Grow and Sell Bonsai Trees

Bonsai - Japanese for 'tray planting', is the oriental art of cultivating dwarfed trees in shallow containers.  Dwarfing takes place by careful root and stem pruning, alongside training of stems and branches.  Bonsai trees have a gnarled, usually irregular appearance.  One thing they all lack is height.  Some centuries-old trees never grow more than a foot high. 

Fortunately, you don't have to wait centuries, even decades, to cultivate a saleable product.  Many customers, particularly garden centres and nurseries, are keen to acquire specimens from germination onwards.  This takes about six months for many popular species.  Ash, holly and hawthorn varieties take two years, sometimes more. 

Bonsai can be grown from seeds available from nurseries, or from young tree seedlings found in gardens, hedges and woodlands.  Carefully removed and replanted in springtime, seedlings can usually be trained to the required shape.