Page 60 - BSAM 2015 Q4

The history of bonsai culture in Japan has been not to let the trees die, but rather to transfer them to the next generation to take care of.
Top left; I spent a week volunteering at the National Bonsai Arboretum in Washington, DC and had the opportunity to work on a 300- year old pine.
Bottom left and right;
This Ficus benjamina ‘Little Lucy’ clump that is 22 years old, was already started in a small round ceramic pot when I bought it in 1993. When I got around to photographing it in 1999, it had grown a bit.
The photo on the right shows what it looked like in October, 2015, 29” tall and 23” wide.
T
only 81, I understand how he felt.
e expression “Old age is not for sissies” gives
only a general idea, not the speci cs of the problem. Old age brings not only in rmities, but also painful decisions. In my case, one of the decisions was what to do about the bonsai that were becoming increasingly di cult to care for. Mixing soil had become a problem; physically li ing a heavy bonsai out of the pot had become an impossibility, and I was faced with the question of whether I should let them die with me or make some other arrangement.
e history of bonsai culture in Japan has been not to let the trees die, but rather to transfer them
By Lew Buller, USA
to the next generation to take care of. I spent a week volunteering at the National Bonsai Arboretum in Washington, DC and had the opportunity to work on a 300-year old pine. It was a gi from the people of Japan. Over three feet tall (it couldn’t be kept small forever), it re ected the care bestowed on it by more than 10 generations of bonsai artists.
Clearly, I had an obligation to pass my trees on to someone who could take care of them and continue their development. A er considerable discussion with my wife, she was in agreement that it was time to pass them on. I asked a long-time acquaintance who runs a nursery in the greater Los Angeles, California area to take all but a few of my favorites. I expected him to sell them, but I also knew he would set a price that would discourage beginners, and perhaps some intermediate hobbyists from bidding on them.
he story is told that when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was 90, he was walking down the street and saw the nice ankles of a woman wearing a ared skirt. He com-
mented “I wish I was 70 again.” While I’m
My Bonsai are Getting Older
...and so am I
58 | BCI | October/November/December 2015