Hi, I'm pretty sure it's a boxwood, and once the last frost in your area has passed, put it outdoors. It's probably been planted in mostly peaty potting soil, and that holds water forever, which boxwood won't tolerate, so it needs repotting into a mix with more grit than soil, some small bark bits (1/16") and some perlite to keep it light. Water only when more of the mix than less is dry, and even most of it, because while the leaves look dry to you, the water's not draining fast at all and it's drowning. Keep it in the sun, or light shade (outdoor gauge, not indoors). Do get in there and prune away many small twiggy branches, especially anything growing toward the middle, as it's keeping light out.

Hi. Thanks for your response. Yeah I looked at some boxwood trees online after you said it was one, and I think you are right :-)
It was tagged wrong in the store...

Well we will repot it then with the right kind of soil and bark mix.

What is perlite? Is that those little beige-ish balls?

Does it need to be sprayed with water? Or just water it into the pot?
We bought some bonsai-nutriens, like furtilizer. How much or often should we use that?

Will get some pruneing scissors and try to get it right :-)

And should it just stay outdoors in the summertime then? In direct sun? Or is light shade better?

Thanks again,
Kathrine (total newbie)

Hi, perlite comes in bags beside soil mixes in the supermkt or Wal-Mart, etc. and is tiny pure white grit (you'll see it all throughout so many house plants everywhere) and it's an inert substance that keeps the soil aerated (roots need to breathe too :-) and helps water to drain quickly - never let your pots sit in the drain water because if it's wicked back in it'll rot the roots. Don't bother spraying, it's a waste of time, but if your drip tray is wide and you fill it with stones and water, it's a humidity tray as long as you keep the water below the top of the stones. It can live outdoors year round, light shade is ok, or maybe sun filtered through tall trees nearby, but full sun isn't terrible.

I don't know if they have Wal-mart in Norway. Go to your local garden center and look for something that will work to make your soil more pourous. Turface is high fired clay, or you could use expanded shale. I think vermiculite (spelling?) works much the same too. You might also buy it online if you can't find it in stores. Sometimes they have stuff on e-bay. The soil there is overpriced compared to the price you pay to mix your own, but if you only have one, it will last awhile. You can also get some reasonable tools there. I got an entire set for a very good bid price. I was worried that they wouldn't be the right thing or that they would be flimsy. When I got them, I had a friend who has been doing bonsai for 15 years or so look at them, and he said they were just fine. I have read that boxwood is hard for beginners to keep up. I have only been doing this for two years, and I am not willing to try one yet. Boxwoods grow as shrubs ALL over Houston, so I am not sure what makes them so difficult. However, all three books that I have on bonsai say that they are not for beginners. That brings up another point; buy a book and read, read, read. THere are lots of great books about how to mix soil, how to root prune, how to prune foliage, etc. Have fun!=0)

Thanks for both your replies.

Yeah we don't have wal-mart here. But I know a big plant shop in town where they have lots of different soils and stuff. So I am sure I will find some sort of stuff to put in the soild to make it more pourous. :-)

Its weird that they sell boxwoods in regular plant stores then if they are so hard for beginners! That was the only bonzai they had :s
Well we gotta give it a shot. =)

Any reccomandations of a good newbie-book on bonzai?

No, do not use Vermiculite - it's very different and will hold water in the soil and compact the soil. Boxwoods aren't hard if you're careful about not watering often and about keeping it pruned well. BTW, it is bonSai, not a Japanese version of honorable suicide :-). So many bonsai 'newbies' lose trees early because they water too often (though do it well when you do it). I didn't see that you were in Norway! When you 'winter' it, put the pot in a much larger one with mulch stuffed in between and some on top and it'll be fine. Don't water once the soil freezes, but let it get snowed on and if it thaws enough at any point, it'll drink naturally.

oh thought kamikaze was honorable suicide... but alright I will remember to call it bonSai from now on. ;-)

What do you mean by wintering it? ohhh prepare for winter.. haha got it. Thanks for the good tips =)

You're right, Banzai is what they yelled before doing it!

Ahhhh hehe I see. =)

Just an FYI FWIW:
Kamikaze is from 2 Kanji (Japanese word symbols):
Â_ (kami, kah-mee) = God, divine
ÂÂ (kaze, kah zeh) = wind

hence together Â_ÂÂ (kamikaze, kah-mee-kah-zeh) means divine-wind.

(I hope the kanji come through when this is posted, if they don't i have posted a link to the japanese wiki page for kamikaze, they are the two at the top in bold)

Here is a link that might be useful: Kamikaze wiki japan