Plant a jade forest, bonsai-style

Sunset, Fall-Winter, 1996 by Jim McCausland

ABOUT 1 HOUR

Taking inspiration from the art of bonsai, Sunset designer Dennis Leong made this miniature forest in a dish. For the "trees," he chose jade plant (Crassula argentea) because it is easy to find and inexpensive, it grows well indoors, and it doesn't mind having its roots crowded. The approach we show isn't true bonsai, but many of the techniques and materials are the same.

When you shop for jade plants, you'll find that some have bigger leaves than others. Choose plants with smaller leaves, since they'll be more in scale with the grovelike arrangement.

The materials you need are shown on page 23. We used a 9- by 13- by 2 1/4-inch ceramic bonsai dish, which is in scale with the four small jade plants chosen for the project.

The most time-consuming step is preparing the dish for planting. Jade plants have to be wired in place initially because they tend to be top-heavy and have very small, fibrous root systems for support.

Once you've finished preparing the dish as shown in the steps below, decide how you're going to line up the plants and which direction each will face. By staggering the plants and varying the spaces between them, you can create a more natural look. You may need to do some preliminary pruning to make the jade plants fit together.

Take the tallest jade plant out of its pot first, spread its roots, and butterfly them over a mound of soil. Then lay a 1- to 2-inch-wide strip of plastic mesh over the roots and tie it snugly in place with two ends of copper wire sticking up through the soil.

Repeat this process for each jade plant until all are securely in place. Then cover with more soil and another thin layer of gravel; water thoroughly.

Jade plants need bright light and occasional feeding; start by mixing some controlled-release fertilizer into the potting soil, then repeat every few months.

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