Sourcing new bonsai can be difficult unless you are lucky enough to live near a bonsai nursery. With the advent of online bonsai nurseries and Ebay, buying bonsai on the internet has become more common place in the past few years.

Most bonsai bought online have to be delivered to the buyer via the Postal Service in your country. Many people are rightly nervous of the condition that an expensive bonsai may reach them if it has been transported via a courier.

However, if well packaged, there is no reason why a bonsai cannot be transported by courier without incurring any damage. Having sent and received many bonsai through the UK Royal Mail, I believe that the method of packaging bonsai described in this article is as failsafe as is reasonably possible.

Packing Bonsai

This is a small Larch group planting I recently sold. Planted onto a flat piece of slate it was probably more difficult to send than a typical bonsai planted in a pot.

With a minimum of one or two days in the postal system, the planting is thoroughly watered; this is especially important during the warm Summer months as the soil must not dry out before the trees reach their destination.

The first stage is to wrap the soil and rootball in plastic, using adhesive tape to secure the plastic into position. Not only does the plastic secure the soil into the pot during transit but it also holds the moisture within the soil. Though all bonsai should already be well secured into their pots, the tightly wrapped plastic also ensures that the tree is held securely into the pot (or in this case, on the slab).

Normally when ordinary plants are sent in the post, the plants are wrapped with soft materials such as newspaper or polystyrene to stop the plant from being damaged. However, with bonsai each and every branch and twig is arranged precisely, any material that can move around inside the boxing can and will move branches out of position and cause damage to the leaves. For this reason, only the bonsai itself is placed inside the packing box.

To stop the bonsai flying around inside the packaging, copper bonsai wire is used to very securely attach the tree to the base of a light wooden frame. The purpose of the wooden frame is to give the outer cardboard box additional strength to avoid crushing of the box in transit.

To protect bonsai pots from being broken in transit, the pot is placed on top of a slab of polystyrene prior to be tied into the base of the box. This cushions the pot from any sharp bangs or knocks that might damage it.

Once fully secured, this Juniper bonsai will not be damaged even if it is placed on its side or even upside down for the entire delivery!

Finally, a well-secured and very sturdy cardboard box must be used!

Insurance

However well packaged a bonsai is, it is always worth making sure that the package is insured for more than the value of the bonsai.

In the UK, all First Class and Parcel Force mail is insured automatically to cover the first £32 of the bonsai's value in the event of damage. Increasing the insurance level to £100 costs just £1 and just £2.25 for cover up to £250. Where possible, insure trees that you send to other people and if buying a bonsai online, ask that the sender insure your tree.

With care and good practice on the part of the vendor, trees should be well packaged and perfectly safe to send by the Postal System. If using an online nursery or Ebay seller for the first time, ask them how they package and send their trees and what they do to ensure your purchase reaches you safely before you make your purchase.

A well watered and well packaged tree will be fine in transit for at least 5 days; a little less during the Summer. I have heard a reliable story of a well-packed Pine lost in the Postal System in Begium for over a month during the Summer, when it was eventually located and the package opened, the tree inside was in perfect health!

Importing and Exporting Bonsai

There is no physical reason why a well packaged bonsai cannot be imported or exported to or from other countries; as long as the postal service used is quick enough to ensure that the tree will arrive at its destination within 3-5 days.

However, there are rules and regulations in every country that may or may not prohibit the import and/or export of plants including bonsai. Always check the legality of sending plants abroad before posting!

In the UK it is perfectly legal to import and export live plants to and from all other European Union countries using ordinary postal services.

Before I receive dozens of e-mails on the subject; I am not familiar with US import/export laws but I believe it is ok to export bonsai from the United States but very difficult and very expensive to try to import into the States.