Page 32 - BSAM 2016 Q2

Top; Snow Capped Jade Mountain, Hualien, Nantou County, Taiwan
Left inset; Wild Juniperus squamata, Taroko National Park (Yue San Buo/Jade Mountain Juniper)
Right inset; Mr. Min Hsuan Lo in Hehuan Mountain, learning from nature with his students.
FPhotos by Min Hsuan Lo, Taiwan
or decades, Taiwanese bonsai artists have per-
sisted in creating juniper bonsai presenting aged lifelines, natural twists and weathered dead wood features. Although Taiwan has natural occurring junipers with extensive jin
and shari, their native habitat is protected and extrac- tion is prohibited by law. Furthermore and due to the fact that their native grounds are located at high eleva- tions, these specimens will not survive the hot-humid, tropical climate that is prevalent outside their natural range. is scarcity in the availability of suitable ma- terial, combined with a mandatory seven (7) year jail
sentence to those caught extracting native junipers, provided much needed incentive for devising ways of imparting aged character to cutting-grown nursery stock.
Last year, I had the privilege of teaching several workshops at the First Bonsai Symposium, an educa- tional event hosted by the Puerto Rico Shohin Bonsai Study Group. Among the seminars, the participants were eager to learn and requested a power point pre- sentation on the techniques used for the development of high mountain style juniper from humble begin- nings; cuttings.
30 | BCI | April/May/June 2016
From a Cutting to the Mountain
Techniques for Creating Yamadori-Like Juniper Bonsai
By Min Hsuan Lo, Taiwan, and José Luis Rodríguez Macías, Puerto Rico