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Are There Any Good Trees For Bonsai Beginners?

August 3rd, 2009

I just have to laugh sometimes when I speak with people about bonsai and they immediately ask me if I’m referring to that mini tree that the guy trimmed in the old ‘Karate Kid’ movie. It is true, Mr. Miyagi maintained a nice little bonsai tree, and he even tried get Daniel to learn. Thankfully, Karate Kid is not what I’m writing about today, but I do want to shed some light on the hobby of bonsai.

The main thing you should know first is that some bonsai trees are better for novices and some are suited for experts. If you are starting out, consider a tree that is more tolerant of your mistakes. And there will be mistakes. I understand this narrows down the selection some, but it’s very smart to take on only what you can handle.

The bonsai tree that I would like to talk about today is very good for beginners because of the reasons mentioned above. I am referring to the ficus tree. Ficus is very good for bonsai, even if you live in a climate where they would not grow naturally. They are easy to find, though some have been taken care of better than others by the time they are sent to the nursery for purchase.

I love ficus bonsai because they withstand the period that a beginner needs to figure out how to best care for it. For example, beginners must get used to how the tree likes to be watered. Ficus bonsai like to dry out just a little before the next watering.

It’s easy to let the roots sit in too much water, but if you do this they will rot. Thankfully, ficus won’t just wither away after a few watering errors. They will allow you to get into your groove. You’ll love this about ficus after you realize that it’s more difficult than you thought to care for it.

Neither should you fear unnecessarily if you have made a mistake as you were cutting some growth off. If you are giving it what it needs in the way of water and sunlight, your tree should grow back pretty fast and cover your mistake. The mistakes will come often in those early months, so be glad it grows back.

Finally, a ficus won’t die if you choose to put it in a spot that doesn’t get the kind of light it should. Obviously you should try as hard as you can to put it in the right spot, but it should learn to live with what you give it. My recommendation is to give it the light it wants, but it’s not a life changer if you can’t.

I personally think any person that buys a ficus bonsai will quickly turn into to a lover and an advocate of them. Just make sure to give it its share of h2o, lots of good sunlight, and don’t it over grow, and it will thank you with good growth.

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