INTRODUCTION TO GROWING BONSAI


So your friend gave you a bonsai tree, and you just don’t know how to care for it!

You may have seen the beautiful display at the Annual Bonsai Show and wanted to understand the mysteries of Bonsai.

Or you always wanted to try growing some and wondered where to start.

 

Bonsai Winnipeg has been introducing bonsai techniques to novices since 1981, when the club was a small informal group. This handful of people was joined by others and grew to become a club with a formal structure, still led and managed by volunteers.

 

The Bonsai Society of Winnipeg now offers the Introduction to Growing Bonsai (ITGB) Course each year. Through lectures, videos, and hands-on workshops, Bonsai Winnipeg volunteer teachers cover the basics of creating and caring for Bonsai. A course manual, tools, wire, membership, and pre-bonsai trees are included. Course participants can also harvest additional trees native to Manitoba on guided field trips each spring and fall or purchase them from a local nursery.

 

This is a wonderful way to learn about the artistic and horticultural aspects of the hobby. It is highly recommended for anyone who wants to grow Bonsai in Manitoba.

 

We designed a new format to get you up to speed over just two intensive and immersive days. This condensed format is excellent for busy people who like to accelerate learning.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Day One: Lectures, Videos, Demos and Workshops: 9 AM to 5 PM

  • Bonsai history and basics
  • Bonsai styles and artistic principles
  • Techniques for pruning and shaping trees
  • Lunch break (cost included in course fees)
  • Workshop: Analyzing your pre-bonsai and developing a styling strategy
  • Workshop: Selective pruning under the guidance of instructors

 

Day Two: Lectures, Videos, Demos and Workshops: 9 AM to 5 PM

  • Sources of tools, pots, wire, soil, and other supplies
  • Species and sources of trees appropriate for your location
  • Introduction to wiring and hands-on practice.
  • Lunch break (cost included in course fees)
  • Workshop: Pruning and wiring your pre-bonsai and setting the branches for their first year of training under the guidance of instructors
  • Lecture: Aftercare for your pre-bonsai


COST: $400 PER PERSON AND INCLUDES:


  • A field-grown pre-bonsai, Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) or similar. (Alberta Dwarf Spruce shown above)
  • A digital course manual that you keep as a handy reference
  • Authentic bonsai tools: Ryuga Ashinaga Shear and Ryuga Concave Cutter
  • Lunches and beverages on two days
  • Supplies used during course workshops and demonstrations
  • One-year full membership to the Bonsai Society of Winnipeg starting at the course date.

 

The pre-bonsai are nursery trees that are ideal specimens to shape as formal, informal, or slanting Bonsai and we can apply all the fundamental guidelines that will result in a good-quality bonsai. These trees will have one or two trunks or more, with strong, tapering trunks and many branches to work with.

 

Individuals taking the course are encouraged to attend as many club meetings as possible to reinforce what they have learned in the course.

 

THE COURSE DATES FOR 2025:

May 24 and May 25, 2025


A DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED WHEN YOU CONFIRM YOUR PARTICIPATION. THE BALANCE IS DUE BEFORE THE FIRST CLASS. PLEASE WATCH FOR AN EMAIL NOTIFICATION IN APRIL.



Your own set of Ryuga Ashinaga Shear, Ryuga Concave Cutter are included

UPDATE: All Spots Filled for the 2025 Introduction to Growing Bonsai Course!


Thank you for your interest in our 2025 Introduction to Growing Bonsai Course! Due to overwhelming demand, all spots have now been filled. However, you still have two great options to begin your bonsai journey:


Join the Waiting List – If a last-minute cancellation opens up a spot, we’ll contact those on the list in order of sign-up.


Become a Club Member – Why wait for next year? By joining Bonsai Winnipeg, you’ll gain access to regular meetings where experienced members share their knowledge, provide hands-on guidance, and help you get started before you even take the course. Our members are generous with their experience, and if you enroll in the 2026 course, your membership period will be extended!


Click below to join the waiting list or become a member today! We look forward to welcoming you into our bonsai community.


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After seeing the clubs annual display at the Norwood community club in 2022, I joined up soon after and attended the monthly meetings. I patiently waited to take the 2023 Spring Introduction to Bonsai course which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was informative with enthusiastic instructors who definitely have a passion for Bonsai. The monthly meetings are good, as the members are friendly, humorous and respectful! I’m glad that I joined.

—Kimberly


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