Buying a bonsai: what beginners should look for

Buying a bonsai is easy: it looks lovely on the shelf, you take it home, done. But whether it lives with you for years or turns brown after a few weeks is often decided in the shop. Here you'll learn where to buy, how to check a tree in five minutes and which labels can mislead you.

Where to buy: four options, honestly compared

Bonsai nursery or specialist shop

• Pros: Trees are usually healthy, potted properly and labelled correctly. You get advice and can ask exactly which species it is.
• Cons: Fewer shops, often a longer trip, and the choice can feel overwhelming at first.

Garden centre

• Pros: Easy to reach, and you see the tree before you buy.
• Cons: Quality varies a lot. Staff don't always know the plants well, and some trees have been standing in the wrong spot for a while.

DIY store or supermarket

• Pros: Cheap and available everywhere.
• Cons: This is where you most often find trees with weak roots, the wrong soil and a misleading label. With a good eye, you can still find a decent tree now and then.

Online

• Pros: Wide choice, including less common species.
• Cons: You're buying a photo. Make sure you see the actual tree, not just a sample picture, and that the species and care notes are stated clearly. Shipping is also stressful for the tree.

Checking the tree: your 5-minute test

1. Wobble test: Hold the trunk near the base and move it very gently. A healthy tree sits firmly in its pot. If it wobbles, the roots are weak or it has only just been potted.
2. Leaves or needles: Strong, even colour is good. Yellow, brown, dry or limp leaves are a warning sign. In the growing season you should see fresh shoots.
3. Pests: Look at the undersides of the leaves and where leaves join the twig. Fine webbing, sticky residue, white cottony tufts or small brown bumps point to pests.
4. Trunk: It should be thickest at the bottom and get thinner towards the top. No open, wet or rotting spots. The trunk is hard to change later, so pick one you like.
5. Drainage holes: Carefully tilt the pot or look underneath. Without a hole in the bottom, water collects and the roots rot.
6. Soil: Good bonsai soil is gritty and loose. If it is dense, soggy or smells musty, you'll need to repot at some point (but not straight away, see below).
7. Glued stones: Some trees come with a layer of gravel glued into a hard crust. Water and air can hardly reach the roots. Bonsai fans jokingly call such trees "mallsai" (a bonsai from the shopping mall).

The label trap: indoor or outdoor?

Many bonsai are sold as "indoor bonsai" even though they need to live outside. The most common case is the juniper. It needs full sun, fresh air and a cold winter rest. Indoors it slowly weakens. Because this takes weeks to months in conifers, you often only notice when it's too late.

So: always ask for the exact species name and check for yourself whether the tree belongs indoors or outdoors. Which species really suit a home is explained in our guide to indoor bonsai. You'll find more about junipers in the juniper profile. If you're unsure which tree fits your home, the bonsai finder can help.

Tip: learn cheaply with raw material

A finished bonsai is beautiful, but you may hardly dare to prune it. A good alternative is pre-bonsai, also called raw material: a young tree that hasn't been styled as a bonsai yet. It can be pre-bonsai stock from a bonsai nursery or a suitable plant from a regular plant nursery.

Why this makes sense:

• It usually costs much less than a finished bonsai.
• You can practise without fear: pruning, later wiring, repotting.
• You see how the tree reacts to your care.

With raw material, too, look for healthy foliage, an interesting trunk and plenty of low branches. A good mix: one nice tree to enjoy and one or two pieces of raw material to experiment with. An easy way to get started is also a bonsai starter kit with a young tree and care instructions.

The first days at home

• Choose the right spot: Put the tree straight where it will stay, bright indoors or outside, depending on the species. Moving it around a lot stresses it.
• Don't repot or prune right away: Give it time to settle. Repotting can wait until the right season, even if the soil isn't ideal. The one exception is a glued crust: remove it carefully so water can get through again.
• Check the soil every day: Push a finger into the soil. If the top feels dry, water thoroughly until water runs out of the bottom. More in our guide to watering bonsai.
• Hold off on fertiliser: A tree that has just moved house needs rest, not food.
• Don't panic about a few yellow leaves: A change of place can make the tree drop some leaves. This is often just adjustment, not a death sentence.

In Japan there's a saying, "mizuyari san-nen" (水やり三年): learning to water takes three years. So be patient with yourself. The key basics for getting started are in our bonsai for beginners guide.