English Elm
                        
                        
 

 A short History of Bonsai

What is Bonsai?

Bonsai is about trees grown in miniature.

Bonsai, although a Japanese word, is used and understood throughout the world.  It is actually two words - Bon - meaning a shallow tray and - sai - a plant or planting.

A bonsai consists of two elements, the living plant and the container. 
The plant may be a vine, shrub or tree but is always referred to as a tree. 
The container may be a conventional bonsai pot, a flat slab of rock or stone, a piece of slate or a pot fashioned from clay either bought or made by the owner. 
Plants may be grown over rock or stone i.e. Fig trees have aerial roots and are ideal for this treatment or actually in a rock as some rocks have very suitable cavities.

How did it Start?

There is a long history of dispute over whether the Chinese or the Japanese were the originators of bonsai and which of them first started training bonsai trees.  Its origins, however, are generally believed to be in China

Indoor or outdoor Bonsai?

Most people are amazed to see bonsai growing out of doors and even some with snow on them.  Trees either full size or miniature are grown in their natural environment and that is out of doors in all weathers.  Indoor bonsai are trees that are normally grown in the tropics e.g. Fig, Olive, Citrus fruit trees etc.  Sometimes these can be acclimatised but usually the best results are out of doors in warm weather and in a cold greenhouse in the winter.

What is training?

Many people feel that Bonsai is cruel to trees and shrubs by stunting their growth.  To these people I say do you keep houseplants?  If so, each year you may re-pot it and prune it by pinching out the growing tip to make it branch out and trim the roots to make them fit into its pot.  This is exactly what is done to trees to make them into bonsai.  Pinching, pruning and gentle shaping will produce a miniature tree without being cruel in the same way that you can produce a bushy, healthy indoor or outdoor plant.  Next time you see Bonsai in a Show see how healthy they look and, by the way, some species of tree live much longer in Bonsai form than their fully grown counterparts.

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