Learn the Secret Art of Bonsai - Misseto Bonsai Club's Annual Show at Sherway Gardens August 23, 2008

Inspired by nature, the unique art of Bonsai aesthetically captures the beauty and strength of a tree. The Misseto Bonsai Club reveals the secret of Bonsai at the annual Exhibition of Bonsai at Sherway Gardens (Hwy 427 & the QEW) on Saturday, August 23 from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, August 24 from 11am to 5 pm in Sherway Square. Call 416-621-1070 for more information or visit www.sherwaygardens.ca or www.misseto.ca.

Throughout the weekend, Misseto Bonsai Club members and expert Bonsai artists will be at Sherway Gardens with a large variety of indoor and outdoor Bonsai to answer questions, offer tips and suggestions and give demonstrations on how to create perfect Bonsai trees.

Origins of Bonsai

Bonsai is a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word “pun-sai” which literally means “potted plant”, and refers to something growing in a shallow container, tray-planted, or a tree in a pot. . The art originated in China a thousand years ago where trees were cultivated in trays, wooden containers, and earthenware pots and trained in naturalistic shapes. Bonsai, however, has been pursued and developed primarily by the Japanese.

Bonsai as an Art Form

Bonsai blends art and horticulture to create healthy living trees, which are constantly shaped and pruned through careful cultivation. The art of Bonsai expresses the beauty of natural tree forms in miniature. For example, a single tree in a pot can suggest a striking landscape.

To create a well-proportioned tree, the artist shapes and adjusts the tree’s proportions by wiring the trunk and branches of the tree, ensuring that the wires do not scar the bark of the tree. The size of the tree, its leaves or needles, its fruits or flowers, and even the container in which it grows reflect the tree’s proportion.

Creating the Perfect Bonsai

Bonsai can either be coniferous with small needles or deciduous plants with small leaves and can be started from natural material, layering, nursery stock, cuttings, or from seedlings or grafts.

Although the Bonsai looks like dwarf trees that are unable to grow taller than a certain height. It is not a naturally dwarfed variety, nor is it treated with any special potion to stop it from growing larger. Its growth is not restricted by confining the roots in a pot, but rather by constant clipping and trimming. The size and shape are entirely determined by its grower. Bonsai come in four selected sizes: miniature, small, medium and average.

Since Bonsai are viewed from the front, the first step is to decide which side is the front by placing the tree at eye level and examining it from all angles. Select the most pleasing view based upon the total effect of the roots, trunk, and large branches. This often involves carefully removing the tree from its container and removing some of the soil to expose the upper root structure.

Secrets of Bonsai

· Watering is crucial to Bonsai care and they require plenty of light and fresh air. Most plants die from dehydration or from being kept in a low humidity environment.
· Drastic changes in temperature impede the Bonsai’s survival. Be aware of porches that heat up during the day and become freezing cold at night.
· Good soil is essential to keep your tree healthy. Soil moisture should be watched daily and the soil should never become bone dry.
· To keep the shape, you need to wire the Bonsai to help train the tree to grow in the desired direction. To wire the Bonsai, the trunk and each branch must be wrapped in circles of Bonsai wire.
· It is best to wire the tree in the spring or fall when it has less foilage and the tree will not be as stiff.

Classifying Bonsai Styles

Bonsai styles are classified in several ways. The main categories or styles are based on the general shape of the tree in the pot:
· Formal Upright (chokkan): This tree has a single straight trunk that tapers upward.
· Informal Upright (moyogi): The trunk may be curved and may grow at a slight slant. The apex of the tree remains directly over the base.
· Slanting (shakan): The trunk has a slant to the left or right with the branches growing on both sides of the tree.
· Cascade (kengai): Semi-cascade (han-kengai): The cascading tree has an arched trunk with the foliage “spilling” in a graceful line below the bottom of the pot. The semi-cascade trunk grows upward and then downward in a less severe arch and the foliage of the semi-cascade need not reach below the pot.
· Coiled (bankan): The trunk is extremely crooked (in some cases entwined around itself).
· Literati (bunjingi): This style features a slender trunk with sparse branches usually grouped at the top.
· Twisted (nejikan): The whole trunk is twisted.
· Root over Rock (ishitsuki): The root grows over a rock.

Bonsai styles are derived from growth patterns observed in the natural environment and can also be classified by the number of trunks, the shape of the roots and the shape and number of the branches. Although trees of a particular style resemble each other in form, each has unique characteristics that reflect the artist’s style.

Official Website: http://www.sherwaygardens.ca