#84 - Mar 2025 - Garden Stuff - © Sandy Lang - slang@xtra.co.nz NOT BONSAI, BUT... March/April: Early/mid-autumn. Bonsai: For 1000s of years many Asian peoples have grown forest-tree species, in pots, as miniatures. With time, their horticulture has evolved, along with their artistry, and both are now highly developed. Different nations have their own names for this, we use the Japanese, ‘bonsai’. Google bonsai wiki Care: These miniature plants live in tiny, shallow pots, so looking after them is demanding. If you’re unable to keep an ordinary houseplant alive for long, a super-fussy bonsai will likely be too much; the almost daily watering alone, a challenge. Also, most of the species bonsaied are temperate trees that don’t cope indoors (too dim, too warm, too-low humidity). So, bonsais live outside. You bring your bonsai inside for a day to impress a visitor, then it’s back outside again. Enchanting, but just too much bother unless you’re an aficionado. But wait: There’s a plant, grows well in pots, inside or outside. It’s the ‘Money tree’ or ‘Jade plant’ (Google Crassula ovata). A succulent (fleshy stem and leaves), native to S Africa. It’s popular the world over as a houseplant because it’s very low care. Requires little water. Forgives you if you forget to water it for a couple of weeks. A Money tree’s also very easy to propagate from a cutting. Easy to prune with a sharp steak knife. And it looks just like a little tree, with a chunky trunk and branches that will further thicken up with time. Pot: So, buy a (largeish, rectangular) bonsai pot and matching saucer/base (garden centre, or off the net). Overfill (slightly mounded) with potting mix and plant your Money tree cutting near one end. Place the pot in front of a north-facing window (indoors) or on the deck (outside) where it gets 3 to 4 hours of sun a day. Find 2 or 3 small, jagged rocks and 2 or 3 small, dry-tolerant, partner plants (e.g., Chain of hearts (Ceropegia woodii), String-of-pearls (Curio rowleyanus), Mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis baccifera). And create a tiny area of wilderness around your Money tree. Prune: As your Money tree grows, tinker with it to create a nice shape (look at some bonsais on the net for ideas) and keep its little partner plants under strict control - less is more with bonsai. If your new Money tree’s unstable, steady it with thin bamboo props. ___________________________________