Grow sycamore as a bonsai

Fast-track starting shot - this is how it works

The cultivation of a sycamore maple Seeds extends over many years. The "fast bonsai" process gives you a specimen with which you can quickly start the creative work. It's that easy:

• Select young, 200 cm high sycamore maple with a beautiful trunk and well-grown roots
• With a sharp, disinfected saw shorten to 30 to 50 cm
• Potting in a bonsai pot with a mix of 2 parts Akadama and 1 part each Potting soil and perlite

If you come across the ideal specimen as a boulder in a garden or park, please ask the owner if you can dig up the young sycamore maple.

Properly caring for sycamore maple as a bonsai - this is what you should pay attention to

A sycamore maple feels in good hands in a sunny to partially shaded location surrounded by air. Acer pseudoplatanus is suitable for almost all styles, whereby a height of 50 to 80 cm is recommended. The focus is on the following maintenance measures:

• Water regularly with normal tap water, several times a day in summer
• Apply liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks from spring to autumn
• Pruning branches during the deciduous period, but not in spring (sap flow)
• Remove thicker twigs, ideally in summer
• From the end of May, one to two-year-old branches wire into the desired shape

Although a sycamore maple is completely hardy, there is a risk of frost damage in the small-volume bonsai pots. You can plant older saplings in the garden for the winter, under the protection of large deciduous trees. It is best to overwinter a sycamore bonsai in the construction phase in a light, frost-free winter area. Alternatively, you can place your pupil in a large wooden box on a thick layer of bark mulch and place the improvised winter quarters in a sheltered garden niche.