Bonsai are artistically trained healthy and dwarfed trees or other woody
perennials growing in relatively shallow containers. Pronounced as
"bone-sigh," the term literally means "tray planting." Living outdoors
and requiring their caretakers to provide them with water, nutrients and
protection when needed, these never finished "slow sculptures" up to at
least four feet in height resemble full-grown specimens which have been
shaped by the elements over the course of many years. They can remind
us of our relationship to nature and help us appreciate the giants in our
yard, neighborhoods, and forests.
Most likely these originated in
China
some
two thousand years ago as natural stone incense burners and other amulets,
in the shapes of the sacred mountains, which were then married to portable
living medicinal herbs from India and elsewhere... Transmitted to
the Japanese islands via Korea over a millennium ago, the art was greatly
influenced by the Zen Buddhist philosophy of "beauty in severe austerity."
The potted landscapes there were distilled down to a single ideal tree
which symbolized the universe... And then bonsai in their native
lands were seen and described by early Western explorers, missionaries,
and other
visitors.
Plants are collected by digging up wild or landscape specimens, or from
nursery stock, rooted cuttings, air layering, grafting, or (very infrequently)
seed. Confining the root ball of the tree in an aesthetically designed
and complementary container (which has bottom drainage holes) limits to
some extent how vigorously the plant will grow. The pinching back
of new buds (even needed weekly during our two growing seasons here) and
the pruning and temporary wiring of branches and trunk are done to shape
and direct growth. The foliage is kept in balance with the roots.
A smaller second set of leaves sometimes will develop from proper pruning.
Enough fresh air, sunshine, water, and fertilizer is given to each individual
tree to maintain good health but not promote excessive growth. At
least part of the soil mix is changed every few years. Sanitation
and physical removal is the first line of defense against pests, but not
the only one. (This paragraph contains the essence of bonsai's horticulture:
all the rest is truly creative art.)
A massive gnarly trunk, a few large surface roots, perhaps mossy patches
underneath a twiggy canopy of proportionately small leaves, perhaps a little
naturalizing deadwood among the downward growing branches which are
heavier toward the base of the tapering tree: such are the characteristics
of good bonsai. The more of these that can be seen in the tree when
first selected, the easier the designing of the bonsai will be...
The
art is an ongoing experience because this entails not only height, width,
and depth, but also time and the living and changing material...
What
is it that so attracts people to bonsai? We see it at our shows;
we hear it when an acquaintance first finds out that we grow these tiny
portable oases which can transport us to other climes, locales, and times.
Is it a fascination with something from the Orient? Is it an interest
in a miniaturized world? Is it the appreciation for and recreation
of a gardening art? Is it our successful/responsible caring and shaping
to accentuate the natural changes and cycles of the seasons? Perhaps
it is a blend of these...
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