Little trees require big commitment

Each tree has its own needs, and owners must figure out what they are.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Van Jensen killed his first bonsai, but by the time the tiny tree died, it was too late -- he was already hooked.
Five years later, he and his wife, Jeannie, (who also killed her first bonsai) have 80 of the miniaturized trees. They range from 3 inches high to 2 feet high, worth from $10 to $1,000 apiece.
How did the Jensens get so involved?
"You just start buying them," he says. He finds it a relaxing sort of challenge, with each tree demanding a different approach.
At its simplest, bonsai is growing a tree in a tray. It's also an often complicated horticultural process of treating plants in such a way that they stay very small yet look like a grown tree. That process can go on for decades, and a well-kept bonsai can outlast its owner.
Depriving the tree is the way to harm it, not miniaturize it. The trick is to keep the plant very healthy, with fresh air, sunshine, water, humidity, fertilizer and bug sprays, but at the same time keep it from growing larger, says Kerry Hinze, owner of Botanical Boutique in Minneapolis.
Bonsai has a wide range of adherents. Probably more men are interested in it than in other types of gardening, Hinze says, and there's a wide age range.
Individualized care
The key to bonsai is keeping the root base in a small pot (some are just the size of a saucer) and cutting back the branches.
Each type of tree, however, needs something different.
It's up to owners to learn how much to water at what time of year, as well as how much light and pruning their bonsai requires.
They can find information through classes, on the Internet and in a bounty of books on the topic.
The plants are high-maintenance, and owners have to carefully monitor how damp the soil is, for example, Hinze says, or plants can quickly die. That makes it hard to go on vacation for two weeks.
Trees also have to go through the same type of weather they'd encounter if they were a normal size. Therefore, many trees have to be dormant, which is why Jensen's pride and joy, a tamarack "forest," gets buried in the ground and frozen solid. Cold storage is available for snowbirds or those who don't want to take responsibility for keeping their plants alive through winter.
Sources of trees
The Jensens get their starter trees from both nature and nurseries. Sometimes they'll buy a basic evergreen at a regular garden center, but they also plan their driving trips to pass through cities with renowned bonsai nurseries. Sometimes they'll find a plant outdoors. But they'll also go to considerable trouble, paying for permits to collect Rocky Mountain juniper at the tree line of a mountain, where the growing season is just a few weeks long and the tree is therefore stunted. If the juniper is 3 inches in diameter, Jensen says, you can guess it's 300 years old.
Virtually any plant can be used, including the ridiculous: "I've actually seen poison ivy made into a bonsai and a dandelion made into a bonsai," he says.
Jensen, who is now on the board of the Minnesota Bonsai Society, says he finds the visual part of bonsai compelling.
"Bonsai is an art form. You're the artist, and you're trying to [take] a shrub that you can pick up in any nursery and try to make it look like a tree that you would see out in the forest," he says.
Artistic commitment
Making an artistic statement is as much work as keeping the tree alive. The goal is to evoke nature, but in real life, not all trees grow straight up; several desirable forms have the plants looking as if they grew in a steady wind from the sea, or cascaded down a steep slope. To achieve those twists, owners use wires to pull the branches until they stay where the owner wants them. Tiny trees need tiny leaves: One way to achieve that in a maple tree is by completely defoliating the tree in the summer after it first leafs out; then the new leaves grow back more numerous but a quarter the size.
It doesn't take long to develop a bonsai habit. Barb McKinley was given her first starter tree as a gift. All the leaves fell off, but with the advice she's gotten from Nathan Fell at Botanical Boutiques, she has managed not only to keep it alive, but also to become confident enough to get 17 more trees for her home. She is an enthusiastic gardener with a health problem that keeps her from hoeing and weeding in a regular garden. These tiny plants capture her interest without wearing out her body.
"It's a real stress reducer," she says. "You're messing with this little tree, and you're helping it to grow."
She has discovered bonsai on eBay, and now she has 14 more trees on their way, including a giant sequoia and a redwood. Some of the plants she's bought already have been trained -- she's paid up to $65 for those -- and she looks forward to continuing that training.
"It's a hobby you never stop learning."
'More like pets'
Mary Russell of St. Paul, Minn., was drawn into bonsai four years ago, after years of admiring the Minnesota Bonsai Society's exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair. She lives in an apartment and keeps about 30 tropical bonsais, which don't have to go through a cold winter to stay healthy. They're in her bedroom, her bathroom and her kitchen. Russell positions some by tabletop fountains to boost humidity.
"To me, they're more like pets than plants," she says. "They're individuals; you groom them and pamper them and feed them, take them to workshops so they can be trained -- with wire."
Russell also is on the board of directors of the Minnesota Bonsai Society, where, she says, she's learned a lot.
"It can be as complex as you want it to be," Russell says. "If you're serious about it, it really helps to join a club and get some advice. A lot of people join the club once they've killed a few."
About 300 people, from beginners to experts, belong to the organization. Larry Oreschnick, who is second vice president, ticks off some of the activities: workshops, films, demonstrations, master classes, plant fairs at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, nursery tours, tours of members' homes, Mother's Day shows at the Como Conservatory in St. Paul, the State Fair exhibit, holiday parties and banquets.
And then, there's the allure of far-off, well-stocked bonsai nurseries and bonsai conventions around the country.
"People tend to go on road trips with their bonsai friends," Oreschnick says.