ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512210026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: hoein' & growin
SOURCE: JOE HUNNINGS
Bonsai is an ancient Asian art form thatoriginated in China and was developed by the Japanese. In the 13th century, the Japanese collected and potted wild trees that had been dwarfed by nature. These naturally formed miniatures were some of the first bonsai.
When demand for the small trees outgrew the supply, Japanese gardeners began to train bonsai from native trees. They shaped the trees to give them the illusion of age. The art of bonsai as developed in America is much freer in concept and style than Japanese bonsai.
Not all plants are equally effective as bonsai. To produce a realistic illusion of a mature tree, all parts - trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruits, buds, roots - should be in perfect scale.Plants used for bonsai should have naturally small leaves or produce small leaves under bonsai culture. Plants with overly large leaves, such as the avocado and sycamore, will look out of proportion if chosen for bonsai.
Spruce, pine, zelkova and pomegranate are among the plants with small leaves and needles appropriate for bonsai. Certain species of maple and oak usually respond well to bonsai culture and develop leaves that are in proportion.
Plants chosen for bonsai should have attractive bark, and the trunk must give the illusion of maturity. The trunk should have girth but must remain in proportion to the entire tree and should taper gradually toward the top. Sometimes one or two of the main branches must be shortened to emphasize the vertical line of the trunk and give it a balanced appearance.
To give the appearance of age, the upper one-third of the root structure of a mature bonsai is often exposed. Everywhere on the tree, but mostly from the front, the branches should look balanced and appear to be floating in space: they should not appear lopsided or top-heavy. The branches should not be opposite one another with their lines cutting horizontally across the trunk.
The branches give the bonsai dimension and establish the tree's basic form. It should have a harmonious arrangement of branches without unsightly gaps. Flaws can be spotted by looking down on a bonsai. Upper branches should not overshadow lower branches.
Bonsai can be classified into five basic styles: formal upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade and semicascade. These classifications are based on the overall shape of the tree and how much the trunk slants away from an imaginary vertical axis.
The formal upright style is considered the easiest for the novice bonsai grower. It features a straight trunk and a bottom branch that is lower and extends farther from the trunk than the opposite.
The trunk in the informal upright style bends slightly to the front. This bend helps to give the style its look of informality. In the slanting style the trunk has a more acute angle than in the informal upright style. The lowest branch spreads in a direction opposite to that in which the tree slants.
The cascade style of bonsai represents a natural tree growing down the face of an embankment. A cascaded planting usually looks best in a round or hexagonal container.
The semicascade style has a curving trunk that does not reach the bottom of the container as in the cascade style. Prostrate junipers and flowering plants are well adapted to both of these styles.
Trees and shrubs are suitable for traditional bonsai. Specialty nurseries often have a wide selection of dwarf and semidwarf varieties of many species. Dwarf plants, however, do not always convey the same impression as their full-size counterparts because their growth habits are quite different.
Other trees and shrubs that work well as bonsai are azalea, beech, box, ginkgo and wisteria.
Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture in the Montgomery County Extension Office in Christiansburg. If you have questions, call him at 382-5790.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB