For someone, a houseplant is a blooming violet or ficus with dark shiny leaves. And someone wants to grow a real forest in a small handful of earth.
Many lovers of indoor plants have heard the mysterious word "bonsai." But what is bonsai and how to form a miniature miracle, they simply do not understand. Meanwhile, to understand this is quite real.
Bonsai story
The fashion for miniature trees has spread throughout the world from Japan. But the Japanese are not the founders of a new art form. The idea of bonsai came to them from China. But it was the Japanese who brought it to perfection.
The first mention of growing miniature trees fell into the hands of historians in 1972. In the mausoleum of Prince Zang Hui, images were found that describe in detail the technology for growing small trees. Judging by how carefully the drawings were preserved for posterity, the technique was classified as a particularly valuable knowledge. The drawings date back to the reign of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, which corresponds to 600 BC. e.
The Chinese called the unusual hobby "Pension." The Japanese read the Chinese character in their own way, and got the word "bonsai", meaning "grown in a tray."
Incidentally, archaeologists claim that even the ancient Egyptians knew what bonsai was. They grew small plants in special vessels, but called them differently. Unfortunately, the Egyptian version of the name has not been preserved.
What's the point of this
The Japanese brought the art of growing dwarf plants to perfection. Each tree requires many years of work, attention and patience from the master. This is the only way to get a green masterpiece that will live longer than its creator. A gorgeous plant will go to grateful students who understand well what a bonsai is and how much effort the master put into this beauty.
Bonsai art is a certain philosophy that allows you to accept life and enjoy the beauty of its course. Each tree in the hands of the master goes through three stages, like all living things on the planet. First, it lives youth, sparkling with freshness and pressure, then enters into maturity, achieving perfection of forms and beauty, and the last stage is old age, embodying all the wisdom of the world. And besides, bonsai is a symbol of continuity of generations, because the youngest in the family needs to learn from the experience and be able to preserve what the older ones created.
What trees can be grown
Most often, evergreen species are used for growing in containers. It can be a Japanese cypress, Chinese juniper, cryptomeria, five-leafed, black or red Japanese pine. Bonsai from these tree species looks very impressive, but some prefer to grow deciduous trees, finding a special charm in the changing seasons. In this case, Japanese plum, apple trees of different varieties, cherries, some varieties of maples, rhododendron, wild azalea, various varieties of pears, persimmons, wild grapes, willow and others are suitable.
Bonsai-pine looks very beautiful and unusual, as can be seen in the photo below, so most often you can see these very tiny coniferous trees.
Bonsai Styles: Tokkan and Moogi
Even the most experienced master will never get two absolutely identical plants. But all compositions are clearly divided into styles. This tradition was brought to the art of bonsai by the Japanese. They gave designation to a number of signs by which trees are divided into styles. There are more than 30 of them, but we will consider the most common ones.
If you see a bonsai plant with a straight trunk that extends to the base, then this is a formal vertical style - Tokkan. Another important characteristic of it is that the plant should narrow to the top. In this style, you can grow any kind of tree. Tekkan symbolism is proud loneliness and unbending character.
If the plant is elongated vertically, but its branches do not have a clear structure, but are arranged arbitrarily, then this is Mooga’s style. The tree trunk can be bent, but the top is necessarily extended in line with the base, forming a perpendicular to the ground. Moogi symbolizes simplicity and freedom, and also - the desire to go beyond, resisting the circumstances.
Fukinagashi and Shakan
These are bonsai styles, the photos of which are as if taken with a strong gusty wind. Shakan (inclined style) is characterized by a slope at an angle to the ground, but the tree stretches up. Fukinagashi (bent by the wind) can have both a flat and inclined trunk, but its branches are directed in one direction (towards the slope), as if a tree grew in a strong wind. The symbolism of these styles is resistance to the forces of nature and the struggle for life.
Sokan style
Sokan translates as "bifurcated trunk." This style was suggested to bonsai lovers by nature itself, since very often two trunks rise from one root, one of which is stronger and higher. A tree can be flat or inclined, this is not very important, the main thing is that it should form a common crown. You can create a similar bonsai at home by giving the appearance of a second trunk to the lowest branch. The symbolism of this style is the continuity of generations and the veneration of traditions. Sometimes Sokan is called "twins" or "father and son."
Kangai and Han Kangai
These are slightly similar cascading and semi-cascading bonsai views . Kangai is like a tree growing on a steep cliff. To survive, he had to adapt to difficult circumstances. A symbol of style is plasticity in any conditions.
Khan-kengai is characterized by a more horizontal direction of trunk growth. The trees seem to grow on the shore of a reservoir, trying to reach the crown with water. Hen-kangai is a bonsai whose photo clearly shows that the branches do not fall below the middle of the pot, and the top of the plant is always above ground level.
For these ductile styles, plants with bent trunks are always chosen. Pine, cotoneaster, and juniper are preferred.
Bungees
This style is considered one of the most difficult to perform. And he is one of the most ancient. Otherwise, this style is called "literary." A similar name is due to the fact that the plants have a schematic form of "Japanese letters". Masters, as if writing calligraphic signs, growing trees with long curved trunks without lower branches. Crohn in this type of bonsai is permissible only at the very top. Style symbolizes airiness and elevation. For growing, choose coniferous or broad-leaved species.
Charming Yose-ue
Can you imagine the bonsai pots in which the small forest grew? These are plants in the style of Yose-ue. The composition consists of a large number of trees with different stem heights, with different thickness and age of plants. Usually pick up an odd number of trees, and they are most often of the same species. Plant them, not observing symmetry and avoiding the same distances. Thus, the master gets his own park or a small forest, as close as possible to a corner of the wild.
Sharimiki Style
Enlightened Japanese have learned to see beauty in every moment of life. They proved that old age can also be beautiful. The embodiment of this statement is the style of Sharimiki, that is, "dead wood". The tree is artificially aged, the bark is partially removed from the trunk, and its wood is bleached, creating a contrast between the dead and the living. Areas with dead wood bend subtly, but they must be clearly visible. Juniper is most often used for this species.
Landing bonsai
Going to grow the described miracle, beginners are wondering about how to plant a bonsai. There are several ways to do this:
- Misho's way. This is ideal for beginner experimenters. It is enclosed in the sowing of seeds collected in the wild. In this case, you can choose from the many sprouts exactly the one you need, and begin to slow down the growth from the very beginning.
- Toriki Method. This is the cultivation of miniature plants from cuttings or layering. To use this method, bark is cut off or cut in the right place on the branch and the opened wood is treated with horse growth stimulants. A piece of wood is wrapped in moss and film and wait 3 (sometimes more) months. The cutting site is not allowed to dry all this time.
- Yamadori's way. The approximate meaning of this name is “found and dug up”. In the spring, a suitable plant is found in the forest or garden, dug it and left for several months to form surface horses. After this, the powerful roots are shortened a little, the plant is removed from the soil, and the formation of bonsai in a pot begins.
- Way of Weki. With this method, a ready-made young plant is bought in a nursery, then it is cut and planted in a flat pot. Or a young bonsai is bought, and then it is grown, based on their preferences in style.
How to shape a plant
The main task when growing bonsai is to force the tree to remain small. To do this, slow down the growth and give the desired shape. To inhibit growth, the roots are often cut and young shoots removed, sparse soils selected, the minimum amount of fertilizer used and special bonsai pots selected in which the root system cannot grow very much. In addition, they necessarily use a system to weaken the flow of juices, causing horizontal cuts on wood or braiding the trunk with wire.
When the plant is sufficiently rooted, they begin to prune and bend its branches. To do this, use copper wire, which is entangled in branches and fixed with pegs in a pot. Bends are best started in the summer when the branches are most elastic. In order not to damage the crown, the place of bending is wrapped with a soft tourniquet or bast.
Timely pruning of branches helps to awaken the necessary buds to growth. If in order to create an ideal shape it is necessary to direct the branch to the right, then they select a kidney sticking out in the right direction, and cut the branch above it, without leaving a hemp above.
By the way, if bonsai pine is grown, then pruning must be done with extreme caution. Damaged branches may turn yellow. This also applies to other conifers.
How to care for a plant
The plant requires care throughout its life. To grow a decent bonsai, home care is provided year-round. This includes transplanting, dressing, watering.
A transplant is best done in the spring. It is necessary to ensure that the roots do not grow and do not form a ball. As soon as this happened, the tree is removed from the bowl, the roots are pruned and the plant is returned to its place, but in fresh soil.
For planting, make a mixture of 3/5 humus soil, 1/5 peat and 1/5 sand. The soil in the container is carefully tamped so that voids do not form. The height of the soil in the container is about 5-6 cm. Above it, as a rule, is decorated with stones and moss.
Top dressing is carried out in the spring and in the summer. The interval is maintained for about two weeks. It is most convenient to use ready-made liquid organic fertilizer with bird droppings, which is applied 2 hours after watering.
What else needs to be done to grow a healthy and beautiful bonsai? Home care involves plentiful and regular watering. Many place a container with a tree in a flat vessel with water. Its bottom is filled with small stones or put a grate. The water level in the tray is maintained at one mark. This allows you to increase air humidity and reduce watering.
Water is needed in miniature wood in large quantities. But you need to take into account the type of plant, since different conditions of watering are created for residents of different climatic zones. For example, small-leaved carmona is a bonsai tree, the care of which requires daily plentiful watering. But for a fat woman, such watering is fatal, its root system will not cope with the abundance of moisture and will rot.
It is important to understand that a miniature tree needs to be watered more often, even if the species does not like moist soil when there are the following factors:
- the foliage on the branches is large and numerous;
- the plant is planted in a small or flat container, because then a large area of evaporation of moisture from the surface of the substrate;
- The room is dry and too warm.
In addition, the plant is not prevented by regular spraying. However, keep in mind that evergreen species can only be sprayed with distilled water. When using ordinary tap water, an irreducible whitish coating will appear on the leaves.
Now that you understand what bonsai is, you can try to create your own masterpiece. But think and evaluate your strength. If you are not patient enough, then maybe you should not undertake this painstaking work.