BONSAI TREES: GROWING, TRIMMING, …

1 Cybersoftware Educational softwareQuality softwareYou have the rights to give or sell this ebookBONSAI TREES: GROWING, TRIMMING, sculpting ANDPRUNINGTABLE OF CONTENTSI ntroduction 3 BONSAI History 5 BONSAI Styles 9 Formal Upright 10 Informal Upright 11 Slanting 12 Cascade 13 Semi-Cascade 15 growing Indoors or Outdoors 15 BONSAI Tool Box 17 Grow From Seeds or Buy Trees? 19 Trees Best Suited For BONSAI 21 What to Look For In Your tree 27 Planting the BONSAI 30 pruning and trimming 32 Wiring 35 When to Wire 39 Watering and Fertilizing 41 Repotting the BONSAI 42 Seasonal Care 45 Displaying Your BONSAI 49 General Tips 50 Conclusion 52 INTRODUCTION" BONSAI art is the display of a landscape - without thelandscape.

2 "--Nobu KajiwaraThis quote couldn t be truer. growing and sculptingbonsai trees can be quite a satisfying hobby. It is a hobby;however, that requires a tremendous amount of you take a simple sapling and mold it to your desire,you ll be rewarded with a beautiful piece of art you can trulybe proud of!The term BONSAI literally means plant in a pot or trayplanting. BONSAI however is much more than simply a plantin a pot. The goal of BONSAI is to create the appearance ofgreat size and age. This is accomplished by creating abonsai with strong roots that extend in all directions,creating a sense of stability, a large trunk which tapers as itgoes upward, a clear apex, and well formed and well placedbranches.

3 These features all combine to create a carefulblend of symmetry, balance and proportion. It also must bedisplayed in a pot which harmonizes well with the is the art of growing trees in a confined space tosimulate certain environmental conditions such as great age,extreme weathering, twisted or contorted form, landscape,or other factors. BONSAI trees are modeled on and takeinspiration from nature. The idea of BONSAI is to recreatesome of nature's most stunning and beautiful effects ontrees which are reduced in undertaking BONSAI , you are beginning anexperience that will expand your horizons in countless may find a new sense of appreciation for nature; youmay start looking at trees, bushes and shrubs will certainly find yourself looking around all the "worstparts" of your local nurseries where they keep the plantsthat most people wouldn't look twice at.

4 How the art ofbonsai will change you is as unpredictable as nature itself,but be assured of one thing: BONSAI will change the way thatyou look at the Japanese, there is a link to many of the idealsthat their society is based on. Zen Buddhism - where thepastime originated, man, nature, elements and change allare intertwined into this unique method of meditation andexpression. To our world now, BONSAI is viewed as a hobbythat allows a greater understanding and being with natureand also a way to enhance our tree and the pot involved with BONSAI form a singleharmonious unit where the shape, texture and color of one,compliments the other. Then the tree must be shaped. It isnot enough just to plant a tree in a pot and allow nature totake its course - the result would look nothing like a treeand would look very short-lived.

5 Every branch and twig of abonsai is shaped or eliminated until the chosen image isachieved. From then on, the image is maintained andimproved by a constant regime of pruning and is the art of dwarfing trees or plants anddeveloping them into an aesthetically appealing shape bygrowing, pruning and training the trees into containersaccording to prescribed , BONSAI is a great interest, hobby or evenprofession to undertake. Although famous theologians haveclaimed that it is actually 90% art to a meager 10% ofhorticulture, it has to be said that a successful BONSAI ismost definitely a horticultural arriving in the Western world, this enjoyable andrewarding pastime has never turned back, and has gained amagnificently diverse range of plant material proper care, BONSAI can live for hundreds ofyears, with prized specimens being passed from generationto generation, admired for their age, and revered as areminder of those who have cared for them over thecenturies.

6 Although these BONSAI are extremely beautiful -meticulously cared for over the years and containing such awealth of knowledge, age is not essential. It is moreimportant that the tree produce the artistic effect desired,that it be in proper proportion to the appropriate container,and that it be in good is an artistic representation of a natural tree . Itis an image, an illusion of nature. It is smoke and mirrorsthat defies the senses. The best BONSAI are magicians' tricksthat have fooled the eye into seeing a far off place in thedistant past, or the side of a craggy cliff. We all have tostrive to be the magician."In this book, we will introduce you to BONSAI techniquesand how to grow your own BONSAI masterpieces.

7 The beautyof BONSAI is that there is no definitive right way to do can offer up tips and tricks to craft your own BONSAI , buthow. Enter into the world of BONSAI and gain a new insightinto life! BONSAI HISTORYThe history of BONSAI is long and storied. BONSAI firstappeared in China over a thousand years ago on a verybasic scale, known aspun-sai. Pun-sai was the practice ofgrowing single specimen trees in pots. These earlyspecimens displayed little foliage and rugged, gnarled trunkswhich often looked like animals, dragons and birds. Thereare a great number of myths and legends surroundingChinese BONSAI . The grotesque or animal-like trunks androot formations are still highly prized Japan's adoption of many cultural trademarks ofChina - BONSAI was also taken up, introduced to Japanduring the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) by means of ZenBuddhism - which at this time was rapidly spreading aroundAsia.

8 The exact time is debatable, although it is possible thatit had arrived in AD 1195 as there appears to be a referenceto it in a Japanese scroll attributed to that BONSAI was introduced into Japan, the art wasrefined to an extent not yet approached in China. Over time,the simple trees were not just confined to the Buddhistmonks and their monasteries, but also later were introducedto be representative of the aristocracy - a symbol of prestigeand honor. The ideals and philosophy of BONSAI were greatlychanged over the years. For the Japanese, BONSAI representsa fusion of strong ancient beliefs with the Easternphilosophies of the harmony between man, the soul an ancient Japanese scroll written in Japan aroundthe Kamakura period, it is translated to say:"To appreciateand find pleasure in curiously curved potted trees is to lovedeformity".

9 Whether this was intended as a positive or negativestatement, it leaves us to believe that growing dwarfed andtwisted trees in containers was an accepted practice amongthe upper class of Japan by the Kamakura period. By thefourteenth century BONSAI was indeed viewed as a highlyrefined art form, meaning that it must have been anestablished practice many years before that were brought indoors for display at special timesby the 'Japanese elite' and became an important part ofJapanese life by being displayed on specially designedshelves. These complex plants were no longer permanentlyreserved for outdoor display, although the practices oftraining and pruning did not develop until later - the smalltrees at this time still being taken from the the 17th and 18th century, the Japanese artsreached their peak and were regarded very highly.

10 Bonsaiagain evolved to a much higher understanding andrefinement of nature - although the containers used seemedto be slightly deeper than those used today. The main factorin maintaining BONSAI was now the removal of all but themost important parts of the plant. The reduction ofeverything just to the essential elements and ultimaterefinement was very symbolic of the Japanese philosophy ofthis around this time, BONSAI also became commonplaceto the general Japanese public - which greatly increaseddemand for the small trees collected from the wild andfirmly established the art form within the culture andtraditions of the time, BONSAI began to take on different styles,each which varied immensely from one another.