Choosing a Bonsai Pot

 A few homemade unglazed Bonsai pots

There are quite a few factors to take into consideration when growing bonsai trees (or “small tree in a container”).

There’s the type of tree you choose, it’s location in the house or garden, watering, soil mix and the pot it sits in to think about before you delve into how to keep the plants alive. But don’t let this scare you off from having a go.  

What type of tree is suitable?

A bonsai tree has quite a hard life being trimmed and trained so not every species will be appropriate.

One particularly beginner-friendly variety of bonsai tree is the juniper. They respond well to pruning and training to shape and, because they are evergreens, never lose their leaves. They are rather slow growing, however.

Other conifers commonly cultivated as bonsai trees include pines, spruces, and cedars of many varieties. Deciduous (leafy) trees are another possibility - Japanese maples are especially beautiful, as are magnolias, elms, and oaks. Finally, some non-woody tropical plants, like jade are good choices for indoor environments in cool or temperate climates.

Indoor or Outdoor?

Decide whether you plan on having an indoor or outdoor tree. The needs of indoor and outdoor bonsai trees can vary drastically. Generally, indoor environments are drier and receive less light than outdoor environments, so you'll want to choose trees with lower light and moisture requirements. 

Indoor suggestion: Ficus, Gardenia, Camellia, Boxwood.

Outdoor suggestion: Juniper, Cypress, Cedar, Maple, Birch, Beech, Ginkgo, Larch, Elm.

Note that temperate species require winter dormancy or the tree will eventually die. They cannot be grown indoors for long periods of time.

Making a Start

To save on stress levels choose a young cheaper specimen. Bonsai trees come in a wide variety of sizes. Full-grown trees can be as small as 6 inches (15.2 cm) tall to as large 3 feet (0.9 m) tall, depending on their species. An even cheaper option is to grow your tree from a seedling. Larger plants require more water, soil, and sunlight so if you do choose to grow your bonsai tree from a seed you will have more control as well as needing  more patience- it can take up to 5 years (depending on the species of tree)

 Select a pot.

The hallmark feature of bonsai trees is that they are planted in pots that restrict their growth. I’ve been having a go at making some stoneware pots myself this year and it’s made me realise there are as many pots as there are bonsai trees. An important factor in deciding which pot to use is to make sure it is large enough to allow enough soil to cover the roots of the plant. When you water your tree, it absorbs moisture from the soil through its roots. The pot will need drainage holes and smaller holes for threading wire through to help support the tree if needed. I’m putting one large hole in the centre and three or four small holes along the outside to hold the wires.

Scale is an important factor as well.  Overly-large pots can dwarf the tree itself, giving a bizarre or mismatched appearance. A pot big enough for the tree's roots, but not much bigger is ideal but you will need to keep a close eye on the watering. 

The idea is for the pot to complement the tree aesthetically, but to be relatively unobtrusive visually.

Some prefer to grow their bonsai trees in plain, practical containers, and then transfer them to prettier containers when they're full-grown. This is an especially useful process if your species of bonsai tree is a fragile one, as it allows you to put off the purchase of the more expensive pot until your tree is healthy and beautiful.

The pots may be made out of ceramic, concrete, plastics, but what is considered a classic bonsai pot is that it is made of ceramic or porcelain, and that it is stoneware like the ones I am making, firing them up to 1250 degrees in a kiln, which means that it absorbs and holds no water in the material meaning less evaporation and drying out.

When it comes to choosing the glaze for a pot, I’m looking to see that the colour appears in the tree. There are a lot of colours of bark, leaves, fruit and flowers to match up a complimentary colour. I might go for unglazed brown, grey and earth tones for now until I know what I’m doing with the pots and what type of tree I’ll be growing.

The goal is to create harmony.  – The pots should add to but not take away or detract from the beauty of the tree.