This is a series of bonsai classes written by: Hud Nordin Cybernetic Arts rkn@guest.apple.com Post Office Box 2066 Telephone: 408.248.0377 Sunnyvale, California 94087 Facsimile: 408.248.0416 Class 5 [This is a continuing series of spontaneous and unrehearsed "classes" on the subject of bonsai. Many new readers were coming on board asking about how to get started. I believe you should just start making bonsai. So, I will try to lead you through creating your first. Besides this gentle counsel, be sure to read the FAQ (which appears periodically) and search out some good books or people to introduce you to the subject. I will post sporadically with a subject containing the word "Class". I am going slow, so be prepared to be frustrated. If you have questions or comments about building your own first bonsai, post them "Re:" this thread. Write me (rkn@guest.apple.com) for back issues.] === Pop Quiz! 1) Which is the more pleasing bonsai? A or B? Why? | | | | * | * | | **** * | **** | | * |*** | |*** | | ** */ | */ | | ***-| * * | ***-| | | \* ** | *** \* | | |---*** | |---**** | | / | / ***** | | / | / | | XXXXXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXXXXX | | | | | A | B | 2) Which is the more pleasing bonsai? C or D? Why? | | | | * | * | | ** | ** | | ***-|-** | **-|-*** | | * \ | \ * | | |--** | **--| | | **/ *** | *** / ** | | | | | | | ****--| | |--**** | | ***** | | | ***** | | \ | \ | | | | | | | XXXXXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXXXXX | | | | | C | D | 3) Which is the more pleasing bonsai? E or F? Why? | | | | * | * | | **** | **** | | *|*** | *|*** | | **** / | **** / | | | | | | | XXXXXXX | XXXXXXX | | | | | E | F | 4) Which is the more pleasing bonsai? G or H? Why? | * | | | * **** | * | | **---** /*** | ** | | ***-|-**-* | ***-|-** | | **** * \ **** | * \ | | * ****---|-*** | |--** | | * ** *****/\ * | **/ *** | | **** **** | ****** | | | | ******--****** | ****--| | | * ***|/ * | ***** | | | **** --\*** | \ | | **| | | | | XXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXX | | XXXXXXXX | XXXXXXXX | | | | | G | H | Answers: 1) B, because the downward sloping branches give a feeling of age in contrast to the youthful, upward growing branches of A. 2) C, because it has branches on the outside curves of the trunk, yielding a more balanced, flowing feeling. (Notice how a simple rule of thumb, "Keep branches coming out of outside curves," can provide a more pleasing form.) 3) E, because the tree is placed off-center of the container, yielding a more balanced feeling. (This may be a difference almost too subtle for you to notice, but, again, a simple rule provides a more pleasing overall form.) 4) H, because it looks more like a mature tree. Question 4 should be an easy one for you. Perhaps the raw material that you are turning into a bonsai looks more like G right now. You should be beginning to transform it into something more like H. Have you removed any material from your tree yet? You ought to. What is holding you back? Have I offered sufficient encouragement? If you compare H with C, you will notice how much the shallow bonsai pot of C contributes to the overall appearance, in contrast with the deeper training pot of H. Eventually we will be addressing that issue, but for now, we concentrate on the form of the tree. I should warn you that before too long, we will have to worry about the roots, so, please, start addressing the form of your tree, now. The reason we have to worry about the roots is that we are doing some pruning and removing branches and reducing the mass of the leaves. Those leaves lost were doing a job--feeding the roots. The roots are often thought of as feeding the rest of the tree, providing water and nutrients. But, it is a two-way street. The leaves convert carbon- dioxide and sunlight into sugars which feed the roots, too. So, having removed a lot of leaves, we now have a tree with hungry roots. If we do not balance the amount of roots with the amount of leaves, the tree will be weakened. === Back in Class 2, I mentioned some differences between bonsai and natural, mature trees. I thought of another one: a bonsai usually has fewer branches. While a bonsai attempts to be a scale-model tree, you cannot keep all aspects in scale, for instance, the number of branches. The branches of a bonsai more give the impression of a mature tree than mimic it precisely. A bonsai is an artwork that provides an impression of a tree, not just a small copy of the real thing. An often annoying similarity between bonsai and trees is that a bonsai has leaves of approximately the same size as a tree. Though the bonsai may be younger, and smaller, the size of the leaves is pretty well fixed, genetically. To get the leaves more in scale, two approaches are taken. First, plants with genetically smaller leaves are used, like the tiny needles of the juniper, or the smaller leaves of the Chinese elm (ulmus parvifola). Second, training for growth in a pot often reduces the size of the leaves a plant puts out, and techniques like defoliation--in which every last leaf is removed from a healthy deciduous plant, promoting a second smaller set of leaves--are utilized. If your material does not have small leaves to begin with, then encouraging smaller leaves will have to be left as an advanced topic of refinement. === I had intended to tell you what I did with my three raw specimens. Next time. Do some pruning, so we can compare experiences! There is probably enough to digest, here. At least if you have no other access to bonsai pictures, you now have the few crude drawings from the quiz, above. I continue to encourage you to seek out books on bonsai, or to examine live bonsai, so you can have some idea of where you are headed with your tree. Oh, the preferred bonsai in the quiz are all "informal upright" style. Remember, there are several styles--and many variations--and informal upright may not be exactly right for your tree. The "text" (Growing Bonsai) describes the 5 main styles.