Harry Harrington - Bonsai4me Bonsai Basics

Author: Harry Harrington

Bonsai4me: Bonsai Basics

Copyright B4me Publishing 2013

All Rights Reserved.

This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Publisher, nor be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent Publisher.

All text and images by Harry Harrington unless otherwise stated.

Edited by: Harry Harrington

Front Cover Design and Diagrams by: Ninoslav Pirs/Tresh Design

www.bonsai4me.com started life as a collection of private notes about bonsai that were first published as 'Species Guides' by Harry Harrington in 2001; the first comprehensive study of plant species suitable for bonsai available online.

Since that time Bonsai4me has grown on an annual basis and now attracts over 1.5 million different visitors each year from around the world.

The success and popularity of the 'Progression Series' (articles and photoseries showing the development of a bonsai over many years) in Bonsai4me.com has led to Harry Harrington writing and publishing 2 books on the subject via B4MePublishing; Bonsai Inspirations 1 published in 2011 and Bonsai Inspirations 2 , published in 2012.

The Art and Practise of Bonsai conjures an aura of mystery and wonder that draws many first-time enthusiasts to it.

Until the 1990's and the onset of the Internet, bonsai enthusiasts were few and far between. Information was very scarce and only available in a handful books written by Western 'Bonsai Masters' who had worked in isolation for many years. There was a lot of trial and error on the part of both these 'Masters' and enthusiasts.

This trial and error period didnt necessarily lead to good information...... Individuals lacking in basic knowledge and experience (relative to todays standards) wrote books and the misinformation contained was passed around as gospel. It is no wonder that people who took up bonsai were often confused. It can be extremely difficult to decipher between fact and fiction when even reference books seemed to contradict each other!

With the advent of the Internet, enthusiasts were finally able to link up across the world and compare experiences, improve their overall knowledge and discover many pre-90 bonsai books are inaccurate and in some cases downright wrong! Unfortunately many vendors and 'authorities' on bonsai still hark back to the old days and continue to perpetuate myths and bad practises.

Upon finding that I work as a professional bonsai artist, many people will remark that they once had a bonsai, but it died and with some regret, they gave up.

It is hoped that this book, 'Bonsai4me: Bonsai Basics', will arm those new to bonsai with a solid foundation of knowledge that will enable them to successfully keep their bonsai alive and well, through very simple practises, and continue to enjoy, what for many that practise the Art, is a life-long passion.

Bonsai4me:Bonsai Basics takes the reader through the basics of caring for their first bonsai with honest, simple and straightforward advice from the writer of Bonsai4me, Harry Harrington.

Over 29 chapters, Bonsai Basics offers guidelines on subjects such as placement, watering, indoor and outdoor bonsai, pruning, wiring, repotting and rootpruning as well as fertilizing, wiring and styling.

All based on a website, Bonsai4me.com, that has been widely regarded and referred to for over a decade by millions of enthusiasts around the world.

The word bonsai comes from the Chinese words pun sai, meaning quite literally tree in a pot.

Originally a practice of containerising ancient wild trees in China, bonsai was exported to Japan around 500 years ago where it has become an art form. Regarded as a novelty in the West until the early 20th century, Bonsai has now been embraced as a serious horticultural art form by the Gardening Establishment here in Britain and the West as a whole.

Prunus incisa 'Kojo-no-mai'/Fuji Cherry 'mame' bonsai by Harry Harrington

The tree can be a vine, a shrub or a tree. A common misconception for beginners is that the plants used for bonsai are dwarf plants or even special bonsai plants. Quite simply, bonsai are everyday shrubs, trees and vines. For this reason, they go through their normal seasonal phases, flowering, fruiting and shedding leaves. Bonsai require the great outdoors in the same way that their untrained garden counterparts do.

Trees growing in the wild can elicit a number of emotions in all of us; they can be powerful statements of age and strength as well as beauty as this Cedrus Libani photographed at Tattoon Park in Cheshire does.

Plants have evolved over thousands of years to take advantage of natural light, wind, rain and seasonal changes. Cultivating them in the unnatural environment of our homes mean they have to cope with poor light and low humidity levels. Your tree may be able to exist for a few months indoors but it will never thrive. Continual indoor cultivation for outdoor trees nearly always results in death unless the tree is given a position outside to regain its health. There are a few plants that will cope with indoor cultivation for short periods of time; often these are tropical species that require winter protection against the cold, but even tropical species need outdoor conditions after the threat of frost has passed in the Spring.

Or create a feeling of serenity and calmness as this old Salix caprea growing out over the River Great Ouse does.

Some trees can remind us of lost memories of forgotten times and places as these Fagus/Beech in the Chiltern hills do.

One important concept a beginner has to understand when undertaking the art of Bonsai, is that the plant retains its small stature through regular pruning, without which it will simply continue to grow until it no longer resembles a bonsai but an ordinary garden plant or tree. Though the roots of a bonsai are annually pruned, this is not to dwarf it. Root pruning produces a small densely packed rootball that enables the plant to be planted in a suitably scaled container. Without root pruning the plant becomes pot-bound and loses its health and vigour. By the process of removing around 1/3 of the roots each year new soil can be introduced to the pot and room is given to allow new roots to grow.

Bonsai can vary in height from a few centimetres to a metre. There is no strict height limit. It is simply that the tree is cultivated in a pot and creates an image of an ancient tree in nature. A bonsai containing an Oak a metre high may seem large for a miniature tree until you consider that Oaks will regularly reach 50 meters when left unpruned!