Bonsai Trees

Cybersoftware Educational software


BONSAI TREES:
GROWING,
TRIMMING,
SCULPTING AND
PRUNING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Bonsai History
Bonsai Styles
Formal Upright
Informal Upright
Slanting
Cascade
Semi-Cascade
Growing Indoors or Outdoors
Bonsai Tool Box
Grow From Seeds or Buy Trees?
Trees Best Suited For Bonsai
What to Look For In Your Tree
Planting the BonsaiPruning and Trimming
Wiring
When to Wire
Watering and Fertilizing
Repotting the Bonsai
Seasonal Care
Displaying Your Bonsai
General Tips
Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION
"Bonsai art is the display of a landscape - without the
landscape."
--Nobu Kajiwara
This 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 patience.
When you take a simple sapling and mold it to your desire,
you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful piece of art you can truly
be proud of!
The term bonsai literally means plant in a pot or tray
planting. Bonsai however is much more than simply a plant
in a pot. The goal of bonsaiis to create the appearance of
great size and age. This is accomplished by creating a
bonsai with strong roots that extend in all directions,
creating a sense of stability, a large trunk which tapers as it
goes upward, a clear apex, and well formed and well placed
branches. These features all combine to create a careful
blend of symmetry, balance and proportion. It also must be
displayed ina pot which harmonizes well with the plant
material.
Bonsai is the art of growing trees in a confined space to
simulate certain environmental conditions such as great age,
extreme weathering, twisted or contorted form, landscape,
or other factors. Bonsai trees are modeled on and take
inspiration from nature. The idea of bonsai is to recreate
some of nature's most stunning and beautifuleffects on
trees which are reduced in scale.

When undertaking bonsai, you are beginning an
experience that will expand your horizons in countless ways.
You may find a new sense of appreciation for nature; you
may start looking at trees, bushes and shrubs differently.
You will certainly find yourself looking around all the "worst
parts" of your local nurseries where they keep the plantsthat most people wouldn't look twice at. How the art of
bonsai will change you is as unpredictable as nature itself,
but be assured of one thing: Bonsai will change the way that
you look at things.
To the Japanese, there is a link to many of the ideals
that their society is based on. Zen Buddhism - where the
pastime originated, man, nature, elements and change all
are intertwined into thisunique method of meditation and
expression. To our world now, bonsai is viewed as a hobby
that allows a greater understanding and being with nature
and also a way to enhance our gardens.
The tree and the pot involved with bonsai form a single
harmonious unit where the shape, texture and color of one,
compliments the other. Then the tree must be shaped. It is
not enough just to plant a tree ina pot and allow nature to
take its course - the result would look nothing like a tree
and would look very short-lived. Every branch and twig of a
bonsai is shaped or eliminated until the chosen image is
achieved. From then on, the image is maintained and
improved by a constant regime of pruning and trimming.
Bonsai is the art of dwarfing trees or plants and
developing them into anaesthetically appealing shape by
growing, pruning and training the trees into containers
according to prescribed techniques.
Overall, bonsai is a great interest, hobby or even
profession to undertake. Although famous theologians have
claimed that it is actually 90% art to a meager 10% of

horticulture, it has to be said that a successful bonsai is
most definitely a horticultural masterpiece....