Caring for your trees
Caring for your trees
Schedule a Tree-iage Session!
- Concerned about the health of your tree?
- Need a tree replacement?
Schedule a 15-min Tree-iage appointment with one of our bonsai care experts.
Sunlight: more than you'd think
Here's the mistake almost everyone makes — treating a bonsai like a houseplant and tucking it into a cozy corner. Most of our workshop trees are junipers, and junipers are unapologetic sun-worshippers. They want to be outside, soaking up 16 hours of direct light a day. If you've got a porch, balcony, or windowsill that gets real sun, that's the spot. Stuck with a dim apartment? We recommend getting Shohin --- our grow light, which is the first grow light designed just for bonsai.
Water: when it's thirsty, not when it's Tuesday
Forget watering schedules. The fastest way to kill a bonsai is loving it to death with a strict routine — too much water drowns the roots, too little dries them out. Instead, check the soil with your finger every day. When the top layer feels dry to the touch, water slowly and thoroughly until it runs out the drainage holes. Then leave it be until it's dry again. Your tree will tell you when it's thirsty; your job is just to listen.
Fertilizer: a little snack, not a buffet
Your tree makes its own food from light, but a little fertilizer during the growing season (spring through early fall) keeps it strong and green. Use a balanced bonsai fertilizer, follow the label, and err on the side of less — overfeeding does more harm than skipping a week.
Congrats — you made a tree. Now let's keep it alive.
You spent an evening with a drink in one hand and a pair of shears in the other, and you walked out holding a living thing you shaped yourself. Or you ordered a DIY kit and spent some quality time at home crafting your tree. That's no small thing. Then there's the moment when you set your bonsai down, and think …okay, now what? How do I keep my tree happy and thriving?
Breathe. Your tree is tougher than it looks, and keeping it happy comes down to three things: sunlight, water, and the occasional power snack. The videos below walk through each in a couple of minutes — and if you just want the quick version, it's right here.