Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at
10:05 am
The practice of bonsai gardening is the ancient art form of growing miniaturized trees. The practice itself is over 2000 years old, and was developed during China’s Han dynasty. The Chinese word for bonsai gardening, pen’jing, means “tray scenery” or “tree or shrub planted in a shallow tray”. It was named bonsai by the Japanese, who adopted the style in the ninth century.
Bonsai gardening is definitely one of the most unique and beautiful forms of art in the area of gardening. Since it began in ancient China through to the present day, it has developed into many diverse individual styles. Once miniaturized, however, maintaining the look and well-being of the bonsai requires some care and attention from the gardener.
There are several styles to be found in the art form of bonsai gardening. These styles include:
– formal upright
– cascade
– forest
– slant
– literati
– root-over-rock
Bonsai done in the formal upright style are grown to have upright trunks that are straight and tapering. Cascade style bonsai are intentionally groomed to resemble trees that can be found on the sides of mountains. Forest style bonsai are reasonably self explanatory. They are comprised of several trees planted together in odd numbers. This type of bonsai gardening is intended to duplicate the diversity of age and height that you would find in nature.
Slant style bonsai are aptly named. Their trunks are straight, like those of the formal upright style, but lean at a slant from the surface of the soil. Literati bonsai were inspired by ancient brush paintings of trees that grew in inhospitable climates. Therefore they don’t have many branches. What branches they do have are usually grouped at the top of the trunk, which is usually contorted. In the root-over-rock style, the roots of the bonsai are wrapped around a rock at the base of the tree.
An important element of bonsai gardening is learning how to care for your bonsai. Bonsai require a warm location with plenty of light in order to thrive. Avoid placing them near window sills, due to the variable temperatures that can occur from drafts.
Watering is not done as you would typically water a normal houseplant. Bonsai trees require immersion of the whole pot or tray in water for several minutes. Once removed from the water, allow the bonsai to drain. During the summer, bonsai should be watered daily, and every other day during the cooler months.
Bonsai also require a lot of fertilizer. Fertilizer should be given to the bonsai only after it has been watered. A typical feeding schedule would be once every two weeks during the summer months, cutting that back to once a month for the rest of year.
Bonsai are living trees, and so grow and sprout new branches and limbs as time passes. When it’s time to prune this new growth, copy the original theme of your bonsai. Remember, you only need to maintain the look of your bonsai, so don’t prune too much – only enough to remove the new sprouts and shoots.
When you’re just beginning, there’s a lot to learn. So it’s worthwhile to have some bonsai information on hand, such as Bonsai Gardening Secrets. If you want to create and own beautiful Bonsai Trees, then this quick and easy step by step guide to creating your very own Bonsai Trees is invaluable.
To find out more about bonsai gardening, check out http://www.gardeningzoneonline.com