"The artistry, then, lies in shaping the tree. For most bonsai practitioners, “styling” a tree is a question of which branches to cut off and how to bend those which remain, using metal wire, so that the plant’s over-all form elicits a feeling of something ancient and wild. The usual aim is not to imitate the profile of big trees—which are considered too messy to be beautiful—but to intensely evoke them. In culinary terms, bonsai is bouillon". The New Yorker 11/14/2022
Taoism had a special reverence for fantastically gnarled trees, which, because their lumber is useless to woodcutters and carpenters, are often spared the axe, enduring for centuries. This aged look was incorporated into the aesthetic of miniaturized trees; after all, there is nothing magical about a tiny young tree.
It could take decades, or longer, to create a trunk with the desired silhouette. Patience, care, and an invisibly light touch were the hallmarks of a bonsai master.
Masahiko Kimura, the so-called magician of bonsai, is widely regarded as the field’s most innovative living figure.
Bonsai soil is a mixture of ingredients that provides optimal drainage, aeration, water retention, and nutrient balance for your bonsai trees. Use various components such as akadama, lava rock, pumice, pine bark and peat moss.
Organic bonsai soil is a type of soil that uses only natural and organic materials as ingredients, such as compost, leaf mold, peat moss, coconut coir, bark and wood chips, and worm castings. Organic bonsai soil can provide many benefits for your bonsai, such as enhancing soil life, improving soil structure, retaining moisture, and supplying nutrients.
Inorganic bonsai soil is a type of soil that uses only mineral and synthetic materials as ingredients, such as crushed granite, calcined clay, perlite, vermiculite, expanded shale, and diatomaceous earth. Inorganic bonsai soil has many advantages for bonsai, such as providing excellent drainage, aeration, stability, and consistency.
