Bonsai Trompe l'oeil

.. used to grow climbing plants. bonsai: Bonsai is a Japanese word ...whole bonsai trees that are apparently precise trompe l'oeil renderings of nature. ...

Quote : http://britbonsaiblog.blogspot.com



We once had a prominent bonsai professional stay over during a workshop we were running during our club's Summer Show many years ago, and he did his utter best to persuade us to downsize on the number of trees we were growing. While he may have made many salient points, this past winter has also shown me that having a very wide selection of bonsai on hand means that pulling out a half-dozen or so for a winter display means neither headbanging nor panic.

So here is the line-up I dragged out of the garden for the Swindon Winter Image Show, warts and all. My first post on prepping a display for a show is here. The only thing that's changed for me in 2010 is that, due to the really hard winter, we still aren't able to say what trees (and accent plants particularly) will be likely candidates for future shows this year. So you could probably say that this is my 2010 starting line-up.


This shohin Kiyohime maple on rock has been shown previously on this blog and is in a shallow white Walsall pot; over time the white has faded to a very light grey, with a tinge reminiscent of celadon. The tree has come out of the winter without incident. The moss, on the other hand, is way more than manky. Prepping this type of composition is a real pain, as I try to use as much of the old, established moss as possible.

So I took 2 different types of moss, trimming off the back soil / leaves / crud to have as flat a moss 'sheet' as possible. Then I broke it all up into randomly sized patches, some of them maybe only 2 mm wide, others several centimetres in length. Then, using a toothpick, I 'patchworked' the pieces together onto the old moss. The effect I was looking for was an established planting rather than a freshly laid-on topping. The final result is this:
Work still needs to be done to this shohin to improve the trunk line and shorten some of the branches.

And in this post is this Chaenomeles japonica just after Swindon show last year. Fast forward to 2010 and just a few days before this year's show, the moss decided to give up the ghost and crumble off the pot, leaving this:

Again out with the toothpick and the mossy bitty bits. A whole evening spent in a crate indoors brought out a bit more colour in the flower buds. And just so you know, the plant cost a fiver about 4 years ago:


Here's a close-up of the moss 'weave'. You can clearly see the 3 different types of moss used:


This Ivy was dug out of our last garden over 15 years ago and is planted in what we call the dragon's egg (potter is unknown, unfortunately). In this post is what it looked like in the summer last year, and below is how it's come out of a winter in a cold greenhouse heated to 0 degrees Celsius.

Later in the spring I'll try a bit of defoliation on the Ivy so I get some nice spring colour (and possibly smaller leaves). Again, some patchwork retouching had to be done to the moss on this guy.

This Satsuki Azalea (damn if I didn't lose the bloody label somewhere so don't ask me what variety) lives outdoors all year long and had its head buried in snow like the rest of these guys. It's come out of that with tons of new growth as you can see from its back...

...and from its front. How do I tell the one from the other? It's hard to tell from these photos, but the tree actually does 'bow' pronouncedly to you from this angle.



This is one of TOH's earliest Japanese White Pines and it started life as a formal upright. Unfortunately the wrong instructions in a bonsai book led to the loss of both lower branches and it is now a literati. It has also been knocked out of its pot twice in the past year, so it is now slightly overpotted. And in what to me is one ugly, clunky drum pot.


This view is not the precise front of the tree, but IMO it illustrates best how the trunk line runs up and 'bows' toward the viewer.


I'll also have to say that my fave way of prepping a tree for display is straight akadama as it is dead simple. I've now gone off the half-akadama (or soil) / half-moss look as I find it can look rather contrived. So I either go whole hog and do a full moss weave thing or I do pure soil (like when I'm fed up of prepping trees and just want to get it over and done with). I tend to let myself be guided by what the tree looks like before the blackbirds get to it.

New to Bonsai? Dont Panic Its Not That Hard

..A new generation of indoor-plant enthusiasts can enjoy ...,General Care for your Bonsai Tools, how to clean and sharpen your bonsai tools...

Quote : http://www.articleslash.net/


O. K. you have got the idea that Bonsai is all about miniature trees, but you're clueless about “Shakan - Chokkan - Moyogi"? Don't panic, you don't need to know the proper names of styles or tree species, such as Bonsai Juniper or Bonsai Japanese Maple. All you need in the beginning is the desire to want to grow a bonsai plant and some basic knowledge.

To get started in the fascinating art of bonsai gardening, you will require some basic gardening skills, a few elementary tools and supplies, a healthy dose of common sense and a little artistic flair.

If you have grown some plants in pots before - and have managed to keep them alive, healthy and looking good, then you already have the pre-requisite skills for bonsai gardening. Apart from the actual techniques for keeping the plant compact, there really is not that much more to it!

Of course there have been volumes written about those techniques, so much so that you could fill a small library. But they are not ALL necessary to achieve an enviable result for your bonsai masterpiece.

When you first begin, the immediate challenge is just to keep your bonsai tree alive and still looking like a tree! In this you will probably have mixed success. But don't despair if you unintentionally murder a tree or two, you wont be the first and you wont be the last to have done that.

Over time and with trial and error you will get the hang of it. And along the way you will have great joy and satisfaction at being the co-creator of such an amazing and beautiful living thing. It really can at times make your heart sing!

Yes there are things you need to learn. But don't try and know everything all at once, just start with the basics and take one step at a time.

Begin with an easy to grow plant such as bonsai juniper. Then learn one or two things about bonsai care (watering would be preferable first up) and put those couple of things into practice until you feel comfortable that you know what to do, and then move on to the next one or two skills. . . . and so on.

Before you know it you will be the one others ask for advice on growing bonsai plants.

BONSAI STYLES

....There are many styles of Bonsai and all refer to natural styles in nature. ...How to start planting bonsai, caring, supplies & sources, repotting bonsais,...

Quote: BONSAI TREES GROWING TRIMMING,SCULPTING AND PRUNING

It is important for you to remember, as a beginner,that no single bonsai style is the “right” style. Bonsai is meant to be a representation of a tree in nature. Crafting a bonsai masterpiece is tantamount to how YOU view that tree. You are not learning from a bonsai master, you are simply being given instruction on how to create your own bonsai. What you make of it lies simply in your own mind. You should strive to make your bonsai trees look as
natural as possible. Let the tree suggest its own possibilities. If the trunk bends to the right, let it bend that way. Work with it to make it a main feature of your bonsai.You must listen to the tree and hear what it is telling you. Then you will come up with a beautiful creation! Bonsais should simulate age. You should try and project the appearance of maturity in your tree – just in a miniature form. Even if your tree is relatively young, you can groom it so it looks like it has been growing for years and years. Two features that give the appearance of age to trees are the caliper of the trunk and the degree of taper of the
trunk. The trunks of bonsai (in most styles) will be very wide at the base and taper very smoothly to the top of the tree There are two general styles of bonsai: the classic (koten) and the informal or 'comic' (bunjin). In the former, the trunk of the tree is wider at the base and tapers off towards the top; it is just the opposite in the 'bunjin', a style more difficult to master. When you start a bonsai, always remember that you are working with a living plant. Look carefully at its natural characteristics and you may discern within them a suitable style, or styles. Often you can train a plant into several styles, even if it is basically upright like a beech or elegantly slender like a maple. Even if one style only really suits a particular plant, you still can interpret this in many different ways. More than anything else you should not try to train a bonsai to grow in a style it is not accustomed to. Study the natural growth patterns of the tree you are going to grow and enhance on the pattern nature gave it. The five basic bonsai styles are formal upright, informal upright, slanting (or windswept), semi-cascade and cascade. All have their own individual beauty and serenity.

Formal Upright
A tree with a style such as formal upright occurs when it has grown in the open under perfect conditions. The most important requirement for this style is that the trunk should be perfectly straight, tapering naturally and evenly from
base to apex. The branches should be symmetrically spaced so that they are balanced when viewed from any direction.It is quite a demanding style to achieve. Junipers, pines, and spruces are great to try and grow in the formal upright style.To achieve an effective formal upright style, make sure that about one third of the trunk is visible from the front.This can be from the base to the first branch or cumulatively, as seen through the tracery of its branches.Generally, the placement of branches follows a pattern.The first branch up from the bottom is the longest and in proportion usually is trained to grow to an equivalent to a third of the total height of the tree. This is the 'heaviest' branch almost making a right angle to the trunk.The second branch directly opposes the first branch and is higher on the trunk. As the branch structure ascends, they taper assuming a somewhat cone-like form.The top of the bonsai is usually very thick with foliage - so full and tightly ramified that it is difficult to see its internal structure through the mass of leaves or needles. The tip of this style of bonsai also has a slight curve, to lean forward and effectively 'look at the viewer'. Depending on what species of tree you are using, the whole tree does not have to be symmetrical but rather the branches could ascend by alternating on each side. The branches and trunk of a formal upright bonsai always take on a very distinctive taper. This is achieved by cutting off the growing tip of the trunk or branch with each new year and wiring a new branch into position to form the apex. This is something quite hard to do, however it produces a stunning result when the trunk starts to mature and the taper starts becoming prominent. Informal Upright In nature, such trees bend or alter their direction away from wind or shade other trees or buildings, or towards light. In an informal upright bonsai the trunk should slightly bend to the right or left - but never towards the viewer. This applies to all types of bonsai. Neither the trunk nor branches should be pointing towards the viewer when the bonsai is viewed from the front. For this style, try a Japanese maple, Trident maple, or almost any conifer and ornamental tree. You’ll have a
dramatic result with a pomegranate or other flowering tree. An informal upright bonsai basically uses the same principles of the formal upright bonsai only that it is informal. The style still requires a tapered trunk, however the trunk direction and branch positioning is more informal and closer to the way a tree would look when exposed to the elements at an early age. The trunk usually takes on an unexpected curve or series of twists and the branches are thus positioned to balance this effect.As with formal upright, the crown of the tree is mainly very full with foliage and despite the informal trunk, is most always located directly above the base of the tree. This is an attribute of the informal upright style, if not done like this,the tree would be slanting.Jin (carved remains of dead or unwanted branches to look like dead and rotting limbs of a tree) is also more
appropriate and effective with the informal upright style.