Gardening Australia

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How is bonsai as a hobby? (aussie.zone)

submitted 3 weeks ago by melbaboutown@aussie.zone to c/gardeningaustralia@aussie.zone

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I find myself in an awkward spot where I’m not up to high maintenance pest prone things like potted heirloom vegetables anymore but also the annual flowers I planted are doing their own thing with no input needed. I’m also trying to conserve room.

I could search up the basics but could be wading through a lot of poor quality information and wanted to ask anyone more experienced.

Basically curious about how high/low the costs can be, whether it needs a lot of specialist stuff, and how beginner friendly it is. ie. How easy is it to stuff up or get into an overly complicated project.

My fears are accidentally killing it or snapping it while trying to gently bend a wire wrapped branch into shape.

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[–] Synapsisdos@aussie.zone 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've had one for a few years and unfortunately it suffered some damage during summer for two of those years. For bonsai that is not the end of the world if anything it gives it character.

For most of the time I leave it alone and just make sure it is watered. I haven't started shaping it because that damage meant I needed to cut back the limbs so they could regrow. If a branch snaps it snaps just trim it back it can regrow. I see bonsais as a very long term project so a small setback isn't the end of the world.

Survival of course it will depend of the type tree I'd say getting one that is used to the climate you are in will help reduce the maintenance and cost.

It terms of cost I have just used a herb trimmers to prune it and the wire for shaping isn't that expansive. Also if you get a small one you won't need to start shaping for a couple of years.

I got mine from this place and they have some great tutorials to give you an idea. https://bonsaibay.com.au/pages/tutorials

But definitely worth talking to a bonsai seller for some even better advice but overall it isn't that expensive unless you really want it to be.

[–] melbaboutown@aussie.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks, I’m more on the cheap and cheerful side!