Jarryd Bailey has been growing bonsai since he was 12.

The 29-year-old has mastered the ancient art, cultivating Tasmanian native bonsai at his Collinsvale nursery.

"I think it can bring a sense of peace to people in such a busy world," he said.

"It makes people re-connect with nature.

"Often people are blind to the trees and surrounding environment because we live in such a busy world, so bonsai allows people to stop and look at the minute elements of the natural world."

Mr Bailey started the art after his childhood neighbours inherited some trees.

"I was intrigued by them instantly, and started to get my own bonsai," he said.

He sourced a fig tree, which is still alive today.

"It's a pretty beautiful art form to pursue."

Inside Jarryd Bailey's Collinsvale greenhouse. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

Watching and waiting

Mr Bailey taught himself the art through books and online information, before joining bonsai societies.

"From there I went to conventions to learn more, and studied with international artists," he said.

He spent three months in the United States studying the art with an expert.

He has transferred the knowledge to Tasmanian natives.

"Horticulturally, a lot of the techniques used for traditional bonsai can be transferred to native plants," he said.

Mr Bailey is turning his hobby into a business. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

"The difficulty is that there's no information available on a lot of the species I'm working with.

"So it involves watching the growth habit of the tree and looking for morphology that's similar to traditional plants and adapting already well known techniques to the horticulture of these plants in Tasmania."

His favourite species is the fagus, or deciduous beech, but it has proven difficult to cultivate.

"There are other species that are quite simple to grow, tea tees, melaleucas, eucalypt."

Mr Bailey says the ancient bonsai techniques can be successfully transferred to natives. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

Growing a work of art

Mr Bailey's oldest tree is about 20 years old, but he said there were short cuts for amateurs.

'Accent plants' accompany the bonsai. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

"If you're growing from seed or cutting it might take five or six years to get something to a saleable point or to a point where it's reflective of a tree," he said.

"You can take short cuts like going to a nursery and buying a more advanced tree and going from there."

His advice to those apprehensive about growing bonsai was to seek advice and get tips and tricks from a bonsai society.

"You can come up to our garden and get some help," he said.

"Bonsai require all the elements a tree growing in the wild requires — clean air, sunshine, and some trees might need shade.

"The primary thing people slip up with is the watering, the trees are in small pots so over summer you might be watering twice or three times a day."

On top of the horticultural side there's also the aesthetics, he said.

"The aesthetics of bonsai is to take a plant or a tree and turn it into something that is a work of art."

Mr Bailey's nursery Montane Bonsai Gardens is open by appointment.