A cherry tree bonsai brings a touch of Far Eastern exoticism to the garden. When placed carefully, it attracts everyone's attention, especially when it is in bloom. Japanese cherry trees (Prunus serrulata) are used in bonsai cultivation because of their spectacular flowers.
How does a cherry tree bonsai create a Far Eastern atmosphere?
A cherry tree bonsai conjures up a Far Eastern atmosphere thanks to its dwarf shape, spectacular flowers of the Japanese flowering cherry (Prunus serrulata) and targeted care such as root narrowing, pinching out the shoots, cultivation in small pots, low fertilization and regular pruning.
Bonsai Art
Bonsai is the ancient Japanese art of growing dwarf forms from seeds or cuttings of trees. The bonsai's growth is impaired by narrowing the roots, pinching out the shoots, growing in small pots with solid soil, and little fertilization, so that they remain small (15-80 cm high). The bonsais can live for several hundred years.
Japanese flowering cherry
The basis for cherry tree bonsai cultivation is the Japanese flowering cherry - a richly flowering tree with white to deep pink, often double flowers. This variety of cherry is not valued for its fruits, it is an ornamental plant that covers itself with an abundance of flowers in spring and is an adornment of any garden at this time.
Cherry Tree Bonsai Care
A cherry tree bonsai is grown from seeds or from a young plant in a bright to sunny place. The substrate is a mixture of garden soil, coarse sand and peat. 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, pay less attention to the flower buds and more to the structure of the crown. To get a richly branched bonsai tree, cut back to two to five eyes or down to the old wood after flowering. If a bonsai has already been cut into shape, the long shoots are only shortened when new flower buds have formed.
The addition of special bonsai fertilizer (€4.00 on Amazon) from the time the leaves emerge in March to the end of August is recommended. Cherry tree bonsais are susceptible to the same diseases and pests as their adult counterparts. Protective measures, including against frost damage, are required.
Tips & Tricks
Good gift idea at an affordable price: a young bonsai plant, a bonsai beginner plant set and perhaps a book about growing bonsai. On the Internet you can find tree nurseries that specialize in selling bonsai plants.
