Hi there,
Two days ago I bought my first bonsai, a Chinese privet which is seven years old. It was sold to me as an indoor bonsai but I read that it can be grown outside as well. I live in Ireland so despite the weather being fairly changeable, in terms of temperatures we don't get any extremes. Even during Winter the worst we get at night is -1 or 2 C and apparently the privet only needs protection around the - 10 mark.
The fact that it's my first tree is why I want to make sure if I leave it out it'll be OK. We have an open air drying area in the garden which I could put in in in case of rain etc. (which I did earlier on today, it's been outside since early morning) where it would be kept dry.
Photo of the tree;
Just a query to throw in there, I dunked the tree up to the rim of the pot to water it yesterday morning. It's remained moist since so I guess it worked out OK, but the little mound the tree sits on is still dry. I watched a video where apparently the best way to water is to submerge the pot in water for a couple of minutes, about up to an inch of the bark. Should I try this with mine to make sure the wee mound gets soaked too?