The day you buy a tree, you have to pay some attention to the weather. In winter, be sure the tree is wrapped for protection against the cold. A tree cannot be left in an unheated car while you continue your shopping. In very warm weather, trees left in cars can cook.
When purchasing a tree, look for good color and freshness in needles or leaves. Also, the size of the tree should be right for the pot. Many trees are planted in pots that are too large, resulting in watering problems.
Before you leave the retailer, you should know what kind of light the tree requires. Outdoor placement in the right light should be no problem because of the many choices of location you have. An indoor tree should be placed by a window that receives the proper light for that species. Bonsai are living, growing trees and cannot be placed permanently on bookshelves or coffee tables. They are objects of artistic design, but their horticultural needs come first.
BONSAI BY MAIL
Beware of ordering a bonsai or kit from a catalog house that is not a nursery. Photographs of plants are often misleading, and too often trees are not the size or age indicated on advertisements. Chances of survival are slim. Avoiding this type of purchase saves you not just money but the disappointment of losing a bonsai. This warning does not apply to established nurseries that publish catalogs, advertise in bonsai periodicals, and stand behind the trees they sell.
Bonsai Publications and Organizations
The following well-known publications can assist students of all levels:
Bonsai: Journal of the American Bonsai Society
ABS Executive Secretary
Box 358
Keene, NH 03431
International Bonsai
William N. Valavanis
PO Box 23894
Rochester, NY 14692-3894
Bonsai Clubs International
Virginia Ellermann
2636 W. Mission Road #277
Tallahassee, FL 32304
Bonsai Today
W. John Palmer, Publisher
Stone Lantern Publishing Co.
PO Box 816
Sudbury, MA 01776
As bonsai evolved, designs that use the trunk, branches, and surface roots in the most natural way became the art's classic styles. In the transition from China to Japan, designs became more clearly defined, emphasizing balance as well as beauty. This refinement of bonsai styles was the result of pinching, pruning, and wiring. In the dwarf trees he worked on, man reflected what he saw in the trees around him. The art of bonsai continues to be refined even today.
As many trees lend themselves to more than one style of bonsai, you have to decide how you want to design your tree. It is important to approach a tree to be worked on with an open mind, to look carefully at the trunk and branches. Every plant has its own character. The ideal is to bring out the best tree from a certain piece of material. As our Japanese bonsai masters remind us, "Bend like the willow, not like the oak."
In creating bonsai you concentrate on the trunk and on the placement of branches. By doing this, you create an essential part of bonsai design—negative space, the space between the branches, the open area that allows "little birds to fly through." In the finished design there should be a harmony between the parts of the tree and the open space.
There are many more bonsai styles than those shown but the following should serve as models to inspire you to create trees with good balance and pleasing design. Viewing different styles should stimulate your creativeness and make you aware of the individual parts (the trunk, branches, etc.) that make up the whole tree. But though established styles provide invaluable models, they do not tell the entire story of bonsai. At no time should you hesitate to design a bonsai just because it does not conform to an established style. Remember that a good bonsai is one that draws the viewer into the tree and reveals the wonder of nature.
STYLES OF TREES
Trees growing in nature are formed by the elements. Wind, storms, and the need for light cause trunks to move from the straight, upright style. The following sketches remind us that trees adjust to the environment that nature has placed them in, be that environment gentle or harsh.
1. straight upright (FIG. 4)
The tip of the tree is directly over the base of the trunk. The tree has a well-defined branch structure.
2. curved upright (FIG. 5)
The tip of the tree is over the base of the trunk. In between, the trunk has developed a long, gentle curve.
3. slanting upright (FIG. 6)
The tip of the tree has grown away from the base of the trunk and is over the soil mass. The tree must be stable and not appear about to tip over.
4. windswept (FIG. 7)
The leaning trunk, branches, and foliage show the effect of constant wind.
5. semicascade (FIG. 8)
The tree has more slant than the slanting-upright trunk. Often the trunk extends across the pot, and slightly beyond the edge of the pot. The foliage may occur below the rim of the pot.
6. cascade (FIG. 9)
Think of this as a tree clinging to the side of a cliff. The trunk line is flowing downward. The cascade bonsai should be put in a container specifically designed for that style of bonsai. The container represents the cliff from which the tree grows.
7. grove (FIG. 10)
An uneven number of trees is planted together. See Chapter 6.
Today more and more people are living in apartments in large cities, surrounded by more blacktop than green space. For such people the rewards of bonsai are especially great. Central to successful bonsai are the actions of pruning, pinching, and wiring.
PRUNING
Pruning enables you to shorten the height of a tree, remove unwanted branches, and shorten others. Bonsai are pruned with the same basic techniques used for pruning other trees.
An example of unwanted material within a tree is crossed branches, which should be removed. A tree flows from the inside out, with new growth developing outward in an uncluttered line. All branchlets growing inward, toward the trunk of the tree, should be removed. However, before cutting off an unwanted branch, be certain it cannot be wired to an area where it is needed. In the sketches of bonsai in this book, unwanted branches have been removed.
Also absent from the sketches are signs of youth, including "sucker growth," branchlets growing straight up or straight down from the main limbs. On the main lower branches, the foliage from the trunk a third to half way out the branch is missing. This is where age, lack of light, or lack of nutrients causes foliage loss. Since this loss occurs naturally over the years, removing this lower foliage adds the illusion of age to young trees. Loss of inner foliage occurs less on the tree's upper portions, where branches are younger. No loss occurs on the new growth at the top of the tree. This area, of course, is young and vigorous, and receives full light.
The best time of