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My fiancée Katy bought a lot of houseplants over the course of the last year and a half, and has had indifferent luck keeping them alive. At Christmas I got her a bonsai, thinking a more established, five year old plant would be hardier. And as finicky as bonsai are reputed to be, at least there's a wealth of care instructions on account of that. With 'some fern, idk?', you're a bit on your own. This is especially an issue as I am black-thumbed and know nothing about plants.
The time came to re-pot this little fucker, according to the meticulous instructions provided to me by All Things Bonsai, who sold Theodore the Bonsai to me. I watched their videos, and then some of Peter Chen's. I was charmed by his kind of old-fashioned diction, and found him so useful that I went and read his book, "Bonsai, The Art of Growing and Keeping Miniature Trees".
This was the first gardening book I've ever read. I found it reasonably easy to follow, even if Chen sometimes assumed I knew way more than I did. I needed him to tell me a little less about the declining popularity of literati style bonsai shapes and more about how you like—prune a tree? Because I don’t know. I think he thinks I know that, but I do not. ‘You cut the leaves small—’ sir, do you want me to slice the leaves of this tree into tiny leaf shapes every year? I don’t think you do, actually. I suspect his videos will eventually reveal more information to me, but in general, he thinks the reader knows a lot about plants: in my case, no.
Theodore (age 5.5), repotted (into too big a vessel, I now understand, but I'll fix it next time rather than disturb him now), and part of the job lot of old pots I bought off Ebay and am now tempted to fill:
So that's why this 84 year-old writer looks so young and wins so many flower shows! It’s Wizard Shit—
Bonsai Xian also titled a chapter 'Cultivation Secrets'. I would like to see them, sir.
Here's what I learned about the care and keeping of our deciduous Chinese Elm:
( Cultivation Secrets )
The time came to re-pot this little fucker, according to the meticulous instructions provided to me by All Things Bonsai, who sold Theodore the Bonsai to me. I watched their videos, and then some of Peter Chen's. I was charmed by his kind of old-fashioned diction, and found him so useful that I went and read his book, "Bonsai, The Art of Growing and Keeping Miniature Trees".
This was the first gardening book I've ever read. I found it reasonably easy to follow, even if Chen sometimes assumed I knew way more than I did. I needed him to tell me a little less about the declining popularity of literati style bonsai shapes and more about how you like—prune a tree? Because I don’t know. I think he thinks I know that, but I do not. ‘You cut the leaves small—’ sir, do you want me to slice the leaves of this tree into tiny leaf shapes every year? I don’t think you do, actually. I suspect his videos will eventually reveal more information to me, but in general, he thinks the reader knows a lot about plants: in my case, no.
Theodore (age 5.5), repotted (into too big a vessel, I now understand, but I'll fix it next time rather than disturb him now), and part of the job lot of old pots I bought off Ebay and am now tempted to fill:
So that's why this 84 year-old writer looks so young and wins so many flower shows! It’s Wizard Shit—
Bonsai Xian also titled a chapter 'Cultivation Secrets'. I would like to see them, sir.
Here's what I learned about the care and keeping of our deciduous Chinese Elm:
( Cultivation Secrets )
