18 



GARDE^'ERS' CHROISICLE 



Bonsai: Culture of Dwarfed Trees in Japan 



KIYOSH SAKAMOTO 



TllI'^ Japanese people lo\e to rear llowers and herbs 

 in a i)orcelain or earthen pot. Snch a cuhure is 

 clistinsnished hy the name of "lionsai" ( hterally, 

 pot-cnhivation I. This ddincstic liorticulture is a favor- 

 ite hobby both for hij;h and low throni^honi the length 

 and breadth of the Empire. .\s for the size of the pots, 

 used in this special art, these range from large ones to 

 be carried about by several strong hands to small ones 

 that will roll off at'a slight push with a single finger. A 

 pot portable with two hands is the most general size, as 

 is easily inferred from the nature of the art. 



The secret of the delight of "bonsai" lies in the repro- 

 duction of a piece of natural scenery in a tiny spot. Seen 

 in such a light, mere rearing will not serve the purpose. 

 A plant must be made to appear in a pot as if it were 

 standing on a hillside. 



■'Ijonsai'' embraces many methods with special names 

 respectively, according to kinds of plants and their dif- 

 ferent ways of rearing. For example : 



(A) Solitary style: a single tree set up straight and towering in 

 a pot. 



(B) Twin style: a tree parting at or just above the root into 

 two great trunks and looking like the letter "U" or "V" at a 

 little distance. 



(C) Bristling style: many branches coming up from the same 

 trunk, with the appearance of a brush laid in a pot. 



(D; Promiscuous style: several trees or plants of the same 

 kind or of ditTerent kinds mixed so that a little piece of ground 

 in a pot may appear like a plain or a hill. 



(E; "Neagari"' style: a fork-like root peeping high about the 

 ground. 



(F) Cliff style: the trunk and branches bent downward as will 

 be seen on the surface of a hillside or a cliff. 



(G) Half-cliff style: this is a mixture of a combination of the 

 solitary style and the cliff style. 



(H) Embracing style: a tree planted on a piece of rock and 

 the foliage embracing the rock. 



Pots to be used in "bonsai" should be carefully se- 

 lected, and the choice depends upon contours and colors 

 of plants. The pot and the plant must harmonize with 

 each other. If you fail in this first step, the fintst plant 

 and the costliest pot will avail nothing. 



Pots are as a rule of porcelain, or earthen. Their 

 shapes are circular, square, oblong, oval, etc. Unfigured 

 pots are in great favor. Dark-brown color is most de- 

 sired. These dark-brown pots originated in China, but 

 recently many imitations have been produced in Japan. 



(a) The plant which harmonizes with an oval or circular pot 

 must have a round profile, no ins and outs being seen along the 

 lines from the top to the lowest branches. 



fb) The square-shaped pot wauls tlic plain to be long-branched 

 in its lower part and remarkably shnrt-hranched in its upper part 



(c) The deep-bottomed pot is used to fit in well with the ''cliff" 

 style plant. 



(d) RoHea japonica and the orchid arc provcrliially |ilantcd in 

 the pots of genuine Chinese make. 



(e) Water-plants and sea-weeds are placed in water basins. 



Judging from the affiresaid statement one might 

 imagine that "bonsai" costs pretty dear, ([tiite beyond the 

 reach of those of moderate means. Vnr from it. .\ pine- 

 tree which you get for a few cents, if planted properly 

 in a jKit, will prove a feast to your eyes. The essence 

 f)f the art lies in cultivation and method of protection. 

 You will become a skilled "bonsai artist" only after 

 many years of close study and experience. 



The plants to be used in "pot horticulture" had best be 

 reared from young sprouts. I'y this means you can 

 modify them in any way or form von like. Young 



sprouts can he had on occasion of your rambling in the 

 fields or mountains. If you tend them with care for 

 three years, you will be blessed with a little luxury for 

 your eyes. Two years more, and your favorite plants 

 will be the center of admiration from your friends and 

 neighbors. 



The sijroui must have a shapely contour and fantastical 

 branches. Its lower branches and the root are expected 

 to be s])ecially strong. The trunk should be as straight 

 as straight can be. According to such a standard selec- 

 tion must be made. 



The young plant is to be placed first in a rough-lxiked 

 earthen pot. Such a pot makes irrigation easy and sel- 

 dotu spoils the root by the stagnation of water or fer- 

 tilizer in the soil. Yet in Summer watering is indis- 

 pensable at least twice a day. 



The sprout, fresh from plain or hillside, usually has a 

 straight root. When you transplant this into a pot, you 

 luust not forget, first of all, to cut to a proper length 

 and then put the plant into a deep pot after the remaining 

 root is coiled. The soil in the pot should be a coiupound 

 of 60 per cent of ordinary soil and 40 per cent of decayed 

 leaves ; if the plant is taken from a deep valley among 

 large luountains. If the plant happens to hail from a 

 hillside near a village, 80 per cent of ordinary soil and 

 20 per cent of horse manure will afford a suitable cul- 

 ture medium. After all, the soil should be kept as near 

 as possible to the natural soil native to the plant. .\ 

 sprout that is one or two years old requires more fer- 

 tilizer than its older brothers. If the sprout grows old 

 enough to be provided with "chief" branches, "small" 

 branches and "bag" branches (these three kinds of 

 l)ranches are indispensable elements in forming a jMece of 

 "bonsai" art), the next step to be taken is to transplant 

 the plant into a larger pot. If you leave your plant in 

 the pot too long, it will have its upper boughs strong 

 and its lower boughs weak. On the other hand, to trans- 

 jjlant it when too young is out of the question. 



In the process of final transplantation special attention 

 must be paid to the position of the plant. If you fail in 

 this part of the procedure, you will do gross injustice to 

 your pot. however much of a rarity it may be. If the 

 top of the plant tends to the left, you should set it a 

 little to the left side of the pot, and vice z'crsa. To place 

 your plant just in the middle of the pot is the last step 

 you should think of taking. 



To plant one tree in a i>ot is an easy thing, but to 

 place two trees reqtiires much skill and tact. In such a 

 case you should select a tall tree and a little shorter tree. 

 These two are to l>e iilanti'd, one a little nearer to repre- 

 sent a forest in miniattirc in this small world of a pot. 

 The maxinnim to be used in a pot is ten plants of one 

 genus. 



The soil in the pot should be so heaped that the part 

 where the plant peeps above the surface is the top of a 

 small mound. The root of the plant appears a little 

 aliove the top. The foot of the motuid is a little lower 

 than the brim of the pot. 



To cover the surface of the soil with deep green moss 

 largely contributes to the eleganci' of the potted tree. 

 There are mosses and mosses ; for example, the mildew- 

 looking moss which grows on a forest tree among moun- 

 tains, the beard-like silvery moss which is found on the 

 shady side of a trunk, and what not. Whatever kind of 

 moss you may select, the first thing yoit should keep in 

 mind is to rejirndnie .Valine in llic pot. 



