The Art of Bonsai 6

Hello everyone, welcome to part six. This time a word or two on pots and accessories, as bonsai differs slightly from other branches (pardon the pun) of horticulture.

Bonsai should always be potted up in bonsai pots, it’s all part of the bonsai culture, and they certainly look the part in the proper containers. Having said that, this statement is not written in stone, (pardon the pun again!) It is not always possible – or necessary. Genuine ceramic pots are quite expensive so if you are just potting up young seedlings or establishing a newly dug trunk then ordinary plastic pots will do, but they must have drainage holes in them.

They should not stay in them however. After say, twelve months and/or a soon as you judge them to have a sturdy root system they should be put into a bonsai pot (if you can locate any and can afford them), but this is really up to the individual. I have seen some really good specimens in ordinary ceramic plant pots in old gardens. Talk like this is heresy to the eastern practitioners of the art but, European/Western bonsai is becoming more prominent and is beginning to develop a style of its own.

As we can imagine, bonsai and pots and equipment is big business in Japan. There are agents there in touch with nurseries assisting with the export of trees all over the world, not only in bulk, but they will search for that one special tree; age, style, species, the agent will search for it.

The potteries of the Orient produce high quality pots, usually stoneware and porcelain, and this, coupled with shipping and mark up account for the high prices. There are now potteries producing bonsai pots in the west and along with another type made from resin moulded material is starting to bring prices down.

Then there is the hardware. Branch pruners, short and long handled scissors; these three items are really the only specialised pieces of equipment you need. Like most hobbies and pastimes it can be as expensive as you like – or not. Getting down to basics, you could manage quite well with just the concave branch cutter and long handled scissors.

Most gardeners will have some tools anyway, but apart from the three tools aforementioned, a miniature three pronged fork and/or thin plastic dibber are useful for teasing out the roots when re-potting. The scissors will trim the roots as well as remove dead and unwanted twigs from the trunk and branches. Don’t forget your copper or aluminium styling wire, although why not try pinch-and-grow as well? Just pinch out the buds that you don’t want to develop leaving the ones that you do, those that are pointing the right way. Or cut off the branch at a particular bud that is pointing the way that you wish the branch to grow. Spring and early summer is about the time we should commence the feeding regime again, and in my big pots (big plastic plant pots actually) containing the larger trees I prefer to put slow release fertilisers such as osmocote, then you know that they are not going to be starved during the summer.

WHY NOT TRY MULTIPLES?

Group planting can be an absorbing and interesting variation from single tree growing in the world of bonsai. The tradition has always dictated an odd number; three, five, seven and so on, although, as ever, there are now rebels emerging on the western bonsai scene who are saying…why? Their view is that they are emulating nature in her true sense when they style their bonsai trees, and nature does not develop her copses and forests according to any rule book, therefore individualism is beginning to break through among those who consider themselves bonsai artists. After all, many of these rules that originated in the Orient were born out of superstitions hundreds of years ago.

If you want to try your hand at groups try to obtain your trees from the same source if possible, though not essential, so that girth, appearance etc. are similar giving a presence of a naturally developing group of trees.

The initial stages of development and design can be carried out in larger boxes or containers to allow the trees to gain strength and strong root systems, as the larger pots suitable for groups are quite expensive. The after a year or two they can be repotted with further root pruning and foliage shaping.

It is usually necessary to use tie-wires to stabilise your trees in the container as initially there will be no root grip and you wouldn’t want little trees around your feet when a bit of a wind blows, and they would not develop the way you would want them to.

It isn’t really essential to carry out any pruning at the establishment stage, that is, in the first few months, although a little light trimming would not go amiss. The real aim at first is to allow the trees to build up strength and to develop a healthy, fibrous root system.

Generally speaking, a good result with groups can be obtained faster than with individual trees, but a close eye must be kept on them for unwanted branches sprouting where they are not wanted so make sure to keep rotating the container to obtain even growth all around. Nip out any intrusive growth at the early stages.

Another point to make note of; a bunch of trees in a container with soil can become quite heavy so you don’t want to be moving them around too much.

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