A Quick Introduction to Bonsai-the Living Art
When most people think of art, they envision paintings or sculpture. There is a type of sculpture, though, that uses a living tree, rather than stone or wood as it's medium. That is the art of bonsai.
The name "bonsai" is derived from the Japanese word for "tree in a tray". Bonsai is the art and result of shaping trees by careful pruning to produce a miniature tree or shrub. Bonsai are not produced from genetic dwarfs. Rather, they are the result of years of patient shaping of ordinary species by skilled artists.
Bonsai are made from ordinary species such as maple or pine. Since they are grown and shaped in a small pot, extreme care is necessary to allow the fragile plants to thrive.
The soil type and temperature must be exactly right. Unfortunately, these conditions are only within the artist's control to a certain degree. Pruning techniques and the various potting and re-potting practices must be perfected. Years of practice are required to learn this art.
Just watering these small trees and bushes is complicated. Too much water, and the bonsai will become waterlogged, leading to fungi and root rot. Not enough water will soon cause the leaves to wilt, and the tree will eventually die.
Soil and potting practices work in conjunction with watering needs since drainage is crucial. Pruning and shaping techniques interact with one another. These, in turn, are affected by soil maintenance and watering practices.
Bonsai are among the most difficult forms of art to create as all these elements and many more have to be accomplished to near perfection simply for the plant to survive. Add to that complexity the objective of creating pleasing shapes, styles, and colors for both plant and pot and you have a high art.
Besides the inherent horticultural difficulty of learning and mastering a dozen sub-sciences, there is the need to master the artistic vision and skills to produce any of several basic or advanced styles.
There are five basic styles of bonsai: formal upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade, and semi-cascade. There are about a dozen advanced types, including the literati and other difficult forms. As you can imagine, this is not an art that one masters overnight.
Craftsmen toil for years to produce a single tree, which may live a hundred years or longer. The trees are then often handed down from one generation to another, each successive bonsai artist adding his or her own unique style. As the tree is lovingly crafted according to the personal artistic style of each custodian, past efforts are venerated and learned from.
Many years of training and experience are required to become a skilled bonsai grower. Normal horticulture is difficult enough, but to produce a miniature tree from ordinary species takes a lifetime of patience and learning.
The results are widely regarded as well worth the effort, though. Bonsai are loved around the world for their uniqueness, longevity, variety, and beauty. They are also admired for the skill that goes to produce them.
In an age when brilliant engineering can mass produce global cell phones and self diagnosing automobiles, these individually fashioned and hand crafted, miniature works of art continue to inspire wonder and admiration.