The purchase of a houseplant and the care and maintenance of it requires time and effort. It will reward you through its ability to bring life to the home and as a decorative feature. You can gain additional benefits through growing your own new plants from seeds or cuttings.

Seeds

You should always collect and use good quality seed. It is not always possible to guarantee that the seeds are first rate unless you have selected your own from a good plant. If you obtain your seeds from a reputable source, that is a good start.

If you are growing plants from seeds, it is vitally important that the soil is properly prepared. You should begin with sterile earth, not just the dirt that is outside your house as this soil may have weed seeds, bacteria that may be harmful to the new seedlings, insect larvae or any number of other problems. To maximize seed germination, it is best to use good soil that is known to be pest free.

Using a seed starting tray is best for most new plants as they contain a capillary mat which will soak up water from below, feeding the seeds and maintaining moisture in the soil. They are also an ideal size for the critical first few months of a plant’s life. You should aim to keep the soil warm (at least 72 degrees F or 22 degrees C) during the day and no less than 65 degrees F or 18 degrees C at night. Use a warming lamp if needs be.

Enough light is vital for newly developing seedlings. If the climate or the location of the plants does not allow enough natural light, supplement with artificial lighting. The light should be suspended above the tray allowing a few inches between the tray and light.This heat will then penetrate the soil, warming the seeds to allow germination and once the seedling is above the surface, the same light and heat will supply the energy required for photosynthesis and therefore plant growth.

When the seedling has developed a few leaves, it is time to apply a fertilizer that is diluted to between 1/4 - 1/2 strength. It is then time to transplant the seedling into a pot.

Cuttings

You can use many of the same ideas when growing a new plant from a cutting. For instance, you would like to try growing Bird of Paradise plant from cuttings. Just like growing white Bird of Paradise from seeds white bird of paradise from seeds, the first step is to choose a good, healthy cutting. Green stems that have not hardened or become woody are the best and choose one that has a node (this is the point where a leaf attaches to the stem). This will then develop into roots to support and feed the new plant.

Be sure to remove all but one or two leaves with their nodes. Until the nodes develop roots, the plant will obtain its nutrients from the leaves. The soil should be prepared as for the seeds and the cuttings inserted with care and gently into the soil.

Ensure that the soil is kept moist but not overly wet during this stage as too much water will cause rot that will kill the new plant. Allow for plenty of light as with seeds - at least 12 hours per day, supplementing with artificial lighting if necessary.

After the plant has developed a root system, allow a few months before replanting into a longer term pot.

If you are lucky enough to have a garden, you will want to make it as beautiful and as special as you can. Garden ornaments are a great way of doing this, and decorative bird feeders always make a garden look very picturesque. A simple wooden bird feeder can look very elegant with the right touches of stain and paint.

A decorative bird feeder, specifically one that is built like a house, can be designed to resemble the homeowner’s actual house. Using miniature shutters, windows and various paint colors, a basic house bird feeder can quickly be transformed into a unique decorative bird feeder.

Once you have decided to put up a decorative bird feeder, you have to put some thought into where you want to place it in your garden. A fairly common and reliable option is to put it up on a pole. But when you do, you have to find out how tall the pole has to be - if you think there might be squirrels or raccoons in or around your garden, you have to make sure that you don’t place your decorative bird feeder low enough for them to destroy it or close to any tree from which they can jump onto it.

If you are lucky enough to be sure that squirrels or raccoons will pose no threat to your bird feeder, you can easily put the feeder anywhere you like - in the garden, or hang it somewhere, like a gazebo, or in a big tree. You could even put it on your patio. The birds around are sure to love it, and you are sure to love having it around you as well.

If you are crafty and have a particular vision for your decorative bird feeder, perhaps it would be best if you built it yourself. Looking at pictures in gardening books and magazines should provide ideas and perhaps instructions for a bird feeder. No doubt while shopping for garden ornaments, either at the local gardening center or online, you’ll find the perfect decorative bird feeder for your garden.

Some Interesting Facts About The Mini Bonsai Trees

You are aware than bonsai means ‘tree in a pot’ in Japanese and this terms refers to a type of trees that are dwarfed by special growing techniques to reproduce the larger version in a miniature form. These plants are not only stunning beautiful, they are also very expensive and painstaking to grow. This is why most people would be surprised to know that there is another yet smaller type of miniaturization called the mini bonsai.

What Is The Mini Bonsai?

The mini bonsai is a tree which is further miniaturized having it grow to maximum the size of your palm. This type of bonsai is very common in Japan and China where it is also known as mame bonsai or shonin bonsai. The great thing about these mini bonsai trees is that almost all of them flower and fruit every year offering an amazing spectacle.

The mini bonsai can propagate from both seeds and cuttings in different seasons according to the growth chart of the species they belong to. The best part with these miniature trees is that they can be grown absolutely anywhere as they need very little special care or space. Their beauty is such that it can completely mesmerize anyone who sees it for the first time.

The same conditions and rules apply to the mini bonsai as it would apply to the regular bonsai trees, i.e. utmost care should be given that water is sufficient in the soil because flooding would rot the roots while dryness would kill it. You need to ensure that the plant has adequate food and light or it would wither away. Most of the mini bonsai trees though considered (maybe owing to their exquisite shape and size) to be indoor plants are actually outdoor plants.

This is why when kept indoors these trees need to be placed in a well ventilated area preferably facing southeast in a place where they could get well exposed to sun light for about six hours per day. If the place offers more than six hours direct sunlight, ensure that they have something that provides shade as protection against dryness.

For food the miniature bonsai trees would need nitrogen based fertilizer twice a month during the spring and summer and daily watering. Pruning and shaping should be done in late spring and early summer when the growth of these trees attains the maximum rate. These trees need to be repotted once every two years until they reach ten years of age. Immediately after repotting the tree would need a lot of water and natural shade to allow the roots to catch up.

Sometimes all of this looks like a lot of trouble and special care; however when you see the miniature trees in all their glory flowering and fruiting, you would find that each one of the efforts involved to get these masterpieces are well worth the trouble.

It can be daunting when first exploring the available information on growing Bonsai trees. You may be tempted to think it’s all too hard or too complicated. So you may just give up before you even start, or not continue with your existing project. One secret is to use a good reliable source of Bonsai supplies and just DO IT.

Its more than just a skill to grow beautiful ongoing Bonsai, its an artform. But need to learn those skills before you can call yourself a master of the art. One of the necessary steps in the process is to use supplies that are of good quality. If your supplies are inferior it wont help your efforts to achieve the results you’re aiming for.

With good supplies on available, whether that be fertiliser, soil mix, tools or whatever you will be able to concentrate on the job at hand without the supplies hampering the outcome. That’s one area of Bonsai growing that is taken care of.

Proper Bonsai supplies meansjust that. Bonsai supplies that are appropriate for the job and of good quality. The last thing you want is for your tree to die because your soil mixture doesn’t drain well, or you need to prune immediately, but you find your shears are rusty and blunt.

You may think that it is not that important but I bet your plants would disagree with you.

Of course I am not suggesting that you will fail to achieve a beautiful result unless you have everything you need readily available and of top quality. What is more important is the desire to learn the techniques and the patience to put them into practice until you have mastered the art.

You will have failures that will dismay you, but you will have successes that will outweigh those times. Those successes along with the sheer pleasure of nurturing a Bonsai tree from just a tree to a fully fledged Bonsai is what will keep you going.

Your Bonsai supplies will become second nature to you then. You will have the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. If someone asks you about how to grow Bonsai you will be able to answer with authority.

There are many articles around that will tell you about the ins and outs of looking after your Bonsai tree. They go into forms and styling, pruning techniques, repotting and so on. But let me just take you quietly into the feeling of Bonsai and why the majority of Bonsai gardeners become addicted.

It would be a very rare person who has not heard of Bonsai trees or Bonsai plants. Originating in China many centuries ago, Bonsai trees were taken up with a vengeance by the Japanese who perfected the techniques of miniaturizing some of their standard trees and turned the skill into an art form. Gradually the rest of the world has become captivated by the Bonsai tree and the techniques have spread to the home gardener and hobbyist.

There has been a lot written about Bonsai and it’s care, growing techniques, forms, styles, dos and donts. If I were a newcomer to the hobby I could be quite overwhelmed by the amount of information and seemingly complicated rules to follow. I may then decide that it is all too hard and not get involved in Bonsai at all. But that would be to miss the entire point.

There is something indefinable about Bonsai trees. Their exquisite beauty in miniature form, the way they transport you to a different perspective, the peace and tranquillity you feel by just gazing at your tree is something that must be experienced rather than described. With Bonsai trees in your home you can be transported to a different place, away from the hustle and bustle and pressures of modern life to a place of inner peace and calm. All the more so if those Bonsai trees have been nurtured and sculptured by you!

To spend time with a Bonsai plant caring for it, shaping it, feeding and watering it, is to gradually enter into a kind of meditation. The world is shut out while you study the form of the tree, visualizing the shape you wish to coax your tree into and planning the small steps needed to achieve your aims. There is much to learn, there is much to practice… but the pay off is priceless. Once you have had some small successes with your Bonsai you are in danger of becoming addicted! But then so what! There are far worse things in this world to become addicted to than the harmless and beautiful world of Bonsai trees.

Of course nothing really beneficial comes without putting in time and care. But the thing about Bonsai is that the journey towards perfection is the addiction! Its the doing not the getting that calms the spirit. This is the whole point.

However before you can loose yourself in this type of meditation you need to learn some basic skills. Select the type of Bonsai trees that you want to grow and set yourself up with some good quality Bonsai supplies. There is ample Bonsai literature available both for the beginner and the experienced and your Bonsai trees will look even more beautiful in an interesting pot and perhaps on a display table.

Spend some time getting these basics right and you will have a lifetime interest in Bonsai trees that will bring you enormous satisfaction and pleasure.