I think I killed my bonsai

One of the most common sentences I hear at the nursery when people arrive with a sick little tree is, "I think I killed my bonsai", the other two sentences I hear a lot are;

"Someone gave me a bonsai once but it died"

Or

"I had a bonsai once but it suddenly turned brown and never got better"

As common as these themes are, keeping bonsai alive and well is much easier than most people think and not really any great secret!

There are three main causes of bonsai curling up their toes and ending up in the big Japanese garden in the sky!

Number one is too much water, number two is not enough water, and number 3 is leaving your tree inside for too long!

If you can manage to find the balance between the first two reasons then the third one is pretty easy as well!

Bonsai soil should be kept moist but not wet. Even if the surface of the soil seems dry, scratch about 1cm below the surface to see how it looks. Sometimes the surface can be dry but below, moist or even wet. This tree doesn't need water yet.

On the other hand sometimes the soil surface can be wet but below totally dry due to the water being repelled off the top layer and down the sides of the pot. This tree needs to be soaked in a tub of water until the soil is wet all the way through.

Bonsai are living trees like any other and need all the elements that healthy trees usually require. Sunlight, rain, wind, snow and fresh air all are important to a trees health, so bonsai should be kept out side.

As a thing of beauty you will want to bring them inside at certain times to admire your handy work. A good rule of thumb is inside for one week only, then back outside for at least three weeks.

3 WAYS TO KEEP BONSAI ALIVE ARE:
1. don't over water it
2. don't underwater it as this will kill it much faster than number one
3. don't keep your bonsai inside for too long as this usually results in a slow painful death.

Bonsai is an art you learn over time, almost any tree can become a quality bonsai with the right training and the time for it to develop.

As long as you can keep your bonsai alive you have a great chance of it becoming a masterpiece.