Domain

Explanation

Sounds like Pang Sai?

• No lah … not that smelly, ugly & or without taste dung
• It's Bonsai 盆栽

Bon Zai!?

• No … it's not the Japanese victory outcry: Bon Sai
• The word Bonsai 盆栽 is really a Chinese phrase

What's Bonsai then?

• Bonsai
• Is the cultivation of a potted plant, normally trees or sometimes flowers
• Into desired forms, shapes & sizes (termed structure) that fits certain ideals
• It originates from ancient China (just the chess game GO 圍棋, the first manual calculator ABAQUS 算盤, the first paper 紙張 & the gunpowder 火藥)
• The East is known for its introspection, its cultivation of the spirit, its quiet contemplation, its feeling observation, its emphasis on serenity & simplicity, its philosophy of harmonious balance
• What better way then to realise these ideals then by gardening?
• Gardening is tending to vegetation without the screams of pains & suffering that animals & people would
• Hence, vegetation can be harmoniously shaped into desired forms
• Yet, it is robust against the ignorance of the beginners, the mistakes of the inattentive gardener or the ravages of time, disease & weather or even disasters
• And what better form to cultivate gardening than to perform absolute attention on discrete, miniature, trained plants in vases & pots that are more like islands of their own rights?
• Hence, Bonsai is really:
• The cultivation from seedling or plantling in discrete pots to grow & prosper into desired forms that fit the ideals of the master

Spirit of Bonsai?

• Prior to becoming a mere aesthetic expression, bonsai was conceived as the desire to achieve harmony between sky & earth, between man & nature
• A profound spiritual force capable of expressing moods ranging from intimate to sublime in a perfect art
• The ultimate goal of this art is …
• To witness the slow changes of nature by suggesting a feeling of inner peace, calm & simplicity

Forms of Bonsai?

• The original Chinese masters have made distinctions the following 2 forms:

1. Pun-sai 盆栽: gardening cultivation in a potted container
2. Pun-ching 盆景: Pun-sai surrounded by a landscape 盆中之景

Groups of Bonsai?

• Specimens range in height from plant tip to top of pot from 7cm to over 120cm, divided into 5 groups:

1. Miniature: <15cm
2. Small: <22cm
3. Small-medium: <40cm
4. Medium: <90cm, difficulty of shifting
5. Large: >90cm, seldom moved, if ever

Bonsai styles

• There are the Individual Bonsai & Group Bonsai (two or more discrete plants in a single pot, necessarily more crowded)
• Individual Bonsai:

1. Moyogi: informal upright style, for flowering
2. Chokkan: formal upright style, stout
3. Shakan: slant style, as if blown by wind
4. Kengai: full cascade style, adapts to ruggedness of the landscape
5. Han-Kengai: semi-cascade style, trunk is also twisted

• Group Bonsai:

1. Sokan: twin trunk style, two plants, one slightly younger
2. Sankan: multiple trunk style, more than two
3. Kabudachi: clump style, trunks must be odd number
4. Ikada: raft style, fallen trunk becomes root, branches become new trunks
5. Yose-ue: group planting style, forest
6. Netsuranari: raft from sinuous root style, old trunk also becomes one of the new trunks

Desired shapes?

• Desired shapes of Bonsai 盆栽 must satisfy:

1. Nature 自然: it must be natural, to be modelled after desired natural surroundings
2. Overall structural shape 整體: to fit into style (pyramid-shape for upright styles)
3. Overall structural layering 層次: to exhibit the various levels of the tree (just like forest layers: grasses, bushes, small/medium/tall trees, forest canopy)
4. Specific designs 特景: of the individual parts of the tree can be emphasized (like roots can be triangular, standing above soil)
5. Landscaping 景觀: scenery depicted by the combinations of vegetation & artificial elements (like pots, figurines, water pond, etc.)

Tree growth?

• Development of a tree depends on two factors:

1. Elongation of parts: extension of tree like trunk, branches, etc. until lignification process starts (stops elongation); determines structure of tree
2. Increase in diameters of parts: diameters of trunk & branches continue growing indefinitely, hence continuously changing proportions of the parts (under the same structure)

Overview to Bonsai

• Bonsai styles
• Creating Bonsai
• Pruning
• Using wires
• Repotting
• Plant care, maintenance, diseases & pests

Creating Bonsai

• Seeds can be bought or picked carefully from surroundings or grafting
• Seedlings or plantlings best picked in spring, when growth is fast before lignification, ease of shaping or training the tree in pots
• Seeds to be planted in shallow pots with proper soils for nutrients, pH, moisture & drainage; watered & in shaded protected place
• Plantlings can have roots trimmed & secured into rocks (proper desired shapes & cavities); or secured into pots base using wires to hold the pot drainage holes to the tree trunk (lightly & not strangling the tree)

Pruning

• Pruning is the discriminate cutting, trimming or shaping shoots, trunks, branches & leaves (foliage) into desired shapes
• Roots: can be trimmed during repotting; cut off dead or decaying ones; trim the extra-long ones or redundant ones; for standing roots - use deep pots, then remove soil weekly & strengthen the roots by binding (just like how ancient Chinese nobles bind their women's feet)
• Trunk: if too thin, tie wire around to fatten (but not strangle the tree); if too slanted, use props, ties or wires to hold up until sufficient strength; if too straight; hold/tie down
• Branches: must show layers, hence branches must distributed at each layer; the rest should trimmed off; to make branch go upwards, trim the downward tip & vice versa; can also use ties, struts, props & wires to hold up or tie down into desired shape
• Leaves: foliage should be sufficient, but not concealing the desired elements of shape, structure & layers; too many leaves would result in non-conical shape
• Flowers: to be distributed & not clustered (not put all eggs into one basket); too many flowers would result in few branches

Using wires

• For larger or stiffer trees, wires (copper or aluminium only, others would harm the trees) can be binded at 45 degrees angle to the branches (remember Mohr's circle for effective stress)
• Use wires only to correcting & broadening diameters (tree parts grow indefinitely)
• Remove the wires once achieved to avoid strangling the tree (sap vessels might be harmed causing death of tree!)

Repotting

• Repotting is necessary when roots start protruding out of soil or drainage holes
• Release securing wires to trunk
• Take out tree & clean all soil & trim the roots
• Prepare new pot & soil properly
• Secure plant & rest in shady protected place for one week

Plant care, maintenance, diseases & pets

• Good soil for pliability, balance of components & water capacity
• Fertilizing
• Watering
• Pot container: right shape (base/height ratio = 4/1), size with inconspcious colour
• Prevent diseases by keeping close watch (what Bonsai is cultivating)
• Pests: aphids, mites, scale insects, fungus & bacteria

Advice

• Cultivation is the essence of Bonsai, whether in physical or spiritual realisation
• Peace, calm & simplicity are feelings desired
• To achieve harmony with aesthetics 內和外景