Advocate Photo by KYLE ENCAR --Two-time past president of the Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society and 2009 Vaughn Banting award winner, Jim Osborne, meticulously works on his green juniper bonsai ...

Bonsai gardeners prune and train their plants to create one of five basic styles, Gonzalez says. 1 Formal upright: Straight trunk with the top of the tree directly above the tree base.

For outdoor bonsai like a juniper, a nice flowering azalea, or a lovely maple, the same watering rules apply. And finally, bring tender plants and shallow pots in before a hard freeze.

A large number of bonsai are on permanent display in Washington, D.C., at the United States National Arboretum. One of the common styles of bonsai is shown on each of these five stamps. The first ...

The best trees to bonsai are actually small leaf variety type trees. What I look for in bonsai material is tapered trunks, lots of branching throughout the tree. Try elms, maples, pines, or junipers.