If you have ever walked into a bonsai shop you will have noticed that they are expensive. Much more if we talk about exclusive specimens that have been treated by professionals and are put up for sale. But have you ever wondered which is the most expensive bonsai in the world?
If you are curious, just to know how much it would be worth, then you will find the solution here. Shall we tell you?
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Why are bonsai so expensive?
There is no doubt that bonsai is a real gem. Although those that we can buy and see in stores are not close to “real bonsai”, those that are worked from the time they are small until they obtain exuberant, delicate, unusual shapes… over time, the truth is that it is quite an art.
Perhaps you do not know that, to have that bonsai that you buy in a store (supermarket), between 5 and 10 years of daily and superficial cures must have passed to obtain this specimen. It is one of many, as it is not well trained in bonsai. But in the case of more specialized stores, there are more representative shapes that require days, months and years of work to make them a real pride.
When creating a bonsai, you have to choose a good tree to modulate it over the months and years in order to obtain a suitable silhouette. Then you have to prune it, wire it to guide the branches, clean it, cut its roots, transplant it several times to thicken the trunk and maintain adequate watering.
To this must be added the use of specific tools, many of which are handmade or created by the producers themselves, which are as important as they are expensive. Very expensive.
This is why the price of a bonsai is so expensive. On the one hand, because of all the work behind it, with the possible failures because not everyone always comes out a winner. But on the other hand, by the use of the necessary tools.
To give you an idea, a moderately presentable bonsai must be at least 10 years old. And these would be young specimens with whom we would have to continue working.
how long does a bonsai last
Speaking of years, do you know how long a bonsai can last? Are there some that die earlier and others that can be up to 800 years old?
The truth is that if you take good care of a bonsai and cover all its needs, it is normal for it to live at least 100 years. There are many others, especially in Japan, that are over 150 years old and passed down from generation to generation.
How do you get this? One of the techniques applied to them is the pruning of roots and branches. Only this already assumes a rejuvenation of the copy, in such a way that you help it to “start over”. An example, imagine a tree whose lifespan in its original state is 25 years. By making bonsai and applying this technique alone, you double the years of life. And if you add other techniques to that, you will easily manage to exceed these 50 years.
For this reason, if the years of life of a tree in its normal state are known, in a bonsai it is possible to double this amount, passing it on as an inheritance to the various parents (provided that they also take care of this one).
Which bonsai are the oldest in the world
In connection with what we have just told you, wouldn’t you like to know which are the oldest still preserved today? Well, we investigated and we found several specimens around the world that will impress you.
The first, and the oldest in the world, is over 1000 years old. It is considered the oldest bonsai in the world. Best of all? So you can see it in person.
It is located in the Italian Bonsai Museum in Crespi.
Another of the oldest, also over 1000 years old, is a pine bonsai that is in the Mansei-en Bonsai Nursery. He is from the Kato family in Omiya, Japan, and he is quite exemplary.
Also another pine has the label of the oldest in the world since it is around 800 years old. Currently, its owner is Master Kobayashi, who is one of the most famous and reputable bonsai professionals in the world, winning the Prime Minister’s Award four times.
The following specimen is a complete survivor. And it is said that when the atomic bomb fell in 1945, this bonsai was there and survived both the impact and the heat and radiation generated.
Today, this Japanese white pine is over 400 years old and has been donated to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in Washington.
And, obviously, another of the miniature trees that is also old is the most expensive in the world. We present it to you here.
What is the most expensive bonsai in the world
Source: Bonsai Shohin
We wanted to leave the most expensive bonsai in the world for last because it deserves its own section. However, you will be surprised because this one does not have the years that we have reviewed in others. But that they remain in 250 years, which are already many, everything must be said.
What specimen is it? a juniper You already know that these trees are long-lived and also very leafy, and with good workmanship incredible shapes can be achieved.
And that’s what happened with this one.
Aesthetically, it is a “lord of the trees”. Its trunk is huge and very, very wide, twisting on itself and creating a silhouette with its branches, also thick, and a leafy green that combines with brown.
This bonsai was put up for sale in 1981 and at that time the buyer paid $2.5 million for the specimen.
We are talking about a 250 year old bonsai. You can imagine that any of the ones we mentioned before, over a thousand or eight hundred years, would be priced much higher than what we’ve told you now and hold the record for the most expensive bonsai tree in the world. world.
Now what do you think of bonsai? Do you think they can be a good investment if you take good care of them and leave a legacy of millions to your descendants? Tell us.