Mini-Bonsai Trees for Condo Dwellers

The perfect garden is a collection of exotic plants with a vast array of colourful flowers and rich patterns of maturing greens spread across leaves and grasses. The time and space needed for such an impressive display has prevented a lot of us around the GTA from attaining that dream garden, but not anymore! New “ultra small bonsai plants” are revolutionizing all kinds of conventional gardening rules.

These plants, often used it terrariums, are extremely impressive, intricate versions of larger plants seen in the wonderful gardens featured on HGTV. What distinguishes these from the commonly distributed Bonsai? Well, these plants don’t just fit in the palm of your hand, they’re about the size of your fingertip. Less than an inch in size, Japanese planters who specialize in the art of growing miniature Bonsai plants have recently added a new level of complexity to the challenge; known as cho-mini bonsai, or ultra-small bonsai.

Via thisiscolossal.com

Customizing a complete garden that can fit on the edge of a desk is a fantastic opportunity for residents in small condominium units or homes.

So what are Bonsai trees? A skillful art that has been practised for years in Japanese and Chinese culture, these trees are reproductions of natural tree forms into miniature sizes. Increasing in beauty and value as they mature, the reason this kind of ‘gardening’ is considered an art form is because of the difficulty in care that they require. Unlike regular, common house plants, Bonsai’s use a free draining type of soil that keeps their roots dry (fundamental to their livelihood). Because they are grown in less soil than regular plants, they require more frequent watering. If this isn’t complicated enough, Bonsai’s are also highly sensitive to temperature, lighting conditions, quantity of soil, changing season and frequency in watering (which is subject to change according to all the aforementioned factors). True artists are capable of maintaining their Bonsai’s in good health by reading the foliage and testing the humidity in the soil or weight of the plant by the weight of the pot! Sounds crazy, but if the plant is too dry, it will feel lighter. Cheaters can use a thermometer to gauge moisture.

via thisiscolossal.com

If you thought this miniature garden would prevent you from ever trimming, pruning or repotting… You thought wrong. On a positive note, the pots for these plants are outrageously decorative, choose a few and start collecting your own!

Feature image via thisiscolossal.com