing you have to look for is the taper of the trunk. It must go from the soil level up to the apex as a gradual taper. In a bonsai the taper is constant and although the trunk is bent and curved the taper must still be gradual. Branches can sometimes look as though they have a mind of their own and seem to be thicker than they should. When you come to do the initial shaping and styling of the nursery stock you can quite easily use that branch as the new trunk as long as the taper looks right and the apex is still going in the right direction.

Have a look at the structure of the nursery stock and see if your bonsai can have one trunk, three, five or seven branches throughout its length. Put the temptation of leaving more branches on the bonsai to one side because depending on the overall height the bonsai can look too cluttered. Remember that you are after a simple design for the style you have chosen for this bonsai that you have got from nursery stock.

Happy Bonsai

Bonsai Bevan