bonsai
Years ago, finding Quercus robur (oak tree) seedlings in the parental garden at BraeHeid, Ijstarted my wondrous journey in the joys of growing and nurturing bonsai.
From an initial seedling, my first bonsai oak flourished … here at 26 years old. From the pot base to the top of tree was 90 cm / 2'9".
After a few years, the oak produced an acorn which I planted and was happy to welcome ajthird generation, above right, of the magnificent mother tree.
With another oak, right, I’ve been trying to create a ball effect—the base pot being round and, hopefully, the oak canopy will mirror it one day.
Being a continual work-in-progress, I tend to let my bonsais grow naturally—doing their own thing— with a little bit of wiring. So, my big bonsai (now 36 years old) looks like this, left. It’s 100 cm / 3’3” tall.
Perpetually searching for potential seedlings, I found two Acer palmatum—the Japanese Maple—in my brother’s garden. These I planted and after years of care, this is the resulting bonsai, left. And here it is, below, in Autumn/Fall this year …
Amazingly informative, in bite-size points, you will be able to grasp, in an instant, the brilliance of growing and nurturing bonsai.
Published by Dorling Kindersley/
DK Publishing, the ISBN is 978-0-7894-9687-4.
