Secrets Of Japanese Bonsai
For the experienced practioner, bonsai is much, much more than simply growing small trees in a pot. The word "bonsai" in Japanese is translated as small tray (bon ) to plant (sai) or "to plant in a small tray", but if you have only planted a tree in a small tray, or pot, you do not have a bonsai.
To appreciate Japanese bonsai you must understand each if its layers. You cannot create a bonsai tree unless you have brought together a capability for horticulture, innovation, and expression. Bonsai can teach us valuable lessons, including patience and perserverence. Can you see how a bonsai cannot be created if any of the dimensions are missing?
Japanese bonsai requires horticultural skills which fortunately can be learned by most people. A general knowledge of gardening will be necessary to be a good bonsai gardener. He must study and understand the physiology of plants. He will need to learn all about a tree's branches, bark, trunk, and roots. A bonsai artist must know how leaves perform photosynthesis, A bonsai tree has seasonal cycles that affect growth that he will need to know about. Your bonsai trees will suffer unless you are able to attain and bring all of this knowledge to your bonsai project. In the growing of a bonsai you cannot divide the bonsai gardner from the bonsai artist because you have to know both aspects to grow a proper bonsai.
The third element of bonsai, the element that creates a miniature replica of a tree that almost precisely resembles a tree in nature, is the artistic element. A bonsai artist must be able to see the potential that lies within a piece of tree material, and be able to visualize what it may become. Trees that grow under natural conditions and subject to the elements have forms or shapes that the bonsai artist attempts to replicate which make up the classic styles of bonsai. The bonsai artist may employ several different techniques, including pruning, wiring, grafting, and pinching to shape his bonsai in one of the traditional bonsai styles.
There is also a spiritual or philosophical dimension to bonsai also. Perhaps it takes a bit of philosophy to be a great bonsai artist. Some relate the philosophy of Taoism and Buddhism to bonsai, while others relate it to Zen philosophy. Regardless of which philosophy you subscribe to, remember that bonsai is not bonsai when the third dimension is absent from the work.
People who work with plants and trees to create Japanese bonsai most assuredly develop a broad appreciation of nature as they do their work, and understand that they are creating a thing of beauty. luckily, even people who don't completely comprehend the multiple aspects of bonsai can still be moved by its beauty.
