Native to Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Zelkova serrata makes the perfect bonsai. This little tree has delicate, serrated-edged leaves that are bright green in spring and summer but turn warm tones of orange in autumn before falling off over winter. This is perfectly normal behaviour so please don’t think your tree is dead when it loses its leaves! Its bare, structural shape is as attractive and in the Japanese Zen tradition is a reminder to embrace seasonal change.
Bonsai need a bit of looking after and this too is essential to the philosophy of Zen. Taking the time to observe and care for your tree is an opportunity to slow down and pay attention. So let’s get into it.
The first key to bonsai care is watering. It’s really important not to let your bonsai tree dry out completely – that’s a lot of plant to not a lot of soil!
- To see if your bonsai needs a drink, dip your finger down into the soil to about one centimetre. If it’s still moist, leave it for a few days, but as soon as it starts to feel slightly dry, water it.
- If you’re top watering, water the whole rootball evenly until it runs through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot into the tray. Tip out any excess and repeat until you’re sure all the soil is moist but that you’re not leaving a pool of water in the tray. If you’re a bottom waterer, sit the pot in a shallow sink of water until the soil surface becomes moist. Let it drain and pop it back in its tray.
- Zelkova can be a bit sensitive to hard tap water so if possible use rain or filtered.
- Use room temperature water to avoid cold shock to the roots.
The second key to successful bonsai care is pruning. To keep the shape of your tree you’ll need to snip back the new growth by two-to-three nodes regularly throughout spring and summer. Be sure to use clean, sharp secateurs. You can also nip off any larger leaves that are hogging too much of your tree’s energy. This will promote smaller leaf growth. Once your tree has lost its leaves in late autumn, you can then cut back some of its main, thicker stems to create a strong, branching framework.
And lastly, let’s chat about repotting. Because your tree is in such a small pot with a limited amount of soil, it’s important to repot it every two-to-three years. You’ll need to carefully prune the root ball back by at least one third, making sure to leave an even enough spread and depth of root but removing enough to be able to add fresh compost.
Did you know?
Zelkova serrata is monoecious, which means that it has separate male and female flowers on the same tree.
