Supplies
What the work needs, and what to look for in it. Buy the shears and the concave cutter well: they last decades. Everything else can be modest.
Essentials
What a first tree needs, in the first year.
Photo: Herusutimbul, CC BY-SA 4.0. Credits First buyBonsai shears (long-handled, stainless)
Long handles and short blades, in steel that takes an edge.
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Long handles and short blades, stainless or carbon steel that will take an edge, a spring-free scissor action. Avoid tiny 'gift set' shears: the handles are too short to reach into a canopy.
- First buy
Concave branch cutter
A forged head that closes cleanly, 180 to 210 mm for most trees.
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A forged head that closes cleanly, 180 to 210 mm for most trees. The concave bite leaves a hollow that heals flush; ordinary secateurs leave a stub that scars.
- First buy
Anodised aluminium wire, 1 to 4 mm
Anodised, in a few gauges; use about a third of the branch thickness.
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Anodised brown aluminium in 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 mm; 100 g or 500 g reels. Easy to apply and remove; use a gauge about a third of the branch's thickness.
- First buy
Bonsai wire cutter
A short-nosed cutter that bites wire flush without crushing it.
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A short-nosed cutter that bites wire flush against bark without crushing it. Electricians' snips work for aluminium but not safely for copper on a branch.
- First buy
Akadama (hard, medium grade)
Hard-fired and medium grain; soft akadama breaks down.
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Hard-fired, medium grain (about 3 to 6 mm), double-line brand or similar. Soft akadama breaks down in a wet winter; sieve the dust out before use.
- First buy
Pumice (3 to 6 mm)
Sieved horticultural pumice, 3 to 6 mm.
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Sieved horticultural pumice; holds air and some water, does not break down. The backbone of any mix where winters are wet.
- First buy
Drainage mesh and tie-in wire
Plastic mesh for the holes, soft wire to tie the tree in.
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Plastic mesh sheet for the drainage holes and 1.5 to 2 mm aluminium to tie the tree in. Both are cheap and both are necessary at every repot.
- First buy
Bamboo chopsticks (plain)
Plain, untreated bamboo.
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Plain, untreated bamboo. For working soil into a root ball without air pockets, and as a moisture gauge left in the pot.
- First buy
Plastic training pot
Deep, cheap and full of drainage holes.
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A deep, oval or rectangular plastic pot with big drainage holes; mica or terracotta-coloured. For the years before the tree earns a ceramic pot.
- First buy
Slow-release organic fertiliser pellets
Balanced organic pellets, in baskets on the soil.
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A balanced organic pellet (fish or seaweed based) in baskets on the soil, topped up through the growing season; a low-nitrogen autumn feed for conifers.
- First buy
Fine-rose watering can or mist sprayer
A long neck with a fine rose, so soil stays put.
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A long-necked can with a fine rose so the soil is not washed out, or a pump mister for moss and new leaves.
- First buy
Bonsai Masterclass (Peter Chan)
The one book to read first.
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Plain and practical; the one book to read first.
Tools
- Later
Knob cutter (spherical)
Round jaws that scoop a stub into a hollow.
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Round jaws that scoop a stub into a hollow. Second cutter to buy, after the concave; worth it once you work on thicker trunks.
- Later
Root hook and rake
A single steel hook, plus a two- or three-tine rake.
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A single steel hook for teasing out an old root ball, plus a two- or three-tine rake. A chopstick does half of this for free.
- Later
Soil sieve set (three meshes)
Nested stainless sieves of about 1, 3 and 6 mm.
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Nested stainless sieves of about 1, 3 and 6 mm. Grading the soil is half the point of a good mix.
- Later
Turntable
Heavy and low, so you can turn the tree, not yourself.
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A heavy, low turntable (a lazy Susan) so you can turn the tree, not yourself, while wiring. Cheap ones wobble; steel is better than plastic.
- Later
Jin pliers
For peeling bark and splitting deadwood.
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For peeling bark and splitting deadwood on junipers and pines; the first deadwood tool worth owning.
Wire
Photo: Hinnerk11, CC BY-SA 4.0. Credits LaterCopper wire (for conifers, once you're comfortable wiring)
Annealed, so it bends; harder to apply than aluminium.
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Annealed (soft) copper: it holds a bend at a thinner gauge than aluminium and darkens to the colour of bark. Harder to apply than aluminium, so start with that.
Pots
Photo: Ragesoss, CC BY-SA 3.0. Credits LaterUnglazed ceramic pot (rectangular)
Frost-proof stoneware with real holes and feet, for conifers.
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Frost-proof stoneware, unglazed, with real drainage and wire holes and feet. For conifers. Check 'frost-proof', not 'frost-resistant', for an outdoor tree.
- Later
Glazed ceramic pot (oval)
Frost-proof, with a glaze that suits leaves or flowers.
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Frost-proof stoneware with a glaze that complements leaves or flowers: blue, green, cream or oatmeal. For deciduous and flowering trees.
Soil
- Later
Lava rock (kiryu or black lava, 3 to 6 mm)
Crushed lava or kiryu; sieve out the dust.
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Crushed lava or Japanese kiryu; structure and drainage for conifers. Sieve for dust.
Winter protection
- Later
Frost fleece (frost cloth)
About 30 to 50 gsm, for clear, still, frosty nights.
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Horticultural fleece of about 30 to 50 gsm, the kind sold as frost cloth. It goes over a tree on a clear, still night and comes off in the morning; plastic sheeting does not do the same job.
- Later
Cold frame
Unheated, with a lid you can prop open.
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Unheated, with a lid you can prop open, and tall enough for the tree and its pot. Its job is to keep off hard frost and drying wind, not to warm the tree; a warm tree wakes too early.
- Later
Pot wrap
Wraps the pot, not the tree; keep the holes clear.
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Insulating wrap for the pot, not the tree. Roots in a shallow pot are less hardy than the top, so this is for the nights a pot would freeze solid and there is nowhere to move it. Keep the drainage holes clear.
Also useful
Photo: Tangopaso, Public domain. Credits LaterCut paste (wound sealant)
A putty for big cuts on deciduous trees.
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A putty type for large cuts on deciduous trees; a liquid type for small wounds. Not needed on every cut, useful on big ones.
- Later
Lime sulphur (deadwood preservative)
For bleaching and preserving deadwood; outdoors, in dry weather.
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For bleaching and preserving jin and shari on conifers; brush on, outdoors, in dry weather.
Starter trees
Young trees are usually best bought from someone near you: live plants often cannot cross a border, so check the seller is in your own country. Each search uses the tree's Latin name.
Beech
Fagus sylvatica
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Carmona (Fukien tea)
Carmona microphylla (syn. Ehretia microphylla)
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Chinese elm
Ulmus parvifolia
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Ficus
Ficus microcarpa (sold as F. retusa, "ginseng" and tiger-bark forms)
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Field maple
Acer campestre
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Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna
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Japanese maple
Acer palmatum
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Juniper
Juniperus chinensis 'Itoigawa' and J. procumbens 'Nana'
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Larch
Larix decidua and Larix kaempferi
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Scots pine
Pinus sylvestris
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Trident maple
Acer buergerianum
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