Bonsai Care Timelines - Complete Guide
Season-by-season care for 54 bonsai species — watering, feeding, pruning, wiring and repotting, timed for USDA Zone 7. Find your tree below, open its timeline, and jump to the season you're in.
Jump to:
In-Depth GuidesPinesJunipersMaplesSprucesCypresses & CedarsOther ConifersFlowering & FruitingDeciduous BroadleafEvergreen BroadleafIndoor & Tropical
In-Depth Guides
The long-form guides behind the timelines — start here if you want the full picture on a whole group.
- Satsuki Azalea Care Guide
- Shimpaku Juniper Care
- Double Flush Pines Bonsai Care Guide
- Single Flush Pine Bonsai Care
Pines (Pinus)
Pine care turns on flush type — candle work for double-flush pines, a gentler hand for single-flush. Not sure which yours is? The two in-depth pine guides above explain it.
- Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii)
- Japanese Red Pine (Pinus densiflora)
- Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora)
- Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis)
- Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta)
- Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo)
- Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)
- Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)
- Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Junipers (Juniperus)
Sun-lovers that are pinched, never sheared — and never prune a branch back past green growth.
- California Juniper (Juniperus californica)
- Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
- Juniperus procumbens 'Nana' (Dwarf Japanese Garden Juniper)
- Needle Juniper (Juniperus rigida)
- Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)
- Shimpaku Juniper (Juniperus chinensis 'Shimpaku')
Maples (Acer)
Fast growers that reward frequent, light pruning — watch wire bite in spring.
Spruces (Picea)
Cool-climate trees: in Zone 7, summer heat is the challenge and spider mites are a spring-and-fall pest. Never prune back past live needles — spruces rarely bud from bare wood.
- Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens)
- Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii)
- Ezo Spruce (Picea glehnii)
- Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
- Yeddo Spruce (Picea jezoensis)
Cypresses & Cedars
Foliage plants worked with fingertips — hinoki and arborvitae never re-bud from bare wood, so never prune into it.
- Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
- Eastern White Cedar / Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)
- Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)
Other Conifers
Larch and dawn redwood are deciduous conifers; hemlock is the shade-tolerant one of the group.
- American Larch / Tamarack (Larix laricina)
- Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
- Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
- Japanese Cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica)
- Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata)
Flowering Trees & Shrubs
Most of these set next year's flower buds in summer and fall — pruning at the wrong time costs you the bloom. Each timeline flags the safe windows.
- American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)
- Crabapple (Malus spp.)
- Firethorn (Pyracantha spp.)
- Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
- Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles spp.)
- Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.)
- Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- Satsuki Azalea (Rhododendron indicum hybrids)
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.)
- Witch Hazel (Hamamelis spp.)
Deciduous Broadleaf Trees
The winter-silhouette trees — structural work happens while they're bare.
- American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
- American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
- Black Tupelo / Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
- Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)
- Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
- Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata)
- Korean Hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninovii)
- Little Leaf Linden (Tilia cordata)
- Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Evergreen Broadleaf
Year-round foliage — blight watch on the boxwood, berry display on the holly.
Indoor & Tropical
The exception to the Zone 7 outdoor rule: ficus comes indoors before nights drop below the mid-50s.
Note: All care timelines are optimized for USDA Zone 7 cultivation (the Ficus guide covers indoor winter care for tropicals). Adjust watering, protection, and timing based on your specific microclimate and local conditions.
Supplies for your trees
These guides are how we grow our own trees — and the supplies we use are the ones we sell: Bonsai Shoes training pots · Wire Condo wire caddies · Bonsai trees & pre-bonsai · Bonsai soil. Questions about your tree? Contact us.