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Ramification Process

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:05:12 +0100

Ramification (botany)

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Naturally-occurring ramification helps gives these conifers a regular, cone-shaped outline.

For other uses, see Ramification.

In botany, ramification is the divergence of the stem and limbs of a plant into smaller ones, i.e. trunk into branches, branches into increasingly smaller branches, etc. Gardeners stimulate the process of ramification through pruning, thereby making trees, shrubs and other plants bushier and denser.

Short internodes (the section of stem between nodes, i.e. areas where leaves are produced) help increase ramification in those plants that form branches at these nodes. Long internodes (which may be the result of over-watering, the over-use of fertilizer, or a seasonal "growth spurt") decrease a gardener's ability to induce ramification in a plant.

A high degree of ramification is essential for the creation of topiary as it enables the topiary artist to carve a bush or hedge into a shape with an even surface. Ramification is also essential to practitioners of the art of bonsai as it helps recreate the form and habit of a full-size tree in a small tree grown in a container.

The pruning practices of coppicing and pollarding induce ramification by removing most of a tree's mass above the root. Fruit tree pruning increases the yield of orchards by inducing ramification and thereby creating many vigorous, fruitful branches in the place of a few less-fruitful ones.

References

Driftwood Technique on Bonsai

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:58:17 +0100

Deadwood bonsai techniques

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Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

A Dwarf Japanese Juniper (Juniperus procumbens 'Nana') bonsai on display. Multiple deadwood styles have been used on this tree.

Bonsai listen (help·info) (Japanese: 盆栽, literally "potted plant") is the art of miniaturization of trees by growing them in containers. Cultivation includes techniques for shaping, watering, and repotting in various styles of containers.Originating in China during the Han Dynasty, 'bonsai' is a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word penzai (盆栽). The word bonsai has been used in the West as an umbrella term for all miniature trees. ^[1]

Often bonsai gardeners wish to provide an aged look to the bonsai tree. There are several ways in which this is done. One of the most popular ways in which this is done are deadwood techniques. Usually, deadwood techniques are done on conifers. Deciduous trees tend to shed the branch, and heal over the wound. Deadwood techniques are often used to hide defects, such as an overlarge branch, or to reduce the height of a tree that is too tall. The wood is treated with combination of lime and sulfur, which is available from many bonsai outlets. This preserves the wood. ^[2]

1 Jin

2 Uro
3 Sharimiki and similar techniques
4 References
5 External links

Jin

A Jin can be seen on the top left of the tree.

Jin (人) is a bonsai deadwood technique. A Jin is meant to show age, or show that the tree has had a struggle to survive. Jin is either a dead leader at the top of the tree, or a dead branch. Jins in nature are created when wind, lightning, or the weight of snow breaks a branch. Trees with two leaders look unnatural, many bonsai gardeners turn the higher growing leader into a jin. This effect makes the tree look like it has been hit by lightning, adding to the feeling of age. ^[3]

Uro

An Uro can be seen close to the bottom of the trunk of this bonsai.

Jin are common on coniferous species of bonsai. However, Jins do not work on deciduous and broadleaf species. On these species, the dead branches just rot and fall off the tree. Instead, bonsai gardeners make small indents where a branch used to be, and new wood grows around it forming a small hollow. This is what bonsai gardeners replicate with Uro.

John Naka's masterpiece, Goshin, is on display at the United States National Arboretum. There are Jin at the top of several of the trees.

When removing a branch from a deciduous or broadleaf species, gardeners often make Uro. The cut that was made will not heal for 5-10 years. To avoid having an ugly wound for a decade, the gardener would make a small wound (usually with a drill) in an irregular shape, then treated with a lime-sulfur mixture. The lime sulfur mixture is usually combined with a small amount of paint a similar color to the tree to make it look more natural. If the paint was not included, the lime-sulfur solution would make it bone white.^[4]

Sharimiki and similar techniques

Bougainvillea bonsai at the United States National Arboretum. A large Sabamiki is at the bottom right of the tree

In Sharimiki, part of the trunk of the tree dies, and the rest is alive. This is also known as the driftwood style, because of a large portion of the tree looking similar to driftwood. In driftwood style, the majority of the trunk is just dead. The following are not Sharimiki, but are similar. ^[5]

Sabamiki

Sabamiki is a form of Sharimiki. In Sabamiki there is a long indent in the trunk of the tree (see picture on left). This is often done by stripping and carving out part of the trunk then the wound is often treated with lime-sulfur solution. Some bonsai gardeners believe that this should be done three to four months after the wound is opened. It is vital that part of the trunk be left alive, or else everything above it will die.^[6]

Shari

Shari is just like Sabamiki, just less extreme. In Shari, it is only a thin layer of bark cut off. ^[7]

Tanuki

A Tanuki style tree at a bonsai show.

In Japanese folklore, tanuki (狸^?, alternatively タヌキ), the Japanese raccoon dog, are shape-changing tricksters.

Tanuki bonsai are sometimes known as Phoenix Grafts in the West. In Tanuki bonsai, a very young tree is taken, and put into an interesting piece of deadwood, that has had a groove carved into it. The sapling (which is usually a juniper) is affixed to the deadwood, until the young tree has grown into the deadwood. Then the nail, screw, or other affixing device is removed, and then the tree is grown with typical bonsai techniques.

Many Westerners consider Tanuki a true bonsai technique, however in Japan it is not considered as such. Japanese do make Tanuki bonsai, but they are not considered true bonsai, and would never be seen at a Japanese bonsai show.

References

Penjing

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:51:19 +0100

Penjing

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Penjing in root-over-rock style on display at the Chinese Penjing Collection of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, DC

Penjing (Chinese: 盆景; pinyin: pén jǐng; literally "tray scenery"), also known as penzai (Chinese: 盆栽; pinyin: pén zāi; literally "tray plant"), tray landscape, potted scenery, potted landscape, and miniature trees and rockery is the ancient Chinese art of growing trees and plants, kept small by skilled pruning and formed to create an aesthetic shape and the complex illusion of age. Penjing generally fall into one of three categories depending on what their subject matter is. These categories are Tree Penjing, Landscape Penjing, and Water and Land Penjing.

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1 History
2 Penjing aesthetics
3 Categories
4 Styles
5 Maintenance and Care
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links

History

Penjing at the Rock and Penjing Museum in Wuhan, China

Classical Chinese gardens often contain arrangements of miniature trees and rockeries known as Penjing. These creations of carefully pruned trees and rocks are small-scale rendition of the natural landscape. They are often referred to as living sculptures or as three-dimensional poetry. Their artistic composition captures the spirit of nature and distinguishes them from potted plants.

The penjing originates from China over two thousand years ago and was brought to Japan by imperial embassies to Tang China (the 7th – 9th century). However, the first documented penjing can be traced back to seventh-century China. Paintings found in Prince Zhang Huai's tomb depict servants carrying a miniature landscape and a pot containing a tree. This fresco, which was excavated by archaeologists in 1972, is probably the world's oldest visual evidence of penjing.

Penjing aesthetics

This juniper makes extensive use of both jin (deadwood branches) and shari (trunk deadwood)

The Chinese art of growing miniature trees, properly called penjing, seeks to capture the essence and spirit of nature through contrasts. Philosophically, this craft is influenced by the principle of Taoism, specifically the concept of Yin and Yang: the conceptualization of the universe as governed by two primal opposing but complementary forces. Inspiration is not limited to nature, but also from poetry and visual art, of which factor similar aesthetic considerations. Common themes include dragons and the strokes of fortuitous characters. At its highest level, the artistic value of penjing is on par with that of poetry, calligraphy, brush painting and garden art.^[1] Quite small in size, these miniature landscapes include trees which are frequently over a hundred years old. Like the plants in the Chinese garden, they have been carefully selected and tended so that they develop into twisted and gnarled shapes reminiscent of their full-size counterparts in the wild.

As an art form, penjing is an extension of the garden, since it enables an artist to recreate in miniature parts of the natural landscape. Using artificially dwarfed trees and shrubs, these arrangements are created in special trays or pots which are placed on ornately carved wooden stands. Often, rocks and porcelain figurines are added to give the proper scales as part of the natural scenery.

Like the chinese gardens, these miniature landscapes are designed to convey landscapes experienced from various viewpoints - a close-up view, a medium range view or a panorama.

Penjing is also often used indoors as part of a garden's overall design, since it reiterates the landscape features found outside. Penjing pots grace pavilions, private studies and living rooms, as well as public buildings. They are either free-standing elements within the gardens or are placed on furniture such as a table or bookshelf. Sometimes a lattice display stand is built which adds particular prominence to the penjing specimen and exemplifies the interplay between architecture and nature.

Styles

Ginkgo penjing

Styles of the traditional Penjing in China are mainly classified by the most representative (dominant) plants used, and named after the regions of their origin. Since different plants require different techniques to handle, different styles thus formed. There are more than a dozen styles of traditional Penjing:

Guangdong Style: Guangdong Style Penjing (粤派盆景) is also called southern ridge penjing (嶺南派盆景), because Guangdong is located south of Nanling. The main characteristic of this style is its natural appeal and the appeal of easy and smooth.

Jiangsu Style: Like the culinary art of the Jiangsu cuisine, the art of Jiangsu Penjing (苏派盆景) is also complicated, with the crowns of the trees often being shaped like clouds.

Sichuan Style: Sichuan Penjing (川派盆景) tends to be well-knit, simple and unsophisticated.

Yangzhou Style: Yangzhou Penjing (揚派盆景) is also called northern Jiangsu style (苏北派), it is distinct from Jiangsu style The three twists of tree trunks is the most distinctive characteristic of this style.

Shanghai Style: Shanghai Penjing (海派盆景) has influenced the Japanese bonsai, but at the same time, has kept its original artistic origin, which is from the traditional Chinese painting.

Guangxi Style: Guangxi Penjing (桂派盆景) reflect the beautiful natural landscape such as that of Guilin. This style utilizes different type of stones considerably more frequent than other styles.

Anhui Style: Anhui Penjing (徽派盆景) is most famous for its utilization of ume.

Zhejiang Style: Zhejiang Penjing (浙派盆景) specializes in utilization of pine and cypress, often have three to five plants in one tray.

Fujian Style: Fujian Penjing (閩派盆景) specializes in utilization of banyan.

Beijing Style: Beijing Penjing (京派盆景) reflects its artistic origin from the ancient traditional Chinese architecture in Beijing. The branches are often horizontal and the crowns of the trees are often in hemisphere or in the form of traditional folding fan.

Taiwan Style: Taiwan Penjing (台灣盆景) is a cross of Japanese bonzai and traditional Chinese Penjing.

Hubei Style: Hubei Penjing (湖北盆景) enphasizes on the producing the sense of dynamic feelings by the static plants and rocks, and thus also called Dynamic Penjing (动势盆景).

Xuzhou Style: Xuzhou Penjing (徐州盆景) is a branch of Jiangsu style, but it is distinct enough to be listed separately for hundreds of years for its utilization of fruit trees.

Zhongzhou Style: Zhongzhou Penjing (中州盆景) specializes in utilizing Tamarix.

Maintenance and Care

The maintenance and care of penjing trees are similar to that of the bonsai.

Notes

^ Hu Yunhua, Penjing: The Chinese Art of Miniature Gardens. (Beaverton, Oregon: Timber Press in cooperation with the American Horticultural Society, 1982) p.7.

References

Zhao, Qingquan. Penjing: Worlds of Wonderment. Venus Communications, LLC.
Chen Lifang and Yu Sianglin, The Garden Art of China. (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1986)p.149.

External links

The Ponderosa Pine

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:44:10 +0100

Ponderosa Pine

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Ponderosa Pine

Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa Identification Guide

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Pinus
Subgenus:	Pinus
Species:	P. ponderosa

Binomial name

Pinus ponderosa
Douglas ex C. Lawson

Range map of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), sometimes called Bull Pine or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane. It is a dominant tree in the Kuchler plant association Ponderosa shrub forest. Like most western pines, the ponderosa is associated with mountainous topography. It is found on the Black Hills and on foothills and mid-height peaks of the northern, central and southern Rocky Mountains as well as the Cascades and Sierra Nevada.

Modern forestry research identifies four different taxa of Ponderosa Pine, with differing botanical characters and adapted to different climatic conditions. These have been termed "geographic races" in forestry literature, while some botanists historically treated them as distinct species. In modern botanical usage, they best match the rank of subspecies, but not all of the relevant botanical combinations have been formally published.

The bark of the Ponderosa Pine has a smell similar to vanilla.^[1] The Ponderosa Pine has a very distinct bark. Unlike most conifers, it has an orange bark, with black lining the crevasses, where the bark "splits". This is very noticeable amongst the older Ponderosa Pines that live along the west coast of Canada. Its needles are the only known food of the caterpillars of the gelechiid moth Chionodes retiniella.

The National Register of Big Trees lists a number of large Ponderosa Pines up to 227 feet (69.2 m) tall.^[2] and 294 inches (7.47 m) in girth.^[3]

1 Subspecies
- 1.1 Table of characters distinguishing the subspecies of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica
2 Gallery
3 Notes
4 References

Subspecies

Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson - North Plateau Ponderosa Pine.
- Range & climate: southeast British Columbia, Washington and Oregon east of the Cascade Range, Arizona, northwestern Nevada, Idaho and western Montana. Cool, relatively moist summers; very cold, snowy winters (except in the very hot and very dry summers of central Oregon, most notably near Bend, which also has very cold and generally dry winters).
Pinus ponderosa subsp. scopulorum (Engelm.) E. Murray - Rocky Mountains Ponderosa Pine.
- Range & climate: eastern Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, northern and central Colorado and Utah, and eastern Nevada. Warm, relatively dry summers; very cold, fairly dry winters.
Pinus brachyptera Engelm. - Southwestern Ponderosa Pine
- Range & climate: southern Colorado, southern Utah, northern and central New Mexico and Arizona, and westernmost Texas. The Gila Wilderness contains one of the world's largest and healthiest forests.^[4] Hot, relatively moist summers; mild winters.
Pinus benthamiana Hartw. - Pacific Ponderosa Pine
- Range & climate: Washington and Oregon west of the Cascade Range, California, and just into westernmost Nevada. Hot, dry summers; mild wet winters.

The distributions of the subspecies, and that of the closely related Arizona Pine (Pinus arizonica) are shown on the map. The numbers on the map correspond to the taxon numbers above and in the table below. The base map of the species range is from Critchfield & Little, Geographic Distribution of the Pines of the World, USDA Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 991 (1966).

Before the distinctions between the North Plateau race and the Pacific race were fully documented, most botanists assumed that Ponderosa Pines in both areas were the same. So when two botanists from California found a distinct tree in western Nevada in 1948 with some marked differences from the Ponderosa Pine they were familiar with in California, they described it as a new species, Washoe Pine, Pinus washoensis. However, subsequent research has shown that this is merely a southern outlier of the typical North Plateau race of Ponderosa Pine.

Table of characters distinguishing the subspecies of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica

Taxon	1 North Plateau	2 Rocky Mts	3 Southwest	4 Pacific	5 Arizona	6 Storm's
Character	(ponderosa)	(scopulorum)	(brachyptera)	(benthamiana)	(arizonica)	(stormiae)
Needles per fascicle	3	2-3	2-3	3	4-5	3-5
Needle length	10-22 cm	8-17 cm	12-21 cm	15-30 cm	12-22 cm	20-30 cm
Needle thickness	1.7-2.2 mm	1.5-1.7 mm	1.6-1.9 mm	1.3-1.7 mm	1.0-1.1 mm	1.0-1.2 mm
Cone length	5-11 cm	5-9 cm	5-10 cm	7-16 cm	5-9 cm	6-11 cm
Cone scale width	14-19 mm	16-20 mm	14-19 mm	18-23 mm	15-18 mm	12-17 mm
Immature cone colour	purple	green	green	green	green	green
Mature cone surface	matte	matte	glossy	glossy	glossy	matte
Seedwing to seed length ratio	1.9-2.5	2.1-3.4	3.0-3.5	3.0-4.7	2.8-3.2	3.0-3.5
Max tree height	50 m	40 m	50 m	70 m	35 m	20 m
USDA hardiness zone	4	4	6	7	7	8

Notes:
Taxon numbers refer to the map
Needles per fascicle - the most frequent number is in bold
Seedwing : seed length ratio - high numbers indicate a small seed with a long wing; low numbers a large seed with a short seedwing

Gallery

Ponderosa woodland

branch with cones

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pacific Ponderosa Pine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ponderosa Pine

^ June 29, 2005 : Pinus ponderosa at UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research.
^ American Forests: National Register of Big Trees
^ American Forests: National Register of Big Trees
^ Arizona Mountains forests at World Wildlife Fund.

References

Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Pinus ponderosa. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
Baumgartner, D. M. & Lotan, J. E. (eds.) (1988). Ponderosa Pine the species and its management. Symposium proceedings. Cooperative Extension, Washington State University.
Conkle, M. T. & Critchfield, W. B. (1988). Genetic Variation and Hybridization of Ponderosa Pine. Pp. 27–44 in Baumgartner, D. M. & Lotan, J. E. (eds.).
Critchfield, W. B. (1984). Crossability and relationships of Washoe Pine. Madroño 31: 144-170.
Farjon, A. (2nd ed., 2005). Pines. Brill, Leiden & Boston. ISBN 90-04-13916-8.
Haller, J. R. (1961). Some recent observations on Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Washoe Pines in Northeastern California. Madroño 16: 126-132.
Haller, J. R. (1965). Pinus washoensis in Oregon: taxonomic and evolutionary implications. Amer. J. Bot. 52: 646.
Haller, J. R. (1965). The role of 2-needle fascicles in the adaptation and evolution of Ponderosa Pine. Brittonia 17: 354-382.
Lauria, F. (1991). Taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny of Pinus subsection Ponderosae Loudon (Pinaceae). Alternative concepts. Linzer Biol. Beitr. 23 (1): 129-202.
Lauria, F. (1996). The identity of Pinus ponderosae Douglas ex C.Lawson (Pinaceae). Linzer Biol. Beitr. 28 (2): 99-1052.
Lauria, F. (1996). Typification of Pinus benthamiana Hartw. (Pinaceae), a taxon deserving renewed botanical examination. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 98 (B Suppl.): 427-446.
Smith, R. H. (1977). Monoterpenes of Ponderosa Pine xylem resin. USDA Tech. Bull. 1532.
Smith, R. H. (1981). Variation in Immature Cone Color of Ponderosa Pine (Pinaceae) inNorthern California and Southern Oregon. Madroño 28: 272-274.
Van Haverbeke, D. F. (1986). Genetic Variation in Ponderosa Pine: A 15-Year Test of Provenances in the Great Plains. USDA Forest Service Research Paper RM-265.
Wagener, W. W. (1960). A comment on cold susceptibility of Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pines. Madroño 15: 217-219.
Gymnosperm Database: Pinus ponderosa
USDA Plants Profile: Pinus ponderosa

Bonsai History

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:34:07 +0100

Bonsai

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For other uses, see Bonsai (disambiguation).

Bonsai at garden show in Tatton Park (Cheshire)

112 year old bonsai example, from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Bonsai (help·info) (盆栽^?) (lit. bon-planted) is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees, or of developing woody or semi-woody plants shaped as trees, by growing them in containers. Cultivation includes techniques for shaping, watering, and repotting in various styles of containers.

'Bonsai' is a Japanese pronunciation of the earlier Chinese term penzai (盆栽). A 'bon' is a tray-like pot typically used in bonsai culture.^[1] The word bonsai is used in the West as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots.

History

Container-grown plants, including trees and many other kinds of plants, have a history stretching back at least to the early times of Egyptian culture.^[2] Pictorial records from around 4000 BC show trees growing in containers cut into rock. Pharaoh Ramesses III donated gardens consisting of potted olives, date palms, and other plants to hundreds of temples. Pre-Common-Era India used container-grown trees for medicine and food.

The word penzai first appeared in writing in China during the Jin Dynasty, in the period 265AD – 420AD.^[3] Over time, the practice developed into new forms in various parts of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. Notably, container-grown trees were popularized in Japan during China's Song Dynasty, a period of cultural growth when the Japanese experienced and adopted their own versions of many Chinese practices. At this time, the term for dwarf potted trees was "the bowl's tree" (鉢の木, hachi-no-ki ^[4]^?), denoting the use of a deep pot. The c.1300 rhymed prose essay, Rhymeprose on a Miniature Landscape Garden, by the Japanese Zen monk Kokan Shiren, outlines aesthetic principles for bonsai, bonseki, and garden architecture itself.

At first, the Japanese used miniaturized trees grown in containers to decorate their homes and gardens.^[5] During the Tokugawa period, landscape gardening attained new importance. Cultivation of plants such as azalea and maples became a pastime of the wealthy. Growing dwarf plants in containers was also popular. Around 1800, the Japanese changed the term they used for this art to their pronunciation of the Chinese penzai with its connotation of a shallower container in which the Japanese could now style small trees.^[6]

One of the oldest-known living bonsai trees, considered one of the National Treasures of Japan, is in the Tokyo Imperial Palace collection. A five-needle pine (Pinus pentaphylla var. negishi) known as Sandai-Shogun-No Matsu is documented as having been cared for by Tokugawa Iemitsu. The tree is considered to be at least 500 years old and was first trained as a bonsai by 1610.^[7] Older plants have been made more recently into bonsai as well.^[8]

Cultivation

Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species^[9] which produces true branches and remains small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning. Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai. The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower).^[10] By contrast with other plant-related practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food, for medicine, or for creating yard-sized or park-sized landscapes. As a result, the scope of bonsai practice is narrow and focused on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees in a single container.

Sources of bonsai material

All bonsai start with a specimen of source material, a plant that the grower wishes to train into bonsai form. Bonsai practice is an unusual form of plant cultivation in that growth from seeds is rarely used to obtain source material. To display the characteristic aged appearance of a bonsai within a reasonable time, the source plant is often partially-grown or mature stock. A specimen may be selected specifically for bonsai aesthetic characteristics it already possesses, such as great natural age for a specimen collected in the wild, or a tapered, scar-free trunk from a nursery specimen. Alternatively, it may be selected for non-aesthetic reasons, such as known hardiness for the grower's local climate or low cost (in the case of collected materials).

Propagation

While any form of plant propagation could generate bonsai material, a few techniques are favored because they can quickly produce a relatively mature trunk with well-placed branches.

Cuttings. In taking a cutting, part of a growing plant is cut off and placed in a growing medium to develop roots. If the part that is cut off is fairly thick, like a mature branch, it can be grown into an aged-looking bonsai more quickly than can a seed. Unfortunately, thinner and younger cuttings tend to strike roots more easily than thicker or more mature ones.^[10] In bonsai propagation, cuttings usually provide source material to be grown for some time before training.

Layering. Layering is a technique in which rooting is encouraged from part of a plant, usually a branch, while it is still attached to the parent plant. After rooting, the branch is removed from the parent and grown as an independent entity. For bonsai, both ground layering and air layering can create a potential bonsai, by transforming a mature branch into the trunk of a new tree.^[11] The point at which rooting is encouraged can be close to the location of side branches, so the resulting rooted tree can immediately have a thick trunk and low branches, characteristics that complement bonsai aesthetics.

Commercial bonsai growers

Commercial bonsai growers may use any of the other means of obtaining starter bonsai material, from seed propagation to collecting expeditions, but they generally sell mature specimens that display bonsai aesthetic qualities already. The grower trains the source specimens to a greater or lesser extent before sale, and the trees may be ready for display as soon as they are bought. Those who purchase commercially-grown bonsai face some challenges, however, particularly of buying from another country. If the purchaser's local climate does not closely match the climate in which the bonsai was created, the plant will have difficulties surviving and thriving. As well, importing living plant material from a foreign source is often closely controlled by customs regulations and may require a license or other special customs arrangement on the buyer's part. If a local commercial bonsai grower does not exist, buying from a distant one may be unsatisfactory.

Nursery stock

A plant nursery is an agricultural operation where (non-bonsai) plants are propagated and grown to usable size. Nursery stock may be available directly from the nursery, or may be sold in a garden centre or similar resale establishment. Nursery stock is usually young but fully viable, and is often potted with sufficient soil to allow plants to survive a season or two before being transplanted into a more permanent location. Because the nursery tree is already pot-conditioned, it can be worked on as a bonsai immediately. The large number of plants that can be viewed in a single visit to a nursery or garden centre allows the buyer to identify plants with better-than-average bonsai characteristics. According to Peter Adams, a nursery visit "offers the opportunity to choose an instant trunk".^[11] One issue with nursery stock is that many specimens are shaped into popular forms, such as the standard or half-standard forms, with several feet of clear trunk rising from the roots. Without branches low on the trunk, it is difficult for a source specimen to be trained as bonsai.

Collecting

Collecting bonsai is the process of finding suitable bonsai material in situ, successfully moving it, and replanting it in a container for development as bonsai. Collecting may involve wild materials collected from naturally treed areas, or cultivated specimens found growing in yards and gardens.^[12] Mature landscape plants which are being discarded from a building site can provide excellent material for bonsai. Some regions have plant material that is known for its suitability in form. In North America, for example, the California Juniper and Sierra Juniper found in the Sierra Mountains, the Ponderosa pine found in the Rocky Mountains, and the Bald Cypress found in the swamps of the Everglades.

The benefit of collecting bonsai specimens is that the collected materials can be mature, and will display the natural marks and forms of age, which makes them more suitable for bonsai development than the young plants obtained through nurseries. Some of the difficulties of collecting include getting permission to remove the specimens, and the challenges of keeping a mature tree alive while transplanting it to a bonsai pot.

Techniques

This juniper makes extensive use of both jin (deadwood branches) and shari (trunk deadwood).

The practice of bonsai development incorporates a number of techniques either unique to bonsai or, if used in other forms of cultivation, applied in unusual ways that are particularly suitable to the bonsai domain.

Leaf trimming: This technique involves the selective removal of leaves (for most varieties of deciduous tree) or needles (for coniferous trees and some others) from a bonsai's trunk and branches. A common aesthetic technique in bonsai design is to expose the tree's branches below groups of leaves or needles (sometimes called "pads"). In many species, particularly coniferous ones, this means that leaves or needles projecting below their branches must be trimmed off. For some coniferous varieties, such as spruce, branches carry needles from the trunk to the tip and many of these needles may be trimmed to expose the branch shape and bark. Needle and bud trimming can also be used in coniferous trees to force back-budding or budding on old wood, which may not occur naturally in many conifers.^[11] Along with pruning, leaf trimming is the most common activity used for bonsai development and maintenance, and the one that occurs most frequently during the year.

Pruning: The small size of the tree and some dwarfing of foliage result from pruning the trunk, branches, and roots. Pruning is often the first step in transforming a collected plant specimen into a candidate for bonsai. The top part of the trunk may be removed to make the tree more compact. Major and minor branches that conflict with the designer's plan will be removed completely, and others may be shortened to fit within the planned design. Pruning later in the bonsai's life is generally less severe, and may be done for purposes like increasing branch ramification or encouraging growth in non-pruned branches. Although pruning is an important and common bonsai practice, it must be done with care, as improper pruning can weaken or kill trees.^[13] Careful pruning throughout the tree's life is necessary, however, to maintain a bonsai's basic design, which can otherwise disappear behind the uncontrolled natural growth of branches and leaves.

Wiring: Wrapping copper or aluminium wire around branches and trunks allows the bonsai designer to create the desired general form and make detailed branch and leaf placements. When wire is used on new branches or shoots, it holds the branches in place until they lignify (convert into wood), usually 6–9 months or one growing season. Wires are also used to connect a branch to another object (e.g., another branch, the pot itself) so that tightening the wire applies force to the branch. Some species do not lignify strongly, and some specimens' branches are too stiff or brittle to be bent easily. These cases are not conducive to wiring, and shaping them is accomplished primarily through pruning.

Clamping: For larger specimens, or species with stiffer wood, bonsai artists also use mechanical devices for shaping trunks and branches. The most common are screw-based clamps, which can straighten or bend a part of the bonsai using much greater force than wiring can supply. To prevent damage to the tree, the clamps are tightened a little at a time and make their changes over a period of months or years.

Grafting: In this technique, new growing material (typically a bud, branch, or root) is introduced to a prepared area on the trunk or under the bark of the tree. There are two major purposes for grafting in bonsai. First, a number of favorite species do not thrive as bonsai on their natural root stock and their trunks are often grafted onto hardier root stock. Examples include Japanese red maple and Japanese black pine.^[11] Second, grafting allows the bonsai artist to add branches (and sometimes roots) where they are needed to improve or complete a bonsai design.^[14]^[15] There are many applicable grafting techniques, none unique to bonsai, including branch grafting, bud grafting, thread grafting, and others.

Defoliation: Short-term dwarfing of foliage can be accomplished in certain deciduous bonsai by partial or total defoliation of the plant partway through the growing season. Not all species can survive this technique. In defoliating a healthy tree of a suitable species, most or all of the leaves are removed by clipping partway along each leaf's petiole (the thin stem that connects a leaf to its branch). Petioles later dry up and drop off or are manually removed once dry. The tree responds by producing a fresh crop of leaves. The new leaves are generally much smaller than those from the first crop, sometimes as small as half the length and width. If the bonsai is shown at this time, the smaller leaves contribute greatly to the bonsai esthetic of dwarfing. This change in leaf size is usually not permanent, and the leaves of the following spring will often be the normal size. Defoliation weakens the tree and should not be performed in two consecutive years.^[16]

Deadwood: Bonsai growers use deadwood bonsai techniques called jin and shari to simulate age and maturity in a bonsai. Jin is the term used when the bark from an entire branch is removed to create the impression of a snag of deadwood. Shari denotes stripping bark from areas of the trunk to simulate natural scarring from a broken limb or lightning strike. In addition to stripping bark, this technique may also involve the use of tools to scar the deadwood or to raise its grain, and the application of chemicals (usually lime sulfur) to bleach and preserve the exposed deadwood.

Care

Watering

With limited space in a bonsai pot, regular attention is needed to ensure the tree is correctly watered. Sun, heat and wind exposure can dry bonsai trees to the point of drought in a short period of time. While some species can handle periods of relative dryness, others require near-constant moisture. Watering too frequently, or allowing the soil to remain soggy, promotes fungal infections and root rot. Free draining soil is used to prevent waterlogging. Deciduous trees are more at risk of dehydration and will wilt as the soil dries out. Evergreen trees, which tend to cope with dry conditions better, do not display signs of the problem until after damage has occurred.

Repotting

An uprooted bonsai, ready for repotting

Bonsai are repotted and root-pruned at intervals dictated by the vigour and age of each tree. In the case of deciduous trees, this is done as the tree is leaving its dormant period, generally around springtime. Bonsai are often repotted while in development, and less often as they become more mature. This prevents them from becoming pot-bound and encourages the growth of new feeder roots, allowing the tree to absorb moisture more efficiently.

Specimens meant to be developed into bonsai are often placed in "growing boxes", which have a much larger volume of soil per plant than a bonsai pot does. These large boxes allow the roots to grow freely, increasing the vigor of the tree and helping the trunk and branches grow thicker. After using a grow box, the tree may be replanted in a more compact "training box" that helps to create a smaller, denser root mass which can be more easily moved into a final presentation pot.

Tools

Set of bonsai tools (left to right): leaf trimmer; rake with spatula; root hook; coir brush; concave cutter; knob cutter; wire cutter; small, medium and large shears

Special tools are available for the maintenance of bonsai. The most common tool is the concave cutter (5th from left in picture), a tool designed to prune flush, without leaving a stub. Other tools include branch bending jacks, wire pliers and shears of different proportions for performing detail and rough shaping.

Soil and fertilization

Akadama soil

Bonsai soil is usually a loose, fast-draining mix of components,^[17] often a base mixture of coarse sand or gravel, fired clay pellets, or expanded shale combined with an organic component such as peat or bark. The inorganic components provide mechanical support for bonsai roots, and—in the case of fired clay materials—also serve to retain moisture. The organic components retain moisture and may release small amounts of nutrients as they decay.

In Japan, bonsai soil mixes based on volcanic clays are common. The volcanic clay has been fired at some point in time to create porous, water-retaining pellets. Varieties such as akadama, or "red ball" soil, and kanuma, a type of yellow pumice used for azaleas and other calcifuges, are used by many bonsai growers. Similar fired clay soil components are extracted or manufactured in other countries around the world, and other soil components like diatomaceous earth can fill a similar purpose in bonsai cultivation.

Opinions about fertilizers and fertilization techniques vary widely among practitioners. Some promote the use of organic fertilizers to augment an essentially inorganic soil mix, while others will use chemical fertilizers freely. Many follow the general rule of little and often, where a dilute fertilizer solution or a small amount of dry fertilizer are applied relatively frequently during the tree's growing season. The flushing effect of regular watering moves unmetabolized fertilizer out of the soil, preventing the potentially toxic build-up of fertilizer ingredients.

Location and overwintering

Bonsai are sometimes marketed or promoted as house plants, but few of the traditional bonsai species can thrive or even survive inside a typical house. The best guideline to identifying a suitable location for a bonsai is its native hardiness. If the bonsai grower can closely replicate the full year's temperatures, relative humidity, and sunlight, the bonsai should do well. In practice, this means that trees from a hardiness zone closely matching the grower's location will generally be the easiest to grow outdoors, and others will require more work or will not be viable at all.^[18]

Outdoors

Most bonsai species are outdoor trees and shrubs by nature, and they require temperature, humidity, and sunlight conditions approximating their native climate year round. The skill of the gardener can help plants from outside the local hardiness zone to survive and even thrive, but doing so takes careful watering, shielding of selected bonsai from excessive sunlight or wind, and possibly protection from winter conditions (e.g., through the use of cold boxes or winter greenhouses).

Ficus retusa

Common bonsai species (particularly those from the Japanese tradition) are temperate climate trees from hardiness zones 7 to 9, and require moderate temperatures, moderate humidity, and full sun in summer with a dormancy period in winter that may need be near freezing. They do not thrive indoors, where the light is generally too dim, and humidity often too low, for them to grow properly. Only in the dormant period can they safely be brought indoors, and even then the plants require cold temperatures and lighting that approximates the number of hours the sun is visible. Raising the temperature or providing more hours of light than available from natural daylight can cause the bonsai to break dormancy, which often weakens or kills it.

Indoors

Tropical and Mediterranean species typically require consistent temperatures close to room temperature, and with correct lighting and humidity many species can be kept indoors all year. Those from cooler climates may benefit from a winter dormancy period, but temperatures need not be dropped as far as for the temperate climate plants and a north-facing windowsill or open window may provide the right conditions for a few winter months. ^[19]

Display

A Seiju elm bonsai on display with a shitakusa of miniature hosta and a hanging scroll.

Bonsai are displayed according to a number of aesthetic conventions. A formal bonsai display is arranged to represent a landscape, and traditionally consists of the featured bonsai tree in an appropriate pot atop a wooden table, along with a shitakusa (companion plant) representing the foreground, and a hanging scroll representing the background. These three elements are chosen to complement each other and evoke a particular season, and are composed asymmetrically to mimic something of a natural perspective.^[20]

When displayed inside a home, a formal bonsai display will be placed within a tokonoma.

Containers

Assorted bonsai pots

A variety of informal containers may house the bonsai during its development, and even trees that have been formally planted in a bonsai pot may be returned to growing boxes from time to time. A large growing box will house several bonsai and provide a great volume of soil per tree to encourage root growth. A training box will have a single tree, and a smaller volume of soil that helps condition the tree to the eventual size and shape of the formal bonsai container. There are no aesthetic guidelines for these development containers, and they may be of any material, size, and shape that suit the grower.

Formal bonsai containers are ceramic pots, which come in a variety of shapes and colors and may be glazed or unglazed. Unlike many common plant containers, bonsai pots have drainage holes in the bottom surface to allow excess water to escape the pot. The grower usually covers the holes with a piece of screen or mesh to prevent soil from falling out and hinder pests from entering the pots from below.

For bonsai being shown in their completed state, pot shape, color, and size are chosen to complement the tree as a picture frame is chosen to complement a painting. Containers with straight sides and sharp corners are generally used for formally-shaped plants, while oval or round containers are used for plants with informal designs. Many aesthetic rules guide the selection of pot finish and color. For example, evergreen bonsai are often placed in unglazed pots, while deciduous trees usually appear in glazed pots. Pots are also distinguished by their size. The overall design of the bonsai tree, the thickness of its trunk, and its height are considered when determining the size of a suitable pot.

Some pots are highly collectible, like ancient Chinese or Japanese pots made in regions with experienced pot makers such as Tokoname, Japan or Yixing, China. Today many western potters throughout Europe and North America produce fine quality pots for bonsai.

Common styles

Semi-cascade style larch

Formal upright style Bald cypress

Forest style Black Hills Spruce

Informal upright style Juniper

Root-over-rock style maple on display at the Chinese Penjing Collection of National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, DC

The formal upright style, or Chokkan, is characterized by a straight, upright, tapering trunk. Branches progress regularly from the thickest and broadest at the bottom to the finest and shortest at the top.

The trunk and branches of the informal upright style, or Moyogi incorporate visible curves, but the apex of the informal upright is always located directly above the trunk's entry into the soil line. Similar to the formal upright style, branches generally progress regularly from largest at the bottom to smallest at the top, although this progression may be broken where the irregular shape of the trunk would make a branch abnormally prominent or obscure.

Slant-style, or Shakan, bonsai possess straight trunks like those of bonsai grown in the formal upright style. However, the slant style trunk emerges from the soil at an angle, and the apex of the bonsai will be located to the left or right of the root base.

Cascade-style, or Kengai, bonsai are modeled after trees which grow over water or on the sides of mountains. The apex, or tip of the tree in the Semi-cascade-style, or Han Kengai, bonsai extend just at or beneath the lip of the bonsai pot; the apex of a (full) cascade style falls below the base of the pot.

Raft-style, or Netsuranari, bonsai mimic a natural phenomenon that occurs when a tree topples onto its side (typically due to erosion or another natural force). Branches along the top side of the trunk continue to grow as a group of new trunks. Sometimes, roots will develop from buried portions of the trunk. Raft-style bonsai can have sinuous, straight-line, or slanting trunks, all giving the illusion that they are a group of separate trees—while actually being the branches of a tree planted on its side.

The literati style, or Bunjin-gi, bonsai is characterized by a generally bare trunk line, with branches reduced to a minimum, and typically placed higher up on a long, often contorted trunk. This style derives its name from the Chinese literati, who were often artists. Some painted Chinese brush paintings, like those found in the ancient text, The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, depicting pine trees that grew in harsh climates, struggling to reach sunlight. In Japan, the literati style is known as bunjin-gi (文人木^[21]^?). (Bunjin is a translation of the Chinese phrase wenren meaning "scholars practiced in the arts" and gi is a derivative of the Japanese word, ki, for "tree").

The group or forest style, or Yose Ue, comprises a planting of more than one tree (typically an odd number if there are three or more trees, and essentially never 4 because of its significance in China) in a bonsai pot. The trees are usually the same species, with a variety of heights employed to add visual interest and to reflect the age differences encountered in mature forests.

The root-over-rock style, or Sekijoju, is a style in which the roots of a tree (typically a fig tree) are wrapped around a rock. The rock is at the base of the trunk, with the roots exposed to varying degrees.

The broom style, or Hokidachi is employed for trees with extensive, fine branching, often with species like elms. The trunk is straight and upright. It branches out in all directions about 1/3 of the way up the entire height of the tree. The branches and leaves form a ball-shaped crown which can also be very beautiful during the winter months.

The multi-trunk style, or Ikadabuki has all the trunks growing out of one root system, and it actually is one single tree. All the trunks form one crown of leaves, in which the thickest and most developed trunk forms the top.

The growing-in-a-rock, or Ishizuke style means the roots of the tree are growing in the cracks and holes of the rock. There is not much room for the roots to develop and take up nutrients. These trees are designed to visually represent that the tree has to struggle to survive.

The most common styles include: formal upright, slant, informal upright, cascade, semi-cascade, raft, literati, and group/forest.

Size classifications

Class			Size
tiny	Mame	Keshi-tsubu	up to 2.5 cm (1 in)
tiny	Mame	Shito	2.5–7.5 cm (1–3 in)
small	Shohin	Gafu	13–20 cm (5–8 in)
		Komono	up to 18 cm (7 in)
		Myabi	15–25 cm (6–10 in)
medium	Kifu	Katade-mochi	up to 40 cm (16 in)
medium to large	Chu/Chuhin		40–60 cm (16–24 in)
large	Dai/Daiza	Omono	up to 120 cm (47 in)
large	Dai/Daiza	Bonju	over 100 cm (39 in)

Not all sources agree on the exact sizes or names for these ranges, but the concept of the ranges is well-established and necessary to both the cultivation and the aesthetic understanding of the trees. In the very largest size range, a recognized Japanese practice is to name the trees "one-handed", "two-handed", and so on, based on the number of men required to move the tree and pot. These t

index

Ramification Process

Ramification (botany)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

References

Driftwood Technique on Bonsai

Deadwood bonsai techniques

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

Jin

Uro

Sharimiki and similar techniques

Sabamiki

Shari

Tanuki

References

Penjing

Penjing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

History

Penjing aesthetics

Categories

Styles

Maintenance and Care

See also

Notes

References

External links

The Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa Pine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

Subspecies

Table of characters distinguishing the subspecies of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica

Gallery

Notes

References

Bonsai History

Bonsai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

History

Cultivation

Sources of bonsai material

Propagation

Commercial bonsai growers

Nursery stock

Collecting

Techniques

Care

Watering

Repotting

Tools

Soil and fertilization

Location and overwintering

Outdoors

Indoors

Display

Containers

Common styles

Size classifications