Page 35 - BSAM 2015 Q1

The first step was to find the material suitable for the styling. The plants were provided by a friend who paid attention to every detail of my request, choos- ing the Carpinus orientalis, well matched for size and quantity.
To add a natural feeling to the forest composition, I decided not to use a pot but a stone slab that would fit well with this species of tree. After a long search, I found a slab of sandstone suitable for the material and size, (120 cm x 55 cm). However, some adjust- ments were needed to the profile of the slab. With a technique learned from friends—stonemasons who work stones used in roofs—and two hammers, I made the necessary corrections, visible in the photo as the lighter parts of the stone.
The material for the construction, suitable soil: aka- dama, professional potting soil, Keto (or marsh mud) and moss, were ready at this point.
It was then time to focus on the idea and imple- ment it practically, assembling the sets of trees in ac- cordance with the vision of the forest that inspired me. After removing trees from growing pots I arranged and rearranged them over and over again on the slab, until I saw the solution that was close to what I had in mind.
Next, I placed some soil on the slab corresponding to where the trees were to be planted, carefully po- sitioned the trees and then covered them with more moist soil mixed with wet “Keto” that helps “glue” them to the slab until the roots start growing. The undergrowth was covered with moss and stones in
order to make the assembly as natural as possible. The canopy was pruned as observed in the wild forest and the planting was finished, ready to evolve as a whole.
Slow and progressive evolution with the passing of the seasons and the years, combined with the neces- sary refinements that are required until the forest is stabilized, will in a natural way, lessen the need for human intervention over time.
After a few years the forest was mature enough to be seen by the public and convey, at least in part, my experience in the little forest in the Marche hills.
Maturing over time, the forest will express more and more that naturalness and show less and less the hand of man, a necessary characteristic for every bonsai to be credible and, hopefully, will give the observers a moment of intense multi-sensory dialogue that imme- diately connects us to nature and reminds us clearly that we are part of it.
A few seasons later, the Carpinus orientalis forest in fall color and in winter silhouette.
January/February/March 2015 | BCI | 35