Few activities suit a quiet long weekend Monday quite as well as spending some unhurried time with your bonsai collection.
Rather than immediately reaching for the pruning shears, begin by simply inspecting your trees. Look at new growth, leaf colour, soil moisture and the overall condition of each bonsai. Check beneath leaves and around branches for early signs of pests or disease.
If you have wired trees, inspect the branches carefully to ensure the wire isn’t beginning to bite into the bark. Rapid growth can sometimes make wire marks appear sooner than expected.
It’s also a good opportunity to clean your bonsai area. Remove fallen leaves, pull small weeds from pots, clean benches and organise tools or supplies that have become scattered.
Water only the trees that actually need it rather than treating the entire collection identically.
Most importantly, spend some time enjoying your bonsai without feeling that something needs to be changed. Look at their structure, imagine how they might develop over the coming seasons and appreciate the progress they have already made.
Bonsai rewards patience and observation.
A quiet long weekend Monday provides exactly that: a little extra time to care for your trees and simply enjoy having them around.