How to Trim Bonsai Like a Master

I can’t stress patience enough, particularly when you’re just learning the ropes. Now, it’s not uncommon for me to style some of my more developed trees over the course of several days. The professionals on YouTube will style a similar tree in about 15 minutes. Don’t worry about them. They’re already Miyagis. You and I aren’t. Yet.

I realized that, like Daniel, I needed a sensei. Thus began a journey throughout the South to find my next bonsai and master.
 

Training day

My first stop was the Painted Lady Bonsai in Wilmington, North Carolina. There, I met owner Ronnie Sellers, someone who seemed to be winding down his bonsai career (after once being the largest bonsai nursery in the state) and simultaneously winding up his MMA referee career. He was the perfect sensei. Ronnie offers free wiring classes (many bonsai artists use wire to direct growth) for junipers on a weekly basis. I highly suggest finding your own Ronnie and making friends. If you can find a Ronnie in a swell town with great microbreweries and restaurants, that’s all the better.

I left Wilmington with five pots and five humble elm trees, which I think are the best trees for beginners. Elms tend to be very hard to kill and have great features for bonsai, including the potential for fine twigging and leaves that you can train to get significantly smaller over time. 

The great thing about going to a bonsai nursery and picking out a tree is the absolute wealth of information at your fingertips. Bonsai can be intimidating, especially when you’re starting out, but most nursery employees understand that a happy and well-informed customer is one who comes back to buy more trees. Don’t be a quitter: If your first tree dies, don’t make it the last tree you ever buy.

Next up: moss. Many bonsai masters incorporate moss into their work. Aesthetically, it helps create the illusion of grass under a large, old tree. Functionally, it helps the soil retain moisture and insulates the tree in winter. I know next to nothing about moss, but luckily, I stumbled upon Mountain Moss, a mossery located in Brevard, North Carolina. I reached out to owner Annie Martin, whose business offers landscaping services, lectures and workshops. She advocates for the integration of moss into landscape design, recommending that moss should be featured and intentionally planted — not be something scraped away or covered up with grass.

While bonsai is not Mountain Moss’ primary (or secondary, for that matter) focus, Annie has shipped moss across the nation to bonsai artists preparing for bonsai shows .

“The most commonly used species is Bryum argenteum, but there are so many other, more interesting options out there,” she told me. Bryum argenteum is preferred for shows due to its resemblance to a miniature, dense grass mat. She recommends Hedwigia ciliata, a shag carpet-esque moss that wouldn’t look out of place on the headliner of a ’68 VW Microbus. Like Bryum argenteum, it naturally grows on rocks, concrete and about anything else, making it a perfect match for the largely inorganic substrates used in bonsai. Other, more interesting options might be Endtodon, Atrichum, Bryoandersonia and Ceratodon — depending on your aesthetic preferences.

The easiest way to apply moss is to order a sheet from Annie or your local moss person, and to lay it down in one piece. If you don’t have that much, you can spread out pieces and wait for it to spread over time. Either way, once the moss is positioned, give it a good watering and press down on it as hard as possible, without hurting your tree. That’s it. You’re done!

A Coast Live Oak that has been in training since 1986. The tree was given to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum by bonsai master John Naka. He found this tree north of Santa Barbara, California, on a cattle ranch.

STEPHEN VOSS

Preparing your own bonsai dojo

Mr. Miyagi always dropped nuggets of wisdom on Daniel. Now it’s my turn to wax (on) poetic about some pointers I’ve learned from sensei across the South as well as from the sensei of senseis, the internet.

1. “Trust the quality of what you know, not the quantity.” —Mr. Miyagi, Karate Kid 1

There is a lot of bad information out there. Find sources you trust. I’ve found the Reddit sub reddit.com/r/Bonsai to be an invaluable source of information. There are other online forums that are great. Most of these communities are very welcoming. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but be sure you do your homework first. If you’re a book person, Peter Chan’s Bonsai: The Art of Growing and Keeping Miniature Trees is a fantastic resource — as are his other books.

2. “Wax on, wax off.” —Mr. Miyagi, Karate Kid 1

Learn your basics, even if you don’t fully grasp the concept yet. Build up your skill set slowly so that you won’t go and make a Danny of your first tree. Also, familiarize yourself with USDA hardiness zones, and select trees compatible with your locale. Remember, these trees have the potential to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. So have the patience to do things correctly. A day/week/month/season is nothing to these trees (unless you forget to water them). They have waited, so you can, too. A common strategy to help mitigate the “doing something” itch is to simply get more trees, so you’ll always have something to do. Then get a few more, just in case. I went from the one Danny in November 2020 to 12 trees by May 2022, with another 12 currently in pots after being collected about two weeks ago.

3. “You mess with a cobra, you get the fangs.” —Stingray, Cobra Kai (Season 4, Episode 8)

One of the unexpected perks of bonsai is that you’ll start to appreciate trees in a whole new light. You’ll see large, mature trees as beacons of inspiration — but you’ll also notice smaller trees and think, Yeah, I could bonsai that. If you see the latter, by all means, please do! Just make sure you have permission to collect if you’re on private land, or make sure you have the proper permits to collect on public property. Often, these can be obtained through the U.S. Forest Service for around $20 per plant. Landowners and government entities are not cobras you want to mess with, so be sure you’re in order before your first shovel strike. You also want to make sure what you’re collecting is within your skill level to collect and keep.

4. “Quiet!” —Johnny Lawrence, Cobra Kai (Season 1, often)

Another great thing about bonsai trees is that they don’t talk. My favorite part of each day is the 10 minutes or so I spend watering in the morning. If you take up bonsai, this will become a daily ritual. The soil you use will require frequent, if not daily, watering, so make the most of it and enjoy the peace. Mature trees line my backyard, and I listen to the birdsong while I center myself for whatever the day may hold. It’s truly a slice of heaven — at least until the neighboring bar (thanks, Myrtle Beach) fires up its sound system and I’m soothed by the dulcet tones of off-pitch ZZ Top karaoke. 

A Japanese White Pine, in training since 1625, is also known as the “Yamaki Pine.” This tree was cared for by Yasuo Yamaki as his bonsai nursery in Hiroshima, having been looked after by generations of his family. On August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima about three kilometers from the nursery. The family (and the tree) survived and the tree was given to the United States by Japan in 1976 to celebrate American's bicentennial, as a symbol of peace and understanding between the two countries.

STEPHEN VOSS

The next ‘Karate Kid’

Ultimately, Danny the bonsai tree isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but he will win a dance-off with a hurricane. Don’t be afraid to take chances and enjoy the process. For me, this was life-altering. I’m more centered and more at peace, and my hobby won’t break the bank.

They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second-best time is today. Go find a bonsai expert of your own to help you train, but choose wisely. It’s like Mr. Miyagi said: “No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher.”

Now if I can just learn how to catch a fly with chopsticks. 

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