So what is Bonsai?
Maybe it is wiser to start by saying what a bonsai is not. A bonsai isn’t a genetically shrunken plant, it is not treated with magic potions to decrease its size and, most importantly it is not kept small by brutality in any way. Actually, given an adequate supply of water, air, light and nutrients, acorrectly maintained bonsai should outlive a full sized tree of the same species. The origin of Bonsai, while often attributed to the Japanese, is actually Chinese in provenance. Many experts agree that bonsai, know as Pensai in China, was used by scholars, monks and the upperclasses of China as far back as 600 A.D. A few hundred years later, bonsai, along with Zen Buddhism, and much of the best of Chinese culture was brought to Japan.
The word “Bonsai”, which is pronounced “Bone- Sigh”, is made up of the two Japanese characters: “Bon” meaning tray and “sai” meaning plant, which when literally translated means: tray plant. Of course, the growing of bonsai trees has progressed much since its modest beginning as plants in pots.
An earthquake is responsible for shifting the “epicenter” of bonsai growing in Japan. In 1923 an 8.3 proportion earthquake devastated the whole Kanto district of Japan. Destroying enormous areas of the two largest cities: Tokyo and Yokohama; along with a large portion of the commercial growers businesses. As a result, the bonsai business community, in an attempt to save their living, collectively bought a tract of land outside of Tokyo, in the Omiya region, where their businesses once again flourished. Hence, a new hub of bonsai growing in Japan was created (which exists and thrives to this day).
In 1976 the nation of Japan, to mark the American Bicentennial Celebration, gave to America 53 priceless bonsai trees and 6 amazing viewing stones. These presents were to become the Basis of our national collection. This exceptional group is housed at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, found inside the U.S. National Arboretum, in Washington, D.C. It has now become the largest collection of its kind – home to bonsai from around the world!
The most ancient bonsai in the national collection is more than300 years of age. The bonsai tree is a White Pine that is affectionately known as the Yamaki Pine, in honor of its contributor, Masaru Yamaki. The Yamaki started its life in the 1600s and, although being less than five miles away from the impact site, it survived the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.
Many of the trees in the national collection were given as presents to several Presidents of the United States. Actually, in 1998, the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Obuchi, gave President William Jefferson Clinton an 80-year-old Ezo Spruce. The gift was truly important to the national bonsai collection for two reasons: the first and most obvious reason is the fact that it is a masterwork and the second, and lesser-known reason, is that the gift of an Ezo Spruce – any Ezo Spruce – to an American president is noteworthy, because the United States has a long standing prohibition on the importation of all Ezo Spruce and, as a result, the national collection has been without an Ezo Spruce example.
For many species of deciduous trees the size of the leaf is directly related to the type and amount of sunlight the tree is grown in. A bonsai tree that is grown in partial shade or in full shade will have longer and larger leaves, because the tree is trying to maximize the amount of sunlight it can assimilate to enable it to continue its photosynthetic processes – a larger leaf has more surface area with which to draw sunlight. Alternatively, a tree that is cultivated in direct sun, all or most of the time, will have smaller and more compact leaves, because it is getting all of the sunlight it needs. As a result, it can concentrate its energy to growing. This is essential for all trees, but more important for trees cultivated for bonsai, as smaller leaves are more suited to the smaller scale of a bonsai tree; smaller leaves are, therefore, a good trait, both to look at and from a horticultural viewpoint because a tree is healthiest when it has access to all of the energy it needs to flourish
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Tags: bonsai, bonsai history, bonsai tree info, bonsai trees
July 23, 2008 at 4:42 am
Hi,Fabulous site with fantastic information.Thanks. First of all, you want to keep one simple rule in mind. When pruning your bonsai, you want to prune some of your roots and also the top of the tree. This is important. You should always prune both, the top and the bottom of the tree.