What to do with plants too large for the garden

Goal or Problem

Once in a while it may happen that you buy a small cute plant. Later on you find out that this small cute plant becomes a large tree in the future. However, you or someone else in your family likes the plant so much that it is not possible to get rid of it.

There are various reasons why a large tree might not be acceptable in your garden. A large tree may deteriorate the foundations of the house and/or the branches may damage the roof. A large tree also casts too much shadow in the garden keeping other plants from receiving enough light. A large tree may also be too overwhelming in comparison to the rest of the garden.

Idea

This idea works if the plant is still young, not more than 3 years since purchase. If the plant is already in the ground, dig it out and put it a flower pot. If the plant is (still) in the flower pot keep it there. Dig a hole where you want to place the plant and put the flower pot in the hole. Fill up the hole with soil so that the flower pot is not visible and it looks like the plant just grows in the soil. Then treat the plant like a bonsai.

Taking care of bonsais is not as difficult as it seems. It usually boils down to the following procedures, which are not time consuming:

1. Trim the branches once or twice a year (spring and/or autumn). Find out what the best part of the year is for the trimming for the plant.
2. In dry periods, water the plant frequently. The plant is in the flower pot and therefore has much smaller root system.
3. Fertilize regularly for the same reason as above.
4. Optionally, you may train some of the branches to achieve more eye-pleasing shape of the crown.

There is enough information available on the Web or in books/magazines about how to grow bonsais. Educate yourself about the general principles and look up instructions about how to make your plant into a bonsai.