The Japanese Maple Bonsai as a Beginner’s Bonsai

Why did I pick the Japanese Maple Bonsai as my first bonsai tree? First of all I had to look at the actual trees themselves. There are over 400 varieties of Japanese Maple trees to choose from. Some of them grow to be only 3 feet tall while others can reach 100 feet. Along with the variations in size, the different varieties also have different leaf patterns and colors. Bonsai literally means “tray planting”. So in reality, a Japanese maple bonsai is just a regular Japanese Maple tree turned into Bonsai!

One of the other reasons I’ve chosen the Japanese maple for my bonsai is that it is supposed to be good for a beginner and is relatively inexpensive. This is important because I’ve also read that “You will kill your first bonsai”. While I’m hoping this isn’t true, I have to expect a few mistakes along the way.

I saw several bonsai growing out of dead wood and those really looked cool. In future posts, I will investigate whether the Japanese maple bonsai will really grow in the dead wood or if I need to use soil.  Because these plants don’t do well in the cold, I’ll be growing my bonsai indoors.

The Japanese Maple is also popular as a bonsai because of the fact that the plant can be trained for almost all of the informal as well as classic styles of bonsai. It will be fun to create this living work of art