Page 53 - BSAM 2018 Q4

What makes a particular plant species good or bad for bonsai?
By Enrique Castaño, Mexico
When we begin practicing bonsai art and even for several years after, sometimes we struggle with the trees we are trying to develop and find very discouraging results compare
to others. In today’s world where Google can show us thousands of great bonsai, and we see that our little gems lack the same spark, we have to wonder if we made the right choice with the species of tree we chose for the location we live in. But first, if we consider what describes a suitable species for bonsai, one would imme- diately think about the small leaves, the changes in the color, the bark characteristics, flowers, etc. However, there is much more to research when one is trying new species. Japan is home to some 4,500 native plant species (3,950 angiosperms, 40 gymnosperms, from these only a tiny subset has been used for bonsai. Obviously, from the original list some are trees with larger leaves and other non-perennial plants that would not be useful for bonsai, but in many cases, many plants don’t respond well with the techniques that we commonly use in bonsai. Some trees are favored because they respond so well. Elms, Maples, Junipers, Pines, etc., react well to pruning—obviously each with its own technique— and repotting. When grown in a pot can they tolerate the fast-changing environment that is continually flooded and dried, and heated and cooled far faster than the trees in the ground? Does it responds well to back-budding, and do the leaves change size, etc? Therefore one has to check a few of these simple things before deciding if a
species is good. Other species that don’t follow this set of characteristics can be used, but they require more advanced and stubborn people.
Now let’s define what makes some species more suitable to this art and why.
The ability to maintain work done over time.
This is probably the most essential characteristic for a species to be suitable for bonsai and it’s usually not taken into account by most, and therefore, people typically don’t think about it. But what does it mean and how does it compare? Each species of plant responds differentely to the environment with a unique growth habit. These types of responses are the basis upon which any particular branch will be maintained over time. So why is this so relevant? Basically, if we wire, bend, and prune a branch over and over again during many years, we are investing our time in this branch. This branch has the shape that we have worked for a particular position in the tree. Losing this branch would result in losing the work that has been done to this branch. Therefore, species of trees that make slow decisions for killing their own branches are far more suitable than those that will dry out a branch in a short period of time, after just a little stress from a new stimuli for the tree to grow in a different direction. So what should we look for, when looking at species of trees that have not been already selected empirically for bonsai (junipers, pines, maples, etc.)?
October/November/December 2018 | BCI | 51