Tree Dimentions:
Height: ±330mm (incl Pot)
Pot: ±230 x 200mm
Thickness of base: ±40mm
Species profile and care guide:
The Myrtle is a beautiful and rewarding tree to be grown as a Bonsai, it is drought tolerant, hardy and easy to care for. A great beginnger species.
Being an evergreen the tree will maintain its leaves year round, the small pointed leaves are entire and usually range from 3-5mm in length. The overall size of the leaves can be reduced when applying proper Bonsai techniques. Myrtles will develop beautiful branch structure with proper pruning and maintain the structure when in good health.
Myrtles are fragrant, flowering and fruiting plants that display beautifully all year round, a must have for any Bonsai collection. The flowers appear in late summer are star-shaped and have five petals with numerous stamens giving the flowers a fluffy look. The fruit is a small round berry that is usually blue-black in colour and sought after by birds which eat the berries and disperse the seeds.
Myrtles respond well to frequent pruning however if you want your Myrtle Bonsai to flower you should reduce the frequency of pruning and stop pruning after spring until the tree has stopped producing flowers. Long hot summers are essential for proper flower production.
Myrtles should be grown outdoors with high exposure to sunlight, a well-draining nutrient rich soil should be used for best results as a Bonsai. The best time to repot your Myrtle Bonsai is during late winter/early spring allowing good root development and strong growth. Over watering a Myrtle Bonsai can be detrimental to the health of the tree and thus should be grown in a well-draining soil as mentioned above, the tree will develop yellow leaves if it is receiving too much water making problems with watering easy to identify and rectify. Myrtles are not frost tolerant trees so it is vital that if you live in areas of South Africa that experience frost or drop below freezing that you cover your tree in a frost cover or move it to a sheltered position.
