Living Works of Art
MY DAUGHTER was 13 when she first brought home a library book that introduced me to bonsai. As she showed me the photographs in the book and we both gasped in amazement over the wondrous trunks and artistic asymmetrical forms, my interest was quickly aroused. We devoured the information and before long we were at the local nursery to purchase likely candidates for bonsai. Together we cut roots, pruned branches, tied, wired and repotted. But not long after we set our trees out in the yard, it was evident that they were dying.
Years later we moved to an area where small wild trees could be dug up and used for bonsai, so I again made an attempt to grow them, this time with a little more success. My daughter, who had since grown up, was no longer living at home. But we were together recently on a trip to Washington, D.C., where we visited the National Arboretum. We had eyes only for the National Bonsai Collection. The 53 trees that comprise the collection were donated by the Nippon Bonsai Association. It included a magnificent 180-year-old Japanese red pine from the imperial household. These trees had been cared for by generations of experts. Even if a person was not formerly interested in “tray plantings” (which is what “bonsai” literally means), he would be delighted by these living works of art. One might easily feel like Gulliver looking at a little landscape in Lilliput while viewing these bonsai.
What Is Bonsai?
To some, this hobby may appear to be an attempt to torment trees while twisting them into grotesque forms. However, to the Japanese, who developed the art, it is a way to have a bit of nature close at hand while living in a crowded city. To contemplate a tree planted in a shallow tray, its soil carpeted with moss in which a craggy rock is imbedded, evokes memories of a scene once enjoyed in full scale.
Perhaps you once experienced a happy time with family or friends picnicking in a grove of trees. You could take a photograph of it as a memento, or you might plant a cluster of seedlings in a saikei tray and have a living replica of the scene.
For those who love a variety of trees but lack the space for more than one or two that are full-size, a rugged bench in the backyard can easily hold a dozen miniature trees for display. The situation was reversed for an acquaintance of mine who avidly grew bonsai. Upon acquiring a large property, he discontinued his bonsai hobby and turned to growing full-size trees.
We never fail to enjoy the autumn when the foliage of deciduous trees changes hues. A bonsai that has put on its autumn colors can be utterly charming close up in one’s living room. Spring-blooming trees are lovely in the garden, but a sudden storm can shorten the display by knocking off the blossoms. A flowering bonsai, be it azalea, quince or wisteria, can be brought indoors away from the unpredictable spring weather and enjoyed for longer periods of time. So, then, the portability of these plants is another reason one may wish to grow them.
Essentially, bonsai are outdoor plants, for they need the sunshine, fresh air and the changing seasons to remain healthy. The necessarily copious watering and frequent spraying of the foliage would not be convenient indoors. The lack of humidity in heated homes would also adversely affect most trees, so they should be brought indoors only for special periods of appreciation or to add to the welcome of an honored guest.
Getting Results
If you have some understanding of the needs of plants and trees, you can enjoy the hobby of growing bonsai. Books on the subject have become available in direct proportion to the increased interest in the western hemisphere. Have you ever pruned trees or shrubs to shape them or to remove damaged limbs? No doubt you used lopping shears and had to climb a ladder for the tall ones. With bonsai, however, you may be working from a kitchen stool and using nail clippers instead. If you’ve transplanted trees successfully, you knew that the time of year was important, and in some cases you root-pruned with a spade and allowed time for the little feeder roots to grow before severing the taproot and actually moving the tree. This same understanding will help you successfully to transplant a wild tree to a container. You will not be tempted to pick up a tree during the hot summer months only to have its foliage wither and the tree die. Nor will you hack off the root ball of a nursery-grown tree to squeeze it into a bonsai pot all in a single operation.
If house plants are your special interest, some species may be grown as indoor bonsai. Among these are azalea, boxwood, cotoneaster or Pyrocantha. American bonsai hobbyists are also using Ficus exotica and Polycias fruiticosa (“ming” aralia). In growing house plants we often move our tropicals to progressively larger pots as they increase in size. This is the one area where bonsai culture is different, for the roots are judiciously pruned not only to keep them within the confines of the same pot year after year, but to encourage the growth of younger roots closer to the crown. The foliage is correspondingly trimmed, resulting in a proportionately thicker appearing trunk.
It is not to be hoped that a beginner will achieve a great deal in the first years. I can recall the weak, embarrassed smile on the face of a professional grower when I displayed my first endeavors. He didn’t want to discourage me, but he couldn’t sincerely compliment me. After a while you may begin to feel that some of your trees are quite good, only to attend a bonsai show and realize that, compared to the work of experts, yours is insignificant. Do not let this deter you.
If you are one who spends some time in an uncultivated environment, it may be possible to find a natural dwarf—a treasure to the bonsai enthusiast. Or browsing through a nursery may turn up a rejected shrub that did not sell because it was asymmetrical.
Though some feel that a finished bonsai can be had in a short time, others insist that a minimum of 10 years is needed before one can have a bonsai of true beauty. Both will agree, though, that age is an appearance—an illusion effected by the hand of the bonsai man—and not always by the passage of time. So with patience you too may have a living work of art.—Contributed.
“You fruit trees and all you cedars, . . . Let them praise the name of Jehovah.”—Psalm 148:9, 13.