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Chapter 13. The Amateur Bonsai Fancier

Kan Yashiroda

Something about the tradition and spirit of bonsai, and what the amateur can accomplish

History of Bonsai

In a remote age, some workaday person or some great genius who was very impressionable and artistic must have been moved by the great beauty and loveliness of nature and must have felt deep peace of mind when imbued with that atmosphere. In the first flush of this feeling, the idea must have come into his mind to copy some of the beauties of nature, in miniature, in containers— in other words, to create bonsai, or dwarfed potted plants.

An amateur bonsai fancier at work among the dwarfed trees in his back yard

The oldest authentic record of bonsai is pictures of dwarfed trees and herbaceous plants in containers in a noted scroll written in 1310. Through the long are of the civil wars in Japan the cults o£ nature-bonsai, flower arrangement, and tea ceremony became deep-rooted in average men and great heroes alike.

Then came the Tokugawa Era. Turning the leaves of old Japanese gardening books published in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, I often came across illustrations and descriptions of bonsai. From these I am convinced that the people of that time were very skillful in dwarfing and training plants and that they had great desire to find new kinds of plants that could be dwarfed successfully.

The accompanying photograph of winter daphne (D. odora) is reproduced from a book published in 1827; it shows a crested branch which was rooted as a cutting and perpetuated and trained as a bonsai.

The second photograph is reproduced from a book published in 1837. The first glance shows merely a completed bonsai; but closer inspection reveals that on each branch of the thread-form Sawara cypress {Chamaecyparis pisifera filifera) one to three scions of Hiba arbor-vitae, or false arbor-vitae (Thujopsis dola-brata), have been grafted. When the graft unions are completed, all the branches of Sawara cypress are to be cut off and the whole tree converted into Hiba arbor-vitae.

These are not childish attempts or vague ideas but are the products of long years of an age of military ascendancy, when every profession was hereditary— the time called the Tokugawa Era. In those wonderful long peaceful years, the Japanese people were accustomed to escape from daily life into something that interested them; they devoted their leisure time to things that freed them from the restraint of social life; they entered into friendly rivalry with their fellow fanciers or tried to surprise them in some way. Hence improvement, discovery, and skill in the art of bonsai were much advanced by amateur fanciers. When amateurs have their enthusiasm aroused, they are always without regard for the gain or loss involved; that attitude greatly advanced bonsai.

Professional men have been interested only in seizing the cream of the amateurs' discoveries in ideas and in materials. Therefore I praise the amateur bonsai fancier. In Japan there are nearly as many amateurs as bonsai trees, A large number of them are worthy of saying, as did G. K. Chesterton, "We wear proudly the name of amateur."

Example of an Amateur

As an example of an enthusiastic amateur bonsai fancier, I will tell you of a Mr. Watanabe of the city of Takamatsu, a place noted for bonsai and cage-bird fanciers.
Mr. Watanabe is a salaried man, past middle age. Since the time in his youth when he worked in the Takamatsu post office, he had been enthusiastic about bonsai as a hobby and had built up a varied and interesting collection. Then on a hot summer day in 1945 his house and all his collection were burned and completely destroyed by bombing. A few blank years passed. Gradually, relieving him from self-abandonment, his enthusiasm for bonsai revived and crept back into him. The photograph on page 109 shows part of the result. Beyond the bonsai shelves can be seen a field of grass where dwelling houses once stood in rows. The only other visible sign of the influence of war is several rows of barbed wire encircling the bonsai to protect them from the mischief of passers-by. In taking the pictures I was very careful to keep the wire out of sight as much as possible. "Everybody has come back nearly to the standard of bygone days in clothes, but why not in morale and in taste?" he complained to me, not hatefully or scornfully, but regretfully.

The mental effect that force had, has remained in many eases. However, I have come across young men who are planning to gain refined taste and pleasure by growing bonsai. Some Americans living in Japan also seem to be attracted to bonsai "simply to waste time," as an American Army Colonel said during a course of instruction on bonsai technique at the bonsaimen's. Doubtless a more serious purpose will be found by many Americans and people in other countries.

Spirit of Bonsai

An old-timer in bonsai (introduced to me by a friend) wrote me a story that has been current in his district for many decades. An American picked up a Japanese black pine bonsai and asked its price, of the farmer who raised it. When the satisfied American had gone nearly out of the gate, it occurred to the farmer that if he said that price was only for the tree, the buyer would pay a little more for the container. He hurried out and asked for the money for the container. On hearing the insatiable claim, the American pulled out the tree the farmer had treasured and threw it to him, saying "I need only the container."

In telling me this story I think my friend has kindly warned me of the difficulty of making known the spirit of bonsai. Whether or not it is possible to convey the spirit of noble bonsai raised by worthy growers, it should be easy to describe the technique generally practiced in Japan and to transmit some appreciation of dwarfed trees. It should be possible for the culture of bonsai to be practiced and enjoyed in other countries, and to be adapted in one way or another to the life there.

Since we were beaten in the war and Americans have come in and shown interest in bonsai, some young Japanese bonsai growers are representing themselves as artists and bonsai raising as strictly an art. If this is so, it is not necessary to use the words "artist" and "art"! This is the last thing that comes to the amateur's mind. The amateurs are generally far richer in culture and talent than the mea who cry out that they are artists of bonsai. Possibly the real spirit of the cult of bonsai is passed down from father to son, even though amateur bonsai fanciers often show amateurish and poor attempts at growing and training bonsai.

1837 print. See preceding page.

1827 print. See preceding page.

Kinds of Bonsai

There is a wide range of rank among bonsai. One can easily distinguish a mere potted plant from a noble old bonsai; but there are many gradations between the two and there is no strict rule to draw a line between them. Sometimes it is impossible to say which is which—as with the man and the pig in George Orwell's Animal Farm.

On mound of soil. The amateur's so-called amateurish efforts in attempting bonsai in unusual ways or according to his own ideas are always associated with his daily life, since reward in money is the least consideration to him; thus they give him endless pleasure, though they may seem childish to the orthodox grower. Such an attempt in Mr. Watanabe's collection is the seedling's of Japanese black pine grown in the mound of soil on an old tile. For a few years after the bombing, the ground in practically the whole city was covered with tiles like this one. The bonsai was started by sowing the pine seeds directly on the mound.

Ever since they were very young, the little trees have been cut back or pinched off repeatedly and severely, and their long needles cut in half. Now it looks very nice; and when it has grown only a few years more, no one could call it a childish effort—as he might do now without knowing the aim.

Various conifers and many other kinds of trees are grown and trained nicely in this novel way, starting from seed. In trying these one may pinch and cut back to his heart's content; for a man of discernment will find something to be treated with finger nail or shears almost every day in the course of a year.

It is often said that the best means of controlling temper is to sit down before one's favorite seedling bonsai-in-fhe-making and trim them to one's satisfaction. I know quite well that there is some truth in this, as I have thus disciplined myself sometimes. This shows that repeated and sometimes very deep cutting back are necessary, to make these seedlings dwarf and finely shaped.

Japanese black pines (Pinus thunder gi) raised from seeds sown directly on a mound of soil on a tile

First stage in development of a bonsai from naturally dwarfed Japanese black pines collected on a m o untainsid e . Given time and propore training, this unlikely-looking attempt may become a fine example of the art of bonsai.

The soil mixture and other materials to make the mound are an interesting problem. One must consider the nature and behavior of the trees sown in it and grown on it; the color, to harmonize with the surroundings; the shape of the mound; water-holding quality and drainage; sunshine, rainfall, wind, drought, the degree of freezing of the climate, and other such elements. The soil formed by the entangling and decay of the fibrous roots of the resurrection plant (Selagi-nella lepidophylla) is often used in part or for all of the mound.

Original design. Another amateurish attempt is shown in the photograph of the Japanese black pines in the shallow container. Climbing a mountain a few years ago, the amateur found several young pine trees of tempting1 shape and somewhat dwarfed naturally, and brought them home and tried them in an ambitious way. They still look like very poor things, but the grower is showing confidence in his attempt. How they will improve as they grow older remains to be seen: that is an interesting point in bonsai growing1.

Miniature forest. The picture of Japanese white pine on the next page shows an orthodox method which Mr. Watanabe has started, a, method of producing a many-trunked bonsai from one tree. Obtaining a small, well-branched Japanese white pine tree from a nursery last year, he planted it in the shallow container, not in the normal way but with the trunk laid horizontally, most of its length just under the surface of the soil. The base of each branch is in the soil, the tip projecting above the surface, as shown in the photograph. The new growth of the year looks very promising, to grow into nice trunks in years to come. On page 23 and 24 are photographs of similar forms, more mature. Each of these photographs shows not many trees but the branches of a single tree.

I highly recommend this method to my American neighbors. All that is necessary is to pick out a few conifers or other trees from some nursery near home. This kind of bonsai is very easy to grow and manage, and it will not be long before a fine miniature forest is formed in the container.

Plants

Flowering trees. In the villages and hamlets in the mountains of Japan, near houses or on the borders of terraced cultivated lands, one often comes across old stunted trees of Japanese flowering apricot (Prunus mume), with trunks nearly rotten but with vigorous young shoots. In late winter or early spring the trees are smothered with blossoms.

Mr. Watanabe brought home one of those trees and trained it into a bonsai; he kept only part of the rotten trunk and cut off nearly all of the roots almost to the base, carefully keeping as many of the fibrous rootlets as he could. The result is shown in the photograph on the next page.
Japanese white pine {Pinus parvi-flora) with the trunk in a horizontal position and partly covered with soil. When the branches develop they will form a many-trunked bonsai. See chapter 2.

Soon after flowering is over, every shoot is cut back to two or three buds; from these buds new shoots will soon grow and replace the ones cut off. Cutting back is repeated every year after flowering. Whenever buds are formed too close to the trunk, very deep cutting back is practiced in order to keep the tree dwarf in stature and to improve the artistic shape of the bonsai.

When I was young, I took home from my father's apple orchard some hollow and rotten-trunked trees, sawing them down to a height of 1½ feet or so. I grew them for a season in the garden and then put them into containers. They were nice bonsai; I well remember that one of them was one of my proud possessions. Old orchards of deciduous fruit trees are rich and profitable places to procure materials for bonsai. Crab apple (page 78) and species of Malus used as stocks and found remaining in unproductive orchards may also provide suitable material.

Firethorn (Pyracantha angustifolia) is much used as a dwarfed potted shrub in Japan. One is shown in the photograph on page 110, at the extreme right near where Mr. Watanabe is standing. Most of the firethorn bonsai look a bit cheap, but their orange fruit's are nice. Americans have a wider selection of flrethorns than we have—many old and new species and varieties to choose from. I venture to advise the novice to begin with firethorn, to get experience in training bonsai with burned copper wire.

The thick-barked form of Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergi) is called Nishiki-matsu, or Nishiki-pine, and is very highly prized among bonsai fanciers. In the photograph of the collection of plants at the beginning of this article (page 110) two trees are shown at the left on the shelf in the background. One of these two is shown separately on page 117.

A certain percentage of the seedlings come true to the parent and are thick-barked. The photograph on page 118 shows a seedling trained in cascade style; it seems to me that it has lost balance on account of the highly developed bark. There is no hope of new branches from the slender part of the trunk, to say nothing of the thick-barked part. Some fanciers bury the whole of the slender trunk, up to the base of the thick-barked part, and plant it upright, as shown on page 117; that is the natural way and unquestionably the best way. However, the amateur enjoys his adventurous attempt; that is a weak point in one who is interested in a thing that will take many years to complete, in this age in which many persons are tempted by speed.

The two bonsai of Nishiki-matsu on page 119 are not seedlings but are grafted on the ordinary Japanese black pine. When they were a year or so old, their trunks were cut off very short. After that, the stronger shoots have always been cut off or shortened and the weaker ones left. Cutting back induces the formation of side branches and keeps the trees very dwarf, so that they are suitable for miniature bonsai which may be grown in such small containers as those shown on page 130.

Japanese flowering apricot bonsai (Prunus mume) developed from an old, nearly dead trunk with young vigorous shoots.

Even when I saw fifty of these tiny Nishiki-matsu together, I could not find two alike, though they all seemed to be in the same style of training and trimming; however, the old-timer in pine bonsai could tell the owner or trainer of every one of them. It is often said "If you will show me a bonsai, I will tell you the owner or trainer." In short, whether one is looking at a work of creative art, or the work of any outstanding craftsman, distinctive taste, style and skill is always discernible.

Incidentally, I should think sweet gum (Liquidambar styracif.ua) would be good for bonsai. The deeply furrowed bark of the trunk and the corky branches, which are conspicuous in the winter, should be much appreciated; also the persistent drooping fruit heads and the lustrous maple-like leaves.
Grass like herbaceous plants, particularly rushes and reeds, are very popular as bonsai in the summer; they are not wanting on the amateur's shelves or in his house but are sometimes lacking in the connoisseur's collection. Some of the reasons are, I guess, that they are low in market value and that they do not need skilled techniques; but the fancier will not say so, if I ask him the reason. (A man does not always tell everything.)

What attractive bonsai these grass like plants make in the summer can be realized only by trying one or two.

To describe the virtues of rushes and reeds I cannot do better than quote the lines of Alice Meynell: "They arc most sensitive to the stealthy breezes, and betray the passing of a wind that even the tree-tops know not of. ... To the strong wind they bend, showing the silver of their sombre little tassels as fish show the silver of their sides turning in the pathless sea."

The thick-barked form of Japanese black pine is much admired by the Japanese.

Common reed, or reed-grass (Phrag-mites maxima, or P. communis), Japanese reed (P. macer), giant reed {Arundo donax), eulalia, or silver-grass (Miscan-thus sinensis), M. japonicus, and their garden varieties, and some other giant grasses are easily confined and kept dwarf for years. Old clumps may be collected in the wild or in the garden where someone has neglected dividing them; the older part should be selected, where the stems and leaves are short and slender. A clump of suitable size should be dug, with the clod firmly entangled with the roots. Any strong canes in the clump should be cut off. In giant reed, if a strong cane has one or two leaves at the lowest joints, it may be cut off only down to these leaves.

The old dead clump or the clod with entangled roots keeps its shape and holds the soil firmly for years. This dead clump, with only a few tiny living parts, is really what the grass or reed bonsai will be growing on; but since reeds need a great deal of water, the clump or clod is placed in a basin filled with water as soon as it is dug and properly trimmed. The clump is kept in the basin of water and the plant will remain dwarf and be vigorous (though small in stature) for years, with only a little care which is easily mastered by the novice.

Common scouring-rush (Equisetum hyemale), Japanese sweet-flog (Acorus gramineus), and such herbaceous plants are grown in the same way or for similar effect.

B. Satomi Group of bamboos (Bambusa) grown as bonsai

Bamboos (Bambusa) are among the finest of the grasses for bonsai. There are numerous kinds of bamboo. Dwarf ones and those of medium size easily make fine bonsai in the way just described. One can dwarf a tall bamboo by peeling off the sheaths while the very young shoots are just coming up; a sheath may be taken off every day or less often according to the hardness and growth of the young cane.

If the upper part of a bamboo cane is cut off in early summer or midsummer, when it is approximately full-grown, it will become densely foliaged the next year and be better-looking.

Thick-barked form of Japanese black pine in cascade style. This tree lacks balance and grace but is an interesting experiment on the part of the amateur.

These two very dwarfed bonsai were developed by grafting the thick-barked form of Japanese black pine on the ordinary black pine.

Finished Bonsai

"Where can we get them?" will be the cry to the commercial Japanese bonsai fancier and to the American fancier from those who are seeking the much-valued finished bonsai. However, such bonsai can be maintained in perfect condition or at a high standard only by a professional bonsaiman of long experience or a fancier who has developed real skill with bonsai for long years. One who has secured these bonsai by accident or by luck will be bothered and will find himself incessantly busy, trying to maintain them in perfect condition. Of course, the objective of this Handbook is to teach anyone with sufficient interest (and fair skill in plant culture), to grow, train and maintain bonsai of merit.

Plants to Begin With

There is a vast field of plants with which one may pioneer in bonsai culture or with which one may play, in the spirit of an amateur. There are, I think, numerous materials suitable for bonsai in the nurseries and on the mountains in America. If one only gathers a handful of seeds in the woods or somewhere, he can raise many nice bonsai in the course of a few years, as Mr. Watanabe has done with the seeds of Japanese black pine. Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), birches (Betula), beeches (Fagus), pines (Pinus), tupelo, or sour gum (Nyssa syl-vatica), sweet gum (Liquidambar), spruce (Picea), larch (Larix), Douglas-fir (Pseu-dotsuga), and many American trees provide plenty of seeds to start with; or seedlings may be taken from the natural habitats in a way that will damage the forest constitution.

I recall "California Jottings" by the Viscountess Byng of Vimy in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. In her most interesting article she tells us: "Walking is an incomprehensible thing to the average American, and to their way of thinking you walk either because you have not got a car or because you are a mildly mental case." However, I have hope, because she adds a story of the experience of some of her friends: "They saw a man walking, and when they reached him found a placard on his back, 'I am walking, thank you.' "

Now if you walk in the mountains, you will occasionally find naturally dwarfed trees near mountain paths, on the cliffs of rocky coasts, ravines, and mountains, and on the peaks of mountains where eternal winds rule. These will be good materials to start with.

Give me to fashion a thing; Give me to shape and mould;
I have found out the song I can sing, I am happy, delivered, and bold.
—Laurence Binyon, The Secret.

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