The Bonsai Handbook E-Book

David Prescott

• Herausgeber: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 224

Beschreibung

The exquisite art of bonsai is beautifully demonstrated in this authoritative, practical handbook, which takes the reader from a first foray into the world of miniature trees to a level of considerable expertise. The book covers both indoor and outdoor varieties and is full of practical information about cultivation, propagation and pruning. It is a guide both for newcomers to the art as well as for bonsai gardeners with some knowledge of the subject.The handbook describes, in clear text, step-by-step illustrations, and finely detailed photographs, the anatomy and the art of this classic hobby. It describes the rules -- and also describes how they can be broken. It will enable beginners to start their own bonsai collection, whether of home grown or bought trees, and to keep their bonsai healthy and in good shape. It will answer questions for those who already have some experience with bonsai.All the tools and the skills needed are described, and a beautiful photographic compendium displays the top 24 species, both outdoor and indoor. Written by a master of the art, this how-to book is the perfect reference for bonsai owners at many levels of expertise.

Leseprobe

This Fukien Tea tree (Carmona Microphylla or Ehretia buxifolia) makes an effective bonsai in the Root-in-Rock Style.

Simple containers and implements are employed in the practice of the complex and deeply satisfying art form that is bonsai.

This ancient painting from Japan shows that the art of bonsai has been practised there for many centuries.

A selection of the tools used in bonsai, ranging from ordinary household items to a few highly specialized implements.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Science or art?

The art of bonsai

Your own bonsai collection

Keeping your bonsai alive

Keeping your bonsai healthy

Keeping your bonsai in shape

Repotting

Growing your own bonsai

Starting work

Directory

Glossary

Index

A bird’s-eye view of a particularly well-structured bonsai tree. This pleasing shape is created by paying careful attention to the branch placement.

FOREWORD

The essence of bonsai

Although bonsai is an ancient oriental art, it is just as relevant to today’s Western culture as it was in the East, when it originated in China over 2000 years ago.

People everywhere have always had an affinity with nature, and people everywhere feel the urge to represent these things in the form of art. In painting, poetry, music and sculpture. In this high-tech era, this kind of empathy with our natural surroundings is even more important, helping us relax and unwind. What better way do this, and to pay homage to mother nature’s most magnificent creations, than through the venerable art of bonsai?

The principles of bonsai are simple to learn and very easy to apply. For example, we all keep plants in pots, on our balconies, patios and even in our living rooms; there’s nothing new about that. We prune our shrubs, clip our hedges and fashion some plants into the recognizable shapes of birds or animals. Nothing new there either!

The only thing that makes bonsai different from any other form of horticulture is that it involves creating a miniature image of a larger tree, and keeping it that way, in a container that is shallower than usual. The only thing that makes it different from any other art form, is that the medium we work with is alive and constantly changing.

Bonsai involves no magic potions, no special philosophy, and no degree in oriental studies. All it requires is a woody plant, a pot, a handful of basic tools, and a few years’ patience. Think you can manage that? Of course!

When David Prescott first came to me to study bonsai, I recognized at once his innate talent and burning passion for the art. Since then, he has studied with many of Europe’s leading experts and has become a master in his own right. His down-to-earth approach and his unfailing sympathy with the worries and uncertainties of the absolute beginner have made him a very popular teacher.

Here, he not only brings to you his deep knowledge of the subject, but does so in a way that makes bonsai seem so easy that you wonder why people make such a fuss.

Read this book, try out the techniques for yourself (if you kill a few trees, don’t worry – we’ve all done that!). Above all, have fun – that’s what bonsai is all about.

Sincerely,

Colin Lewis

INTRODUCTION

What is bonsai?

Bonsai, literally translated, means tree-in-a-pot. This, however, is a broad definition which needs qualification. Perhaps it would be easier to explain what bonsai is not. A bonsai is neither a dwarf variety, nor is it a tree miniaturized by means of magic. Keeping the roots confined in a pot assists with mobility and allows for a unified composition but that is not what keeps a bonsai small and beautiful, either. The size, shape and attractiveness of a bonsai is entirely dependent upon its owner’s dedication to its daily care and his or her taste and artistic ability.

Nobody knows when the idea first arose that one could shape trees in containers to mimic their full-sized counterparts. There is clear evidence that the Chinese were doing it over 2000 years ago. Paintings of that period depict shallow pots with trees and rocks, which look like landscapes in miniature. However, it was the Japanese who took up, refined and developed the practice.

Much of Japanese culture and art throughout history has come under the influence of the Chinese. The Japanese script even uses the same characters for the word bonsai as does the Chinese. But within the past few centuries the two cultures have moved further and further apart. In China, most bonsai, (pronounced ‘punsai’) or penjing include elements of landscape.

In full bloom, a beautiful bonsai azalea in the Shakan or Slanting Style. Azaleas are calcifuges so they will only thrive in a lime-free soil.

In this old Japanese painting, well-dressed ladies are depicted in an elegant garden setting. On the left of the garden room is a table on which a few bonsai trees are on display in porcelain pots. The bonsai echo the full-size tree in bloom outside, at the edge of the tranquil lake.

Bonsai trees are sometimes displayed in creative ways to mimic trees in their natural environment. This Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora), seemingly growing on a hill, is actually a 100-year-old miniature specimen.

The trees themselves may appear to imitate animals and those with bizarre, unnatural-looking shapes and exposed roots are often the most highly prized.

The Japanese have simplified the bonsai image, distilling it to its basic elements. They have refined both the artistic and horticultural aspects of bonsai culture to such an extent that they have set almost impossibly high standards for the rest of the world to follow. Certain classic styles have been defined, based on the attitudes of the trunks. The ideal positions of branches, the proportions of the trees, the shape of the trunks and the relationship between the plant and its container, have all been perfected by them.

The first major exhibitions of bonsai trees were held in Japan in the early 1900s. This was a turning point. For the first time, members of the public and wealthy patrons of the arts came together to acknowledge the artistic value of the bonsai and the number of professional growers increased dramatically. Then, in the 1920s, a devastating earthquake destroyed a large proportion of the main bonsai growing area on the island of Hokkaido. Vast numbers of trees were lost and many of the country’s most accomplished practitioners perished. With the determination typical of the Japanese, a handful of hardy survivors founded a bonsai village in Omiya, on the outskirts of Tokyo, where they began once more to cultivate the attractive miniature trees.

Omiya has been almost absorbed by the urban sprawl of Tokyo’s suburbs. But some of the original nurseries are still there, many owned by descendants of the founding masters. Other countries in the Far East also have centuries-old traditions of bonsai culture. Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and Indonesia, among others, have very fine growers and have developed recognizable national styles. The stylistic distinctions between peoples are, as often as not, the result of differences in climate. Each climatic zone has its own species of trees available for local artists to work with. The different growth patterns, individual responses to training techniques and, of course, the natural forms unique to each species, are all factors which influence the final image a grower is able to produce.

Other factors also influence the emergence of national or regional styles, such as religion, heritage in terms of art, economics and social structures. It’s interesting to note that in countries where the standard of living is generally high, the bonsai are larger, more lush and more refined. In those where the population at large spends most of its waking hours at work, the bonsai are more modest.

Bonsai is not a hobby only for the rich and leisured, but it does involve some expense and demands considerable time and commitment if one is to be successful.

Bonsai is not a static art. In spite of the quite rigorous criteria of the classical practice, there is much creative potential on offer to the imaginative artist with a green thumb. Several new classical styles have become accepted as the old ways slowly give way to change and the development of modern techniques will enable growers to do things which were previously impossible. One thing, however, will endure, and that is the feeling of joy that arises from contemplating the living work of art that is a bonsai masterpiece.

This hardy European Hornbeam (Carpinus betalus) takes on a magic all of its own when the first snow has fallen in winter.

The hobby today

The practice of growing and shaping trees in containers was carried out in Europe in the 18th century, but there is no evidence to suggest that this was done for decorative purposes. It was more likely to have had a practical origin, in that favourite fruit trees could be more easily transported from house to house by itinerant merchants. Bonsai from Japan and China first appeared in Europe at an exhibition in Paris, towards the end of the 19th century. The little trees turned up in London soon after that and history records that auctions of specially imported bonsai had been held there prior to World War I. Those plants were not long-lived because no one knew how to care for them properly and the hobby failed to capture the imagination of the public.

Merchants and diplomats returning from the East would occasionally bring trees home. In the USA there are still some Hinoki Cypresses (Chamaecyparis obtusa) that formed part of a venerable collection brought back by Larz Anderson, a former American ambassador to Japan. Among these ancient bonsai are some with a recorded history dating back to the early 1800s, and they are still going strong.

It was not until after the end of World War II that the art of bonsai began to achieve popular recognition worldwide. The servicemen returned home with memories, and sometimes, examples of these fascinating little trees. Gradually, people began to learn more about them, how to keep them in good condition, how to shape and train them and, best of all, how to create them from scratch.

In the USA, the expatriate Japanese population of California was instrumental in spreading the word. One of them, John Yoshio Naka, achieved such renown both in the USA and in Japan, that he was granted one of the Emperor’s highest awards for his services in sustaining and promoting the respected art of bonsai.

Throughout the West, groups of enthusiasts began to band together and by the 1970s, most countries had their own thriving bonsai clubs. Enterprising nurseries began importing trees from Japan. In those days they were not only much more expensive than they are today but were frequently better as well. Now bonsai are mass-produced for export in such enormous volumes that both price and (unfortunately) quality have declined. Trees of excellence – formerly exported by Japanese owners who were delighted that their work was so admired in the West – are now reserved for the serious domestic collectors. Western enthusiasts who want to own a truly great specimen bonsai tree have either to create it themselves, or purchase one of those produced by local growers.

In the full glory of its typical autumn foliage, the Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) is related to the Virginia creeper.

A well laid-out modern bonsai nursery in Omiya, Japan, where trees are developed and refined before being offered for sale.

Some Western bonsai artists are these days producing work that is much admired in Japan. The repetition and conservatism that characterize so much part of Japanese culture have led to a vast understanding of trees; how they function and how best to train them. However, these traditional traits have also served to discourage experimentation. Western culture, on the other hand, tends to promote progress: to make your own rules and to do your own thing are actively encouraged. Exciting developments are possible when such freedom is creatively applied to the art of bonsai. One day, perhaps, Japanese bonsai masters may come under the influence of their Western counterparts and begin to expand the artistic frontiers of their own work.

Bonsai is now an established pastime throughout the world. Mass-produced, so-called bonsai are sold in super-markets and florists wherever you may be. There are clubs and national and international associations which organize popular events and exhibitions that are very well-attended. Specialist nurseries abound where trees, pots, tools, soil, everything the enthusiast could want, can be bought at half the price one would have had to pay 20 years ago.

However low the price of ready-made bonsai may fall to satisfy the market, nothing can rival the satisfaction of growing your own. Whether you start with a seedling or an ancient tree rescued from a lost garden, the intimacy of working with nature to create a thing of great beauty has a profound effect on the soul. Enjoy it to the full.

An expert practitioner conducting a workshop for an enthusiastic group dedicated to the practice of a venerable and ancient art.

Exhibits at the famous Kokufu Ten bonsai exhibition which attracts well over 20,000 visitors to Tokyo each February.

BONSAI

Science or art?

It is sometimes asked, whether bonsai is simply a horticultural discipline that requires an understanding of how trees function and how they respond to external factors, or whether it is an artistic challenge to use an ever-changing medium to create an object of beauty. Ideally, it combines the two: it satisfies the basic human need to commune with nature and the creative urge that lies within us all.

CROSS-SECTION THROUGH A SIDE ROOT

THE FINEST SINGLE-CELL ROOT HAIRS ABSORB WATER AND NUTRIENTS FROM THE SOIL AND DISTRIBUTE THEM THROUGHOUT THE TREE.

Anatomy of a bonsai

The roots

We take it for granted that all plants have roots of one kind or another, but if we’re going to be responsible for keeping a tree alive and in the best of health, it is essential that we understand a little more about them.

The function of roots: Roots have three primary functions. The first is, quite simply, to stop a tree from falling over. The roots that spread out from the base of the trunk extend in all directions, anchoring the tree in the soil. This applies equally to bonsai. If a bonsai is easily rocked in its pot, then the roots are failing and, if the roots are weak, the tree will also be weak.

A thick taproot and a mesh of finer side roots on a young plant. The taproot is the first root to develop on a seedling; it provides anchorage and seeks moisture.

The second function of roots is to draw nutrients and water from the soil. Species that are adapted to grow in arid regions have long, searching roots which tap moisture from a wide area.

Others that live in moist, fertile soil have fine, shallow roots that may not extend beyond the spread of branches. A tree living in the confines of a bonsai pot must have a well-developed, efficient root system to stay healthy.

The third function of the roots is to act as a pantry for the tree. During the dormant season the roots store sugars that were manufactured by the leaves throughout the summer months. The storage areas are in the heavy, woody roots, so it is vital to develop and preserve an adequate number of these sturdy roots on your bonsai.

How roots work: If you examine the roots of a tree or shrub, even on a small nursery plant, you’ll notice that there is no taproot. The taproot is the first root produced by a seedling; it grows directly downward to seek out moisture while it provides stability. People used to think that the taproot continued to extend downward for a considerable distance, but that is now known not to be the case.

Roots will only grow down as deeply as they need to locate a constant supply of water; and, in most cases, that is not very deep.

It is worth noting that the roots are structured rather like the branches; the thickest roots radiate outwards from the base of the trunk, they then fork regularly and terminate in masses of fine roots at the tips. In a full-sized tree, these fine feeding roots may be located way beyond the outer reaches of the branches and cover a massive area.

In a bonsai tree, however, the roots don’t have the luxury of wide open spaces. They must be super-efficient and able to gather all that the tree requires to keep it in good health from a relatively small volume of soil. To do this effectively, the majority of the roots should be encouraged to become very fine and dense in close proximity to the trunk.

Moisture is drawn into the plant for absorption by osmosis, first and foremost via the finest of fine root hairs. These single-cell outgrowths occur all along the length of the growing tips of the fine roots. In some cases they are so minute as to be impossible to see without the use of a magnifying glass, while in others they are large and long enough to be noticeable. The process of osmosis is a simple one and is worth investigation at this point.

A sturdy set of aerial roots on a Banyan Fig (Ficus retusa), which makes for a particularly effective bonsai in the Root-over-Rock Style.

Osmosis – a fair exchange

The walls of the root hairs are permeable, that is to say, water molecules are able to pass through them. The fluid inside the cells of the root hairs is packed with a high concentration of nutrients in the form of mineral salts, while the water on the outside contains a much lower concentration. In order to balance the two, water passes from the moist soil through the cell walls and into the root hairs, in effect, causing the dilution of the concentration contained within the root. As the water passes through the cell wall it carries along with it the nutrients it is holding in solution.

If the concentration of nutrients in the soil is higher than that within the roots e.g. if you have given your tree more than the recommended dose of fertilizer, water will pass from the roots back into the soil and the roots will die of dehydration. This is what gardeners call ‘root burn’, and it explains why smart gardeners allow farmyard manure to stand and rot for about a year, before applying it to the soil.

The thicker roots act as winter storage vessels for sugars that the leaves have produced during the summer months. The sugars are passed down to the roots for storage in late summer and remain there until the buds begin to swell in the following spring. At this point, the fine roots begin to take on water to pump into the swelling buds. As the water is passed upwards through the roots and into the trunk, it facilitates the growth of new shoots and leaves. Once they are properly established, the new leaves are able to support themselves fully and the same cycle begins all over again.

These nebari, or thick roots, anchor the tree in the soil and act as pantries for the plants by storing sugars over the winter months.

Healthy roots mean healthy trees

The experienced bonsai grower knows that if a tree looks seedy, it is likely to have something to do with the roots. It might be that they are growing in an environment that is either too wet or too dry; they may have been damaged by frost or by insect larvae. Also, the roots may have been overfed; or perhaps they are not able to gather enough nutrients or minerals from poor soil. All these points will be covered in greater depth, in later chapters.

A bonsai tree may fail to thrive because the roots are not properly structured. To survive in bonsai pots, trees need short, thick roots for winter storage and masses of the finest feeding roots with which to gather in moisture and nutrients. Medium-sized roots that are neither thick enough to be used as storage hampers nor fine enough to feed with should be kept to a minimum. Correct root pruning and excellent soil guarantee a strong, efficient root system and, therefore, a tree that is in peak condition.

The trunk and branches

Like the roots, trunks and branches have three functions. They, too, store sugars in the dormant period. They act as highways, transporting water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves, and energy-rich sugars from the leaves to other parts of the tree. And they ensure that the leaves have a high and wide distribution, in order to gain as much exposure to sunlight as possible. If you look at a cross-section of a trunk or branch, you’ll see the familiar annual rings, of which each ring indicates a year’s growth. Fast-growing trees have thick annual rings and slow-growing trees demonstrate thin ones. A 100-year-old bonsai with a 5cm (2in) trunk will have annual rings that are no more than 0.25mm(0.09in) wide!

In the centre of the trunk, the wood is darker and harder. This is the heartwood, which is dead, it neither stores sugars nor transports water. Heartwood is just structural timber, a prop to add physical strength to the trunk to enable it to support branches. This is why trees which become hollow can still thrive, though, naturally, a few do fall down.

The fine roots growing from the thicker ones absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil. Roots of intermediate size are unnecessary on a bonsai tree.

The paler wood is sapwood. This, too, is structural, but the outer rings are also involved in the transport of water and nutrients from the roots to the growing parts of the tree: the shoots, the leaves, flowers and fruit.

The rings which do the transporting are called the xylem (pronounced ‘zylem’). As xylem ages, it becomes less efficient until it ceases to have any function at all and becomes heartwood. In winter, the sugars are largely stored in vessels called medullary rays. These rays will radiate through the sapwood from the outer edge of the heartwood.

On the outside of the trunk are two darker, softer layers. The innermost layer is the phloem (pronounced ‘flo-em’), which distributes sugars from the leaves to the other parts of the tree, giving them energy to grow. If you ringbark a tree – cut a strip of bark away round the trunk – the tree will die. Not because the crown of the tree is starved of water, but because the roots don’t get the sugars they need to survive. When you damage the phloem by deep-pruning a branch or allowing training wire to crush the bark, it interrupts the flow of essential sugars. This may lead to the death of the roots below the damaged area. Each year a new layer of phloem is produced, but this doesn’t normally lead to the formation of such clearly visible rings as the xylem.

Enveloping the phloem is bark, which varies in thickness and texture according to species. Bark is made up of an accumulation of old, spent phloem, and has a variety of practical purposes. Bark is waterproof, so it prevents moisture from leaking out of the phloem. It is also home to small structures, called lenticels, which permit the trunk and the branches to ‘breathe’. Another function that bark performs is to protect the phloem from impact, abrasions and attack by a variety of insects or fungal infection.

These crowded pine candles have arisen in response to consistent pruning. They were generated by the activity of the cambium layer.

The cambium

Between the xylem and the phloem is what may justly be called the most crucial part of the tree, the cambium. This layer is just one cell thick and shows as a bright green film when the outer ‘skin’ (the phloem) of a twig is scratched away. In spite of its thinness, the cambium is highly active. Throughout the growing season the cells are constantly dividing, producing new xylem cells on the inside and new phloem cells on the outside. When winter comes it slows almost to a standstill, while a new ring forms.

The cambium is able to adjust its work rate to the growth conditions of the tree. In situations in which a tree can’t get sufficient water or nutrients – or when the tree is confined to a pot – it slows down the rate of cell division.

When a tree is adequately fed and watered, the cambium speeds up, producing thicker annual rings. In bonsai, we are aware that life in a pot is bound to affect the vigour of a tree, so we must attempt to counterbalance this restriction by creating a very efficient root system and feeding it well.

If the cambium is kept as active as possible, the trunk thickens more rapidly, which helps the bark to mature, increasing the tree’s value. The cambium is enormously versatile, so much so that it is even able to alter the nature of new cells to perform any number of essential tasks. When grafting, it’s vital to get the two foreign cambium layers to meet exactly, because it is these that ‘fuse’ together. Once fusion has successfully taken place, the new xylem and phloem cells that it produces within the union are able to function as continuous pathways.

If you cut through a branch in summer, you will eventually find a ring of fresh buds crowding around the cut between the wood and bark. These have been developed by the cambium layer, which has modified its function in response to losing the supply of hormones produced by actively growing shoots and buds. Adventitious buds (ones which are produced at random) growing from the older branches and trunks of trees are also generated by the cambium in response to stress higher up the tree. When cuttings are taken, the cambium generates the new roots for the new plant. It also gives rise to new roots during the process known as air-layering.

Adventitious buds have been generated randomly, in odd positions on this bougainvillea’s trunk, in response to damage.

A Trident Maple (Acer buergeranium) forest in miniature without its characteristic foliage, as the buds are in their dormant period. Since the buds of all plants are as individual as their leaves, it is as easy to identify them in tight bud, in winter, as it is when they are in full leaf.

CROSS-SECTION THROUGH A LEAF

THIS SECTION THROUGH A LEAF SHOWS THE STOMATA AND THE SAUSAGE-SHAPED GUARD CELLS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING THEM.

The foliage