Just observations...: Bonsai gardening... an update

In the past few months, I have rekindled my interest in bonsai gardening and have now added a few different plant varieties to expand my small collection. I have adopted a simple approach with regard to this latest pastime. I intend to develop my trees from small plants or new growth (cuttings or seeds) rather than buy a mature bonsai from a nursery. While this would take quite a long time before I can get a beautiful plant, the process of growing and shaping the trees is what gives me the most satisfaction. As the saying goes, it's not the destination but the journey.

With this in mind and after viewing a number of youtube videos of other bonsai enthusiasts, I had a closer look at the plants already growing in my compound. Unexpectedly, a large number of these can be developed or trained into bonsai. The plants were mostly planted by my mother more than ten years ago, some in pots and some in the ground. They include bougainvillea, orange jessamine (kemuning), ixora (jenjarum), hokiantea and premna (bebuas). Using these plants as a starting point, I bought a number of small flower pots and began the replanting process. I also scavenged a few varieties of ficus that were growing wild on wall cracks around the compound of my house.

As my knowledge of local bonsai species increased, I bought a few other starter stock (basically small shrubs or plants in polybag) from nearby nurseries and re-planted them in pots, usually taking the opportunity to propagate a few more trees by way of cuttings. My success rate in getting new trees from cuttings has been fairly average so far. This has spurred me to try other methods of propagation such as air layering. A continuous learning process plus many months of trial and error. Bonsai is a hobby that demands tons of patience.

My current collection of bonsai plants in training is as follows :

1. Bougainvillea (pink flower). Recently re-potted into a bonsai pot and pruned to shape. It is perhaps the first tree in my collection that can be said to have achieved the bonsai criteria. My next task is to increase foliage and reduce leaf size. This I'll do after the present crop of flowers has dropped off.

2. Premna (Malay name : bebuas). This bebuas tree was originally a shrub that we planted for its edible leaves. The tree grew up to 15 ft tall and had blocked the view from one of the bedroom windows. I chopped it down and even burned the stump. At that time, I had no interest in bonsai yet. Luckily for me, I found some shrubs growing at the edges of my compound, most probably from droppings of birds that ate the fruits from the original premna tree. I dug up these shrubs, pruned them and then planted them in pots. Other than ficus, premna cuttings seem to be the easiest to propagate.

3. Ficus. I have four varieties of ficus, two of which I know the names (ficus benjamina and ficus religiosa) while the other two I'm still unsure. There are hundreds of ficus varieties, so it may take me a while to correctly identify them. The religiosa (also called bodhi) was prised from a crack in a drain next to my house. I initially had two specimens but one died. The living one seems to be doing well.

4. Santalia. Scientific name - wrigthia religiosa. Also known by the local name of jeliti or anting putri. The starter plant was bought as a potted shrub from a nursery. The roots were totally pot-bound and I had to crack the pot to release the plant. I pruned the roots and branches and then re-planted it in a new pot. I used some of the pruned branches as cuttings and managed to get a few more shoots, although they took quite a while to sprout. On the other hand, the root mass which I had initially thrown away on a compost pile showed signs of re-growth after a few weeks. I recovered the discarded root mass, dug a proper hole in the ground at another location and re-planted it. Since then, the new re-planted roots have sprouted many healthy shoots and I now have a new source of future santalia bonsai material.

5. Louhansong (podocarpus). This plant was bought as a polybag specimen about 6 inches tall. I have re-potted it and made some cuttings to grow into new plants. But they seem to grow ever so slowly. Podocarpus is a popular plant used in roadside landscaping. I've seen mature trees up to 20 feet tall.

6. Aloe Vera. Now, don't be surprised. Aloe vera is a succulent and succulents are not known to be good bonsai material. However, I have seen bonsai veteran from Canada, Nigel Saunders (see my reference to him in an earlier post, link provided below) develop aloe vera as a bonsai. Since I already have a number of pots of the plant, why not try to create a bonsai version of one.

The above list is not exhaustive. I have a few other varieties which are still in very early stages of training. I'll mention them in the next update. As you may note, this interest in growing bonsai has made me learn the name of many plants. Even while driving, I am now more observant of the various trees growing around us, whether they grow wild or in a landscaped environment.

After reviewing my old posts, I'm a bit surprised that I have written about gardening only once (Do something green today - 16 Oct 2018). Perhaps it is now time for me to write more.