What You Need to Know About Growing an Indoor Bonsai Tree


An experienced bonsai artist will inform you that growing miniature trees no more than touches the surface of what bonsai is all about. The actual translation of the word "bonsai" is plant (sai) in a small pot (bon), and yet to just grow a plant in a pot is not necessarily bonsai.

Japanese bonsai must be appreciated in multiple dimensions. For some there is a spiritual aspect, in addition to the gardening and the artistic aspect, that must be be brought together to make a true bonsai. Developing a connection with nature can be very fulfilling and peaceful. Without gardening skills, or artistic expression, or without a desire to create beauty for others, a bonsai would be incomplete.

The horticultural aspect of Japanese bonsai is a learned skill. A general knowledge of gardening will be necessary to be a good bonsai gardener. A bonsai gardener needs to know the basics of plant biology. A bonsai artist will work with all elements of a tree including its leaves, branches, and roots. A bonsai artist must know how leaves perform photosynthesis, He will need to know when and how much to fertilize his trees. Strong and healthy trees will be the result of bringing all of this knowledge together. The artistic aspect of bonsai is very closely related to this understanding of a plant's physiology, and it would be very difficult to apply some of the bonsai techniques without the understanding of plant physiology.

The third dimension of bonsai, the art dimension, is what sees the potential and what creates the beauty of a miniature tree. Like a sculptor that can see a statue inside the block of granite, a bonsai artist must look inside the bonsai tree to understand it's essence, and then train and shape the tree into form. The forms can take a variety of styles which are traditional, including the formal (chokkan) and informal (moyogi) upright styles, the slanting style (shakan), the semi-cascade style (han-kengai), the cascade style (kengai), and the windswept style (fukinagashii). The bonsai artist may employ several different techniques, including pruning, wiring, grafting, and pinching to shape his bonsai in one of the traditional bonsai styles.

The final dimension of bonsai is the philosophical or spiritual dimension. I have read that all true bonsai artists are philosophers first. Some people relate the philosophy or spirituality of Taoism and Buddhism to bonsai, while others consider it more closely related to Zen philosophy. Regardless of which philosophy you subscribe to, remember that bonsai is not bonsai when the third dimension is absent from the work.

People from all over the world who have grown to love Japanese bonsai have developed a broader appreciation of the beauty of nature, and in doing so have either applied, or learned, a philosophy of life. luckily, even those who don't completely realize the multiple elements of bonsai can still be stirred by its beauty.