Bonsai: A Living Artform

Bonsai: A Living Artform 

Bonsai…what is it?
Bonsai is to put quite simply is the training & miniaturization of bushes, shrubs & trees by artificial means to specific shapes & directions of growth. Bonsai is pronounced bone-sigh, is an ancient Asian horticultural art form. The word Bonsai simply means, both in Chinese as well as in the Japanese, tree-in- a-pot Bonsai's origin is in China almost 2000 years in the past. This sublime art, bonsai is practiced now all over the globe. Bonsai's formula is: Shape-Harmony-Proportion-Scale and all are weighed carefully as a craft-art, in which the human hand combines with nature to make a living art form.

Because a tree is planted in a small pot does not make it a bonsai until it has been pruned, shaped & trained into the desired shape. Bonsai are miniaturized & then they are kept small by controlling very carefully of the plant's growing conditions. Only branches important to the bonsai's design are allowed to remain & all other unwanted growth is pruned away. Roots are confined to a pot & these are periodically trimmed. Bonsai may have an highly stylized form or they may be as they are found in nature. Old age of a bonsai is highly prized. Bonsai can & often do live to be 100's of years old. Bonsai change with the seasons just as their "wild" relatives according to their species. Bonsai require care, pruning & training throughout their lifetime.

There is a group of arts which originated in Asia as individual expressions of spiritual places manifested and concentrated into representations that are made with either living components (bonsai, pun-sai, penjing, saikei, etc.) or inanimate ones (bonkei, suiseki, viewing stones, etc.) or a combination thereof, that all have spatial, temporal & physical characteristics that reflect a relationship of Heaven, Humans & Nature. When visible human-intervention is minimized & blends aesthetically into the overall presentation of the bonsai there is a harmony created.  Design & care of these landscapes may be done by oneself or with others in virtually any location. Those things known as "ming trees" made with metal, glass, plastic, fabric, deadwood, and similar substances are mere echoes or shadows of these landscapes.  Floral arrangements including ikebana are philosophically related to your binsai.

Bonsai History
Bonsai first appeared in China on a very basic scale. It is where it was first practiced by growing single specimen trees in pots. It was these early specimens that displayed sparse foliage & rugged, gnarled trunks often looking like animals, dragons or birds. Many myths & legends surround Chinese bonsai. One thing has remained constant, grotesque or animal-like trunks & root formations are still highly prized in today's bonsai. Chinese bonsai came to be a landscape of imagination & imagery of fiery dragons & coiled serpents which take precedence over the mere images of trees. It is for this reason that the two forms of this art are miles apart.

Growing Bonsai
Misho - Bonsai From Seeds
Misho is Japanese for the cultivating of a bonsai from a seeds. This method of growing a bonsai takes the most time as well as effort of all methods. The best reason to do so is that you can control the growth of your bonsai from start to finish.
   
The 1st step is to obtain suitable seeds from the type of tree you seek to grow. You may purchase them in a shop or you may collect them yourself in the field. Seeds like chestnuts & acorns are easy to find in the woods. Seeds from conifers can be found inside their cones. The planting of seeds should be started in the early spring.
   
Before you actually sow your seeds you will need to soak the seeds in water over night. This will enable you to determine which ones are viable. Seeds that sink to the bottom will germinate & floating seeds must be thrown away.
   
Sashiki  - Creating Bonsai from Slips   
Sashiki is Japanese for acquiring bonsai from slips. This method takes less time than growing bonsai from seeds. The best time of year to start growing slips is the Spring.
   
Step-by-step plan of Slipping

1. Choose a pot roughly 15 cm deep that has a hole for drainage.

2. The bottom layer of the pot (roughly ¼ of the total volume) should be filled with an earth mix. Mix together fine gravel and akadama. (a type of clay you can purchase from a bonsai specialist) in a ratio of ½ to ½.

3. On top of the bottom layer you need to put akadama, fine gravel and potting compost in a ratio of ½ to ¼ to ¼ . This layer should come to roughly 3 cm below the rim of the pot.

4. Almost every type of tree can be grown wit slipping. The slip should be approximately 5-10 centimeters tall and 2-5 millimeters thick. Best is to use the top of small trees or the end of branches. See picture 1

5. Cut the end of the slip slantingly of to improve the water prerecording. It is wise to remove some of the leaves when the slip has to much branches.  See picture 2

6. Put the slips for approximately half in the ground. Leave enough space between them so they won't bother each other when they start growing. See picture 3

7. Rinse a considerable amount of water over the slip-bed, but do this with a fine spray nozzle and be careful that you lose no earth.
   
The aftercare
Put the pot outside in a sunny place, protected from the wind. The seedbed should stay damp but absolutely not too wet. This you can test by putting your finger in the earth. After one year the slips can be separated and repotted, but be sure that you use a portion of the original earth mix.

Creating Bonsai from Nursery Stock   
Nursery stock can be found at local nurseries and in bonsai shops. Because they are formed at the plantations some of them have a real good shape, so they can be used for bonsai uses.
   
Creating bonsai from a nursery stock has advantages & it has disadvantages. One advantage is that a nursery stock can be formed directly after you bring it home. A disadvantage is when you are forming a bonsai from nursery stock you have to remove large branches & sometimes even a part of the trunk meaning that you will leave ugly wounds on your bonsai. Growing bonsai from a slip gives you the advantage of being able to remove branches at a younger age & thus avoid leaving ugly wounds.

Step-by-step plan for slip selection:

1. First of all you should select trees on their trunks; the tapering of the trunk is important (the trunk must be thicker at the bottom and must grow increasingly thinner with the height). The form of the trunk is also important.

2. After you have found a suitable tree you have to check the root system, carefully remove the tree from his pot and check whether the root system is well developed or not.

3. Now you have to check the branch-structure, normally a lot of branches have to be removed, so to much branches does not matter.

4. Do only buy a tree when you really see a future in it, sometimes you find a good nursery stock at the first shop, sometimes you find nothing.
   
You can form the nursery stock immediately after you have bought it. Do not repot the tree after you have formed it, just wait till the next spring. Leave the tree unrestrained after the first forming

Toriki - Marcotting
Marcotting is an exceptional method of creating bonsai! This methodology involves forcing a branch of a tree to form its own root system. When these roots are well-developed, this branch can be removed from the tree & then planted to grow into a new bonsai.
   
Two advantages of marcotting are that time & control.  A branch can be ready to become a bonsai in a relatively short period of time. and the you have some control over the shape the tree will assume because the branch is selected from a group of branches. It is very possible to shorten the trunk of an existing bonsai using this method.This method is most effective if undertaken during the Spring season.

Steps to follow:
There are two ways to create a tree from a branch:
For evergreen trees the  "Tourniquet method" is used.
For deciduous trees the  "Ring method" is used.

The Tourniquet method
1. Locate on the branch the point from wich you would like the roots to grow. At this point wrap two wires tightly around the branch, with 1 cm between them. Make sure that the wires are wrapped so tightly around the branch that they are halfway into the bark. The thicker the branch, the thicker the wire should be.

2. Around the two wires you should place some moss. The moss should first be placed in water to absorb moisture, then wrung out to remove most of the water but leave the moss moist. Once the moist moss has been wrapped around the wires, it should be covered in plastic or saran wrap. However, the plastic should cover the underside of the branch but leave an opening at the top so that water can be added. See picture 2.
When the branch grows thicker, the nutrient stream is slowly cut off. The branch will, as a result of the lack of nutrients, form its own root system.
 
Ring Method
1. Locate on the branch the point from wich you would like the roots to grow. With a sharp knife, make two cuts in the bark: the cuts should be made in the same direction the branch is growing. The distance between the cuts should be at least equal to the thickness of the branch but no greater than twice the thickness.

2. Remove the bark between the two cuts you made so that the greatest distance between the two cuts is left bare.

3. Around the two wires you should place some moss. The moss should first be placed in water to absorb moisture, then wrung out to remove most of the water but leave the moss moist. Once the moist moss has been wrapped around the wires, it should be covered in plastic or saran wrap. However, the plastic should cover the underside of the branch but leave an opening at the top so that water can be added.
   
Caring for and removing the branch
The tree from which you are removing the branch requires no special care, you only need to keep the moss moist, but not wet!

Normally the branch you wish to make into a Bonsai has formed its own root system after 3-6 months, but check before removing the branch whether the roots are visible through the moss. When you have removed the branch (with the moss still around the roots in order to protect them from damage), place the newly created tree in a pot allowing plenty of room for growth. Place the tree in the shade away from any wind. Wait at least a year before forming the tree.

Tsugiki - Creating Bonsai by Grafting   
By grafting you "meld" a stump, a root system & a small portion of the trunk & a graft, upper portion of the trunk, including branches together. This method of tree growing is especially useful to obtain a large number of the same species of tree. This method is also used to add branches to trees. It is not possible to graft 2 totally different species of tree because the trees must be from the same botanical family. It is possible, for example, to graft a 5-needle pine to a Japanese black pine or to graft a creeping juniper to a horizontal juniper.
   
There are 2 ways to graft, each with different goals. Side-grafting & Top-grafting are the 2 methods used to graft bonsai. The best time of year to graft is in the Autumn.

Side Grafting
Side-grafting is used for 2 purposes. Adding extra branches to existing trees or creating new trees. With side grafting you attach a branch to a trunk: when the graft has grown together with the stump, trunk, after a year, you have the chance to make a decision of whether to cut the rest off and use the new branch as the new tree, or simply to leave it as an additional branch.
 
Steps to follow:

1. First you need to find a healthy graft to attach to the trunk, the graft should be about 5 cm long.  It is not necessary to remove the tree completely from the pot.

2. With a sharp, flat knife, make an incision into the bark about 1 cm deep. Make sure that you cut only into the bark and not the interior of the tree.

3. Cut the end of the graft at an angle. The angular portion should be 1 cm in length. Place the graft into the incision, with the barkless portion facing the interior of the tree.

4. Wrap some wire tight around the graft site, but take care that the wire does not cut into the bark.

The aftercare
After about two months the graft will begin showing signs of life. the wire should be left around the wound for at least one year so that the grafting site can heal completely.
If you are using the graft solely as an additional branch, our work stops here. When the graft is to be used as a new tree, you must cut off the old tree right above the point at which you grafted the new piece on, and after two months the graft will begin to resemble a tree.
   
Top Grafting
Top-grafting is only used for the growing of new trees. In top-grafting you graft the root system and a short portion of the lower trunk with a new upper piece. You add two pieces together instead of adding one piece to a tree, as is the case in side-grafting. In picture 2, above, the incision should not be made at an angle but the tree is simply cut straight through.
 
Steps to follow:

1. First you have to find a suitable graft to add to the stump, and this graft should come from an healthy tree and be about 7 cm in height. The stump does not need to be removed from its pot. The stump should be at least the thickness of a pencil and should also be about 10 cm high. Grafting thinner trunks is possible, but more difficult.

2. Make an incision with a sharp, flat knife from the point where the stump has been cut off. The incision should be about 2 cm deep. This incision should be slightly outside the center of the trunk.

3. The bottom 2 cm of the graft should be carved to a point. The barkless side of the graft should be pointed toward the inside of the trunk when the graft is inserted. See picture 2.

4. Wrap some wire tight around the graft site, but take care that the wire does not cut into the bark.
   
The aftercare
After about a year the graft has became one with the stump. Still it is wisest to only remove the wire after two springs seasons have passed. After about one or two years the graft starts growing and after three years have passed it begins to resemble a real tree. The point at which the graft was inserted will grow thicker than the rest of the trunk, but after four years this will not be as visible.

Bonsai is a hobby that brings beauty to your life, creates a living tableau for a craft-art, is very relaxing, enables you to leave stress behind & can be quite lucrative if one wishes to market their bonsai. Bonsai may be an indoor endeavor or an outdoor endeavor. Bonsai is a healthy as well as a satisfying activity for young or old alike.

Sources:

Bonsai - Pocket Encyclopedia
RD Home Handbooks)", Harry Tomlinson

Bonsai Survival Manual
Colin Lewis

The Bonsai Workshop
Herb L. Gustafson

Bonsai - The Art of Living Sculpture
Jack Douthitt, Warren Hill

Classic Bonsai of Japan
John Bester (translator), Hideo Aragaki

Ficus The Exotic Bonsai
Jerry Meislik

http://www.bonsai-bci.com/index2.html
http://www.bonsaisite.com
http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/BonsaiHistory.html
http://www.bonsaiempire.com/html/bonsai_empire_eng.html
http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/articles.htm
http://www.j-bonsai.com
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants

                               © Donald R. Houston, PhD