Zen Buddhism as practiced in Japan is a melting pot of various ideals that the Japanese society is founded on. It is the mantle from where man, nature, the elements and all forms of change arise and blend into each other through a unique process of meditation and expression. It is to this ancient Japanese way of life that Bonsai traces back its roots. It derives its name from the Japanese practice of tray cultivation. To a modern layman, it is defined as the art of growing trees or woody plants fashioned like trees, in containers. However, to an ardent horticulturist or an aesthete, Bonsai is not just a hobby; it is a practice that allows a greater understanding of the macrocosmic universe and facilitates our being in unison with nature.
A lengthy work of fiction by the name of Utsubo Monogatari (The Tale of the Hollow Tree) dating back to the year 970 talks about Bonsai thus: “A tree that is left growing in its natural state is a crude thing. It is only when it is kept close to human beings who fashion it with loving care that its shape and style acquire the ability to move one." And thus began the modification of the natural Bonsai to suit the human ideal of beauty.
Bonsai Cultivation:
Tradition pronounces the existence of three basic virtues that are necessary to create a bonsai: shin-zen-bi standing for truth, goodness and beauty.
Bonsai are grown from seeds or cuttings, from young trees or from naturally occurring stunted trees relocated into containers. Most bonsai range in height from 5 cm to 1 m in height. They are kept small and seasoned by pruning branches and roots, by periodic repotting, by dashing off new growth, and by wiring the branches and trunks to obtain a desired shape.
Bonsai can be created using almost any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub which produces true branches and stays small along with its crown and root pruning. Some species who have the ability to stay dwarfed due to their confinement in a pot and have certain characteristics such as small leaves or needle, are appropriate and popular material for bonsai. However, bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees. It rather is a process of growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. , but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses gardening techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce miniature trees that impersonate the shape and style of mature, full-grown trees.
Propagation:
Cutting and layering are the two most favoured propagation techniques that quickly produce a mature trunk with well-placed branches.
Cutting, as the name suggests, involves cutting off a part of a growing plant and placing it in a growing medium to develop its roots. The thicker the cut-off part, the more mature or aged-looking bonsai can be grown and in no time at all.
Layering is a method in which a part of a plant is rooted-off while it is still attached to the parent plant and then grown into an independent entity. This technique leads to the transformation of a mature branch into the trunk of a new tree.
Indoor Bonsai:
Typically, bonsai are crafted from temperate tree species grown in containers and kept outdoors. Artificial indoor conditions make them weak and stop them from thriving. A number of tropical, sub-tropical and Mediterranean trees ideally require consistent room temperature, correct lighting and humidity conditions to be kept indoors round the year. Species from cooler climates benefit from a winter dormancy period. However, no further decrease in temperature is required. In fact, a north-facing window provides just the right amount of light for these tree species to grow in the winter months.
Outdoor Bonsai:
Since most bonsai species belong to the temperate Japanese tradition and are outdoor trees and shrubs, they require moderate temperature, humidity and sufficient sunlight during summers. Careful watering, shielding them from excessive sunlight or wind, and protection from winter conditions through the use of cold boxes or winter greenhouses can not only help the plants survive but also thrive They undergo a dormancy period in winters and can be safely brought indoors since they require cold temperatures, reduced watering and minimal sunlight. Any inappropriate rise in either of the above mentioned conditions may weaken or even kill the species.
Crafting Styles of Bonsai:
The most common styles of bonsai are elucidated below:
The most popular formal upright style or Chokkan, is characterized by a straight, upright and tapering trunk where in branches are the thickest and the broadest at the bottom and grow very fine at the top.
The informal upright style or Moyogi comprise appparent curves, with the apex located above the portion where the trunk dips into the soil. The branches taper down as they grow further. However, this gradual advancement is interrupted by the irregular shape of the trunk which makes a branch either very prominent or obscure.
Slant-style or Shakan, bonsai are marked by straight trunks that emerge from the soil at an angle making the apex of the bonsai appear to the left or the right of the root base.
Cascade-style or Kengai bonsai are imitate trees which grow over water or by the mountain sides.
Raft-style or Netsuranari bonsai have the tree toppling onto its side. Branches along the top side of the trunk grow as a bunch of new trunks and sometimes roots grow out from buried portions of the trunk. Raft-style bonsai can have sinuous, straight-line, or slanting trunks and give the impression of a group of separate, independent trees
The literati style or Bunjin-gi bonsai is characterized by a mostly bare, long and contorted trunk with minimum branches growing on top of it.
The group/forest style or Yose Ue comprises planting of several trees, usually of the same species, in odd numbers, in a bonsai pot. A variety of heights is employed to reflect age differences and enhance the visual appeal.
The broom style or Hokidachi comprises trees with straight and upright trunks with fine branches almost 1/3rd of the trunks’ height growing up in all directions to form a ball-shaped crown together with the leaves.
The multi-trunk style or Ikadabuki has multiple trunks growing out of one spot and having a single root system when actually it is one single tree. All the trunks combine to form one crown of leaves and the thickest and the most developed trunk forms the top.
The Shari style or Sharimik style aesthetically portrays a tree’s struggle to live with a significant part of its trunk being bare of bark.
In the root-over-rock style or Sekijoju, the roots of the tree wrap around a rock that lies at the base of the trunk.
The growing-in-a-rock or Ishizuke style comprises the roots growing in the soil contained within the cracks and holes of the rock. The tree may either take after the shape of the rock (acting as a simple container) or develop independently and have its own contours.
Techniques of Cultivation:
Bonsai borrows various cultivation techniques to be applied to it in unusual ways. Some of them are as follows:
Pruning: Pruning is the first step in making a collected specimen eligible to become a bonsai. The method involves removing the top of the trunk to make the tree more compact. A few branches coming in the way of the desired design may be trimmed or completely removed.
Leaf trimming: This technique engages the selective removal of leaves or needles from a bonsai's trunk and branches for aesthetic appeal.
Wiring: Wrapping copper or aluminium wire around branches and trunks allows the creation of the desired form along with crafting branch details and leaf placements. The wire keeps the new branches in place till they ‘lignify’ or convert into wood.
Clamping: The technique derives its name from screw-based clamps which are used for designing and shaping (straightening or bending) the trunks and branches of larger and stronger specimen.
Grafting: This technique employs the introduction of new growing material, typically a bud, branch, or root to a prepared area on the trunk or under the bark of the tree. It allows the addition of branches and roots to improve and enhance the bonsai design since most favourite species do not thrive on their natural root stock.
Defoliation: In defoliating almost all the leaves of a healthy tree of a suitable species are removed by clipping partway along each leaf's petiole. However, defoliation weakens the tree and should not be performed in two consecutive years.
Deadwood: This technique involves exposing the bark of the bonsai to suggest its age and maturity. The method of complete removal of the bark from the trunk to create an impression of a snag or deadwood is called ‘jin’ while “shari’ employs stripping the bark from certain areas of the trunk to replicate natural scarring from a broken limb or a stroke of lightning. However, instead of stripping the bark, tools mat also be used to scar the deadwood followed by chemicals like lime-sulphur to bleach and preserve the exposed deadwood.
The Bonsai Container:
The bonsai truly epitomises the expression “heaven and earth in one container”. It is the container that gives the bonsai its entity, for while the plant is in soil, it is totally independent of the earth. Symbolically, Japanese believe that it is at the centre point that the heaven and earth unite and nothing intervenes in between. Sticking to this tradition, a bonsai should always be positioned off-center in its container. Moreover, this also enhances the plant’s visual appeal.
Care for Your Bonsai:
Water: A bonsai tree has very limited space inside its container. Importantly excessive heat and wind are detrimental to bonsai’s growth. Hence sufficient watering is very important. However, frequent watering may lead to fungal growth which in turn leads to rotting of the root. Free draining soil should be used to prevent water logging.
Repotting: Repotting more often while the bonsai is in its growing stage and decreasing the frequency as it become prevents the tree from becoming container-bound. It also promotes the growth of new feeder-roots that allow the tree to absorb moisture with ease. Replacement or “growing boxes” allow the roots to grow more freely and its trunk and branches to grow fuller and thicker.
Soil and fertilization: Bonsai requires a loose, fast-draining mix of coarse sand, fired clay pellets or expanded shale combined with an organic component such as peat or bark. The inorganic components in the soil support the roots and fired clay also helps to retain essential moisture. A small quantity of fertilizer, usually in a dilute form is applied during the bonsai’s growing season.
Tools: The most commonly used tool is the concave cutter designed to prune the bonsai without leaving a stub. Other popular and useful tools include branch bending jacks, wire pliers and shears of different sizes for detailing and shaping.
It’s all about aesthetics:To a horticulturist, bonsai may be a hobby or a profession. To an aesthete a full-grown bonsai is definitely a masterpiece.
No comments:
Post a Comment