Probably the most important part of bonsai care is the watering. The amount of watering your pant needs will vary from tree to tree. Generally they will require watering little and frequently. It normally is advised to imitate rain by using a small watering can with a sprinkler attached. This will moisten the soil and roots at the same time as cleaning the leaves.
In the winter plants will require less watering than in the summer time when they should be watered more regularly, for some plants you will need to water daily. You really need to keep the compost damp but not too much and the roots should never be left to stand in water.
Your Bonsai plant will need to be re-potted approximately once every two to five years depending on the tree you have and how old it is. Young plants will need re-potting more frequently. As the older trees grow they will use up all of the nutrients in the soil and will need to have it replaced. The plant should be put back in the container in the same way as it was before, you may have to trim and thin out the roots in order to stop the tree from becoming pot-bound and developing a mass of roots which will use up all of the moisture and nutrients at a very fast rate.
It is very important that you only use dedicated bonsai compost or potting soil.
Bonsai trees are typically trained by using special bonsai wire to form and shape the branches as they are growing giving you the most aesthetically pleasing shape. The training should be done in the spring or early summer, just after the buds have opened when the leaves are newly formed. This is when the branches are at their softest. The wire stays in place for about nine months to a year.
Another great part of the art of bonsai growing is the pruning. For flowering plants the leaf buds should be cut after the plant has bloomed and any unnecessary twigs removed leaving only that which will benefit the form of the tree.
In the case of pine and other cone bearing trees these need only be pruned in the spring when the buds appear. They should be pruned back to just behind the new growth. This helps avoid excessive growth and will increase the branching out process. Trees of the Juniper family will continue to grow throughout the year and so will require pruning more often.
