The art of tree design

Mature, but in miniature.

Many consider the centuries-old art form of cultivating trees as potted plants to be the pinnacle of gardening skill. Bonsai is refined to a high art in Japan, offering not only the familiar gardening delights, but also, at its more exalted levels, a philosophical and aesthetic communion with nature.

Bonsai and its precursor, the Chinese art of penjing, are deeply rooted in the traditions of Asian culture. The meticulous placement of branches, styling and the pot all convey profound symbolism and reverence for the natural world.

"Cultivating and training a bonsai tree is a great thing to accomplish," says Stephen Otten, a member of the Summerville Bonsai Study Group. "But it's not something that becomes stagnant. A tree is never finished. Either you or Mother Nature can redesign it. Training a bonsai also is a great stress reliever. You'd be surprised the number of people from diverse backgrounds who do it.

"But it is a commitment. A tree definitely can outlive us, which is why collections are passed on from person to person."

Otten will explore the horticultural practice during a demonstration titled "Bonsai: The Art of Growing Miniature Trees or Plants" at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Main Branch of the Charleston County Public Library on Calhoun Street.

From a 15-year-old flowering ornamental cherry tree to a majestic, 1,000-year-old Yezo spruce, the variety of bonsai is astonishing.

"Most kinds of trees will be converted to bonsai by somebody somewhere," says Otten, "Trees have so many subspecies that there's almost no variety of tree you can't find to use, but some are less practical than others. It's critical to emulate their natural growing conditions. People have a tendency to overwater or put a tree in the wrong type of soil. The basic rule is this: The smaller the leaf, the more sunlight it needs for photosynthesis."

Roots in India

While the Chinese form penjing often took on unusual shapes that were symbolic and far from the natural form of the plants, bonsai gradually began to adopt a more naturalistic style after migrating from China. More recently, some penjing have followed suit.

"The Japanese codified the rules, though they actually adopted it from the Chinese," says Otten, whose interest in bonsai began in 1968 when he was stationed in Okinawa with the Air Force. "But the practice actually originated in India with the medics of the era going from village to village carrying healing herbs. They had to have a way to carry these herbs, so they transported them as small trees.

"Americans became intrigued after World War II. Today, there is a bonsai organization on almost every continent."

Because bonsai is an art form, as well as horticulture, one develops a style one prefers, which is what makes bonsai so diversified in America — more so than anywhere else, says Otten.

"We take the time to learn the rules, but we also take the time to break them."

Achieving the desired balance, style, harmony and overall aesthetic effect can be a matter of taste, though there are specific rules for trees submitted for judging at shows.

Otten has "30 or 40" bonsai in different stages in his garden. His pride and joy? "It's a hedge, like a common hedge."

Preservation

Unlike in Japan, where a bonsai may be tended and perpetuated by successive generations of the same family, we in the West harbor no such tradition.

But devotees believe bonsai should be preserved for the whole of their natural lives, which can be considerable, in order that future generations may enjoy and appreciate them. To that end, the American Bonsai Society has created a contingency program to care for a bonsai when a tree's owner/cultivator, by death or incapacity, is no longer able.

Called "Bonsai for the 21st Century and Beyond," details are available on the society's Web site at www.absbonsai.org, which also provides links to two clubs in the Lowcountry: the Coastal Carolina Bonsai Club on Seabrook Island and Otten's Summerville Bonsai Study Group. There also is a bonsai talk forum (http://forum.bonsaitalk.com) on which members post questions and photos.

"When my best friend and former business partner passed away, his collection went to a friend in North Carolina," says Otten, whose expertise is a meld of formal training and self-taught skills. "The same guy eventually will get mine. Large arbors like the ones in Washington, D.C., and in North Carolina have bonsai masters who can take a tree from someone as a donation. People put them in their wills. They do, in effect, become family heirlooms."

On view

Those who travel to Washington should take time to explore the indoor/outdoor National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum, with its wealth of specimens. These 150 miniature masterpieces make up one of the largest collections in North America, arrayed in three pavilions representing Japan, China and North America.

Conceived in 1972, the museum actually came into being when Japanese bonsai enthusiasts in the Nippon Bonsai Association donated 53 bonsai and six suiseki (viewing stones) to the people of the United States in 1976 to commemorate the U.S. Bicentennial. The collection has grown steadily with the addition of pieces from American bonsai masters and penjing from China.

For the museum's online Bonsai Virtual Tour, visit www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/VirtualTours.

A number of related links, plus an array of frequently asked questions on bonsai cultivation, can be found on the Web site of the National Bonsai Foundation (www.bonsai-nbf.org), an organization formed to support the museum at the National Arboretum. Yet another source of authoritative information is available www.bonsaiweb.org.

The most extensive regional bonsai collection resides at the North Carolina Arboretum (www.ncarboretum.org), a 434-acre public garden in the Pisgah National Forest just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.There are about 100 quality specimens on display in its bonsai collection, from traditional Asian bonsa

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