What's the point of a bonsai tree. I saw 2 roadside stands yesterday selling them, and today on google it's one of the top searches in shopping.

I'm curious what the attraction is. Do they smell good or something?

Does anyone on here grow these things? if so, what is it that draws you to them.

Bonsai are crazy little things. They require a whole lot of attention b/c you need to prune their root systems to keep them small, among other things. I don't grow them, but I do find it fascinating that there are some out there that are over 300 years old (which basically means there has been someone taking care of it for 300 years).

money for asians.

gorocks99;628343 wrote:Bonsai are crazy little things. They require a whole lot of attention b/c you need to prune their root systems to keep them small, among other things. I don't grow them, but I do find it fascinating that there are some out there that are over 300 years old (which basically means there has been someone taking care of it for 300 years).

Sorry, but I find it hard to believe that a tree requires human maintenance to survive!

Oh, it doesn't require human maintenance to survive. It requires human maintenance to stay small.

gorocks99;628367 wrote:Oh, it doesn't require human maintenance to survive. It requires human maintenance to stay small.

Okay, that makes a ton more sense!

chief takanawa say:
big tree in small vase need man to keep living.

i think gorocks is right. they need a human pruning them to keep them alive because they are in TINY pots.

The thing is (as I understand it) they're cultivated from normal trees - if you took it out of the small pot and just let it grow it would grow much bigger. But, the "art" if you will is to scale the thing down and maintain it as a very tiny version of a much bigger tree. It's too much work for me, but I appreciate the work that goes into 'em, and if that's your hobby, by all means keep at it.

i'm considering gettting one and playing with it for awhile. i love the way they look. plus they are being sold from a roadside van. i always meet interesting people at places like this.

My brother hooked up with a company and sold bonsai trees at a booth in the Dayton Mall at Christmas time years ago. Many of his friends and family bought them and everyone of the trees died within a couple months. Probably due more to the person taking care of it than the trees themselves. I would never get one, but if you're into it, give it a try.

http://www.bonsaiboy.com/catalog/under.html

Got my parents one from here. Cool site.

Whatever you do, don't spend a lot starting out, there's a lot involved with keeping one healthy. Junipers are inexpensive and relatively easy to maintain, plus you won't feel bad when you forget about it for five days and kill it. Keep in mind also that they are trees, trees don't grow indoors, they need to be outdoors a majority of the time, (some indoor houseplants are bonsaied just be aware of the difference).

I don't have the time really, but I like the Birch tree groupings, they are pretty cool.

Got one a few years ago for the woman, it sealed the deal.