Most of the labours of spring - digging up your trees, repotting them, styling and wiring them, and locating them in their summer home - are now behind you. If you've had more trees than time, and therefore, didn't get all of these activities finished before the buds began to open, there is still a month or so that can be spent in catching up.
You should look at your trees daily. You should decide which ones need water and which ones don't. You should make a mental note of which trees seem to be the first ones to attract any bugs that are going around. You should note whether or not your fertilizer program is having the desired results (healthy looking leaves and new growth) or if it's failing (burned, yellow, stunted or dwarfed leaves.)
Water Systems
The best way to look after your bonsai trees is to walk among them and note which ones need attention and which ones don't. This ought to be a daily event.
But, alas, we all crave (and take) holidays. No doubt, the best way of dealing with these events, is to find a nearby bonsai enthusiast and friend, and have that person look after your trees, just as you will happily do the same for them, when they want to get away.
But, alas, it doesn't always work out this way. Thus the creation of the "watering system." It can be a blessing, if you use it while away, or a curse if you use it indiscriminately. i should know from experience.
A simple water system comes on daily, twice a day, or once every few days, depending on how you set it up, and waters everything for one or five or twenty minutes, depending on how you set it up.
And when you discover that those large planters over there aren't getting enough water to keep the trees healthy, and those others in the small pots are dropping their leaves from drought, the solution is simple: two water systems - one for the large ones and one for the small ones.
And when you discover that these large ones over here gobble up watger like there is no tomorrow, and those small ones over there don't use a lot except on very sunny days, the solution is simple: two more water systems.
And when you discover that these sun-loving trees are drying out and those shade loving ones are too wet, the solution is simple: you guessed it.
Depending on your pocket book, it is indeed possible to devise a water system that will look after the needs of each individual tree in your collection. If the pocket book is not that well endowed, some of your trees will die from drought and others will succumb to root rot. The choice is yours.
You can see that the best solution is to find a friend to look after your trees while you're gone, and for you to reciprocate. The best solution when you're not gone, is, of course, for you to water your trees daily, by hand. The second best solution is to rely on a water system only while you are away, since a nearby bonsai friend is out of the question.
When you need a life other than your bonsai life, have a bonsai sale and reduce the size of what you are looking after. You'll like that!
Hardy Evergreens, Deciduous And Tropical Trees
The challenge now, of course, is to minimize the stress that repotting, styling and wiring create for your trees. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
When repotting deciduous trees that have already broken out in leaves, make sure that you place them in the shade for a few days to a couple of weeks - fewer roots make it more difficult for the tree to keep the new shoots alive and growing as sun and winds sap moisture from the trees.
Trees that still have wire on them from the previous year, need to have this wire checked weekly since branch thickening happens very quickly in the spring. Once your tree has wire scars, it will take many, many years for these to disappear, if they ever do! Newly wired trees require the same vigilance for the same reasons.
Styling trees can be done reasonably safely most of the summer, as long as you don't remove more than one quarter of the present growth. If branch removal is significant (more than about 10 percent,) protect your tree from the elements by placing it in the shade and out of the wind for a while. Leaves and needles that used to be hidden, now quickly burn in the summer sun and need to be acclimatized to "their" new surroundings.
Regular Maintenance
Vigilance is key.
You can't know what's happening to your trees if you don't look at them - I mean, really look at them, not just from a distance, but up close. That refers to two items in particular: new growth that affects your styling of the tree, and bugs.
I've discovered this the hard way. If you are not closely looking at your trees every day, you won't notice how quickly they change. What might have been a simple pinch here or there, suddenly requires branch removal or other styling compromises.
If you look at your trees daily, you'll also notice that some aphids or white flies or spider mites or scale are looking for a new home. These unwelcome interlopers can be quickly dealt with if they haven't fortified themselves yet in your plants and soil. A little squishing action here or there, or a squirt of insecticidal soap may be all that's required if caught early on. Once they call your trees "home," however, it will be another story, and you may spend the best of the summer bringing out your pesticide arsenal to get back in control. And as you no doubt know already, that arsenal is not nearly as lethal today as it was a mere few years ago.
The importance of frequent pinching cannot be overemphasized. Your aim with your trees is to create ramification, so that a single brancxh will split into two branches, and each of these into two more, and so on, and so on. Your daily bonsai tour makes all of this happen more quickly since it's an ongoing process, rather than something you do once or twice a year.
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