Gardenia Bonsai
Gardenia Bonsai Has Its Own Rewards
Gardenia bonsai may not be quite so well known in this country, but the gardenia is one of the favored species in Japan for bonsai, some others being pine, azalea, maple, and plum. Bonsai is a special art form when it comes to growing trees or shrubs. A combination of skilled pruning and confining the plant to a small tray or pot keeps it small. A fairly young plant can be trained to look like a miniature mature plant that appears to be hundreds of years old.
A gardenia bonsai, like any other bonsai, requires very special care, but if this care is given, it will usually live for many years, perhaps outliving a standard sized plant of the same species. One of the goals of bonsai is to keep the plant natural looking, while maintaining its miniature size. According to some, it should look as if it were never touched by the human hand, which of course it has been. Being an art form however, the bonsai owner is free to shape the tree in any manner desirable, consistent with its remaining healthy.
Favored Varieties - One of the nicer things about the gardenia bonsai tree, and something that sets it apart somewhat from say a pine or maple bonsai, is it will display lovely and fragrant flowers, just as a standard size gardenia will. If one looks at several images of gardenia bonsai trees in bloom, the blooms, while at first appearing a bit out sized, still look very natural. Gardenia thunbergia and Gardenia jasminoides are two species which are very popular for growing as bonsai trees. There are also two dwarf varieties favored by many growers, Gardenia radicans, a variegated variety, and Gardenia radicans, which is a small leafed plant, and has 1" flowers.
Food And Water - A bonsai tree requires somewhat greater care and attention than most house plants. The soil must be kept moist, or at least not be allowed to dry out for any length of time, as the root system is not at all large. During the growing season, which is spring, summer, and autumn, a gardenia bonsai tree should be given a little light fertilizer about every two weeks, except while the plant is in bloom, during at which times it should not be fertilized. Since the gardenia plant is hardy in Zones 7 to 9 it can be grown out of doors in some locations. It still requires a significant amount of attention, something which becomes second nature as the plant grows older.
Shaping The Tree - Pruning and wiring the tree can be both a joy and a challenge. It is a joy because one is creating something that will be quite unique, and a challenge because great care must be taken not to damage a trunk or branch or destroy some of the artistic beauty of the tree through a mistake in pruning. Wiring can be done using special bonsai wire, or simply by using paper coated wire found in many households, such as the wires used to secure garbage bags. By using paper coated wire, the wire is not apt to cut into a branch or shoot, damaging it. Once the tree is "wired", the wires are left in place for several months, perhaps as many as six months, to allow the tree to set into the position you've created. Once that has occurred, the wires may be removed. Wiring should not be done while the plant is in the process of setting buds.
The tree is not only kept small by confining it to a small container, but by pruning, pinching off new buds, and occasionally pruning back the root ball. Some caution is advised when pruning or pinching a gardenia bonsai, as one does not normally want to pinch off a bud from which a blossom will develop. A gardenia bonsai is usually pruned back to a desired size or shape right after blooming has finished.