"The Growth of Bonsai in America"
By: Karen A. Peterson
By: Karen A. Peterson
The Larz Andersen Bonsai Collection of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, for example, “was a collection brought back to this country in 1913 by the retiring ambassador to Japan” (Swain 14).
“The art of raising bonsai--dwarfed potted trees--has enabled the Japanese to admire nature in an indoor setting. Bonsai are able to bear fruit and to drop their leaves in season, thus reproducing nature in miniature. The beauty of a natural landscape is evoked in the viewer's” (Compton’s Online).
The challenge of the artist of bonsai is to re-create nature in a smaller scale. The main goal is for the artist to give their trees shapes that would be seen as if they were looking at a life-size forest. “With Japan's adoption of many cultural trademarks of China - bonsai was also taken up, introduced to Japan during the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) by means of Zen Buddhism - which at this time was rapidly spreading around Asia. The exact time is debatable, although it is possible that it had arrived in AD 1195 as there appears to be a reference to it in a Japanese scroll attributed to that period. Once bonsai was introduced into Japan, the art was refined to an extent not yet approached in China” (Bonsaisite.com).
“The art of arboreal downsizing originated over 1,000 years ago in China, where naturally stunted trees, growing high in the mountains, were collected for their curiosity value.” The Japanese took up the art of bonsai from their Chinese neighbor in the fourteenth century. Their love of nature combined with the polytheistic, Shinto religion has given way to the development of this art. “The Japanese have continually worked on this discipline for centuries they investing it with deep spiritual meanings.” (Economist 86).
Arthur Davis, a bonsai artist, believes that the origins of the form come from a convergence of two Chinese fascinations: landscaping and miniaturization. In his work, the owner of the Maine Bonsai Gardens, focuses on another convergence, that of horticulture and sculpture. This convergence is always in process, since the "objet d'art" is alive.” (Gold 29)
“The concentration on inhibiting growth rather than encouraging abundance means that it is in effect the antithesis of what most people would nowadays understand by gardening. Foliage should be kept to a minimum because the beauty lies in the trunk and branches” (Economist 86). Most of today's bonsai trees are painstakingly teased by dedicated practitioners into shapes that mimic those found naturally. The technique involves keeping the roots in check and rigorously snipping away at anything that interferes with the desired shape.”
Making its way into the United States, this art of discipline has helped people learn to appreciate the marvels and simplicity of nature. The growth of bonsai in America has taken root all over the country, from the coasts California to the cold waters of upstate Maine. A mutual respect and connection between that of the trainer (the artist) and the trainee (the bonsai) spawn a spiritual union while blossoms into a friendship. The search for beauty in natural stones is the result to attain the ideal in nature. “A stone is to bonsai what a piano accompanist is to a violin player.” (Kobayashi 65)
"Bonsai has many aspects, many faces," he says. "They are not just cute plants in shallow pots. For me, it is not gardening but an art form." Helmut Riger, a bonsai artist, stresses that bonsai is not nature, nor simply a compressed copy of nature: "It is a symbolic representation of nature, and as such stands alone. You need a great deal of creativity to shape a bonsai. Although they are works of art they are also living things and you have to treat them carefully." (Economist 86).
Developing a relationship with ones bonsai can prove to be very rewarding. "It's very therapeutic dealing with trees and creating beautiful shapes... It's a living art form." Mr. Riger believes that bonsai trees play a role in helping city-dwellers adjust to a lack of urban greenery. Their popularity in the West has increased roughly in step with the growing concern for nature and the environment. "Bonsai teaches us how to reduce our lives to the essentials" (Economist 86).
These miniature trees allow for people to have “nature” even in an apartment setting. They are simple, yet very elegant and when taken proper care of, can last for a very long time. “Bonsai is "not that tough to learn, but people usually try to grow (trees) in an inhospitable atmosphere for plants - like on top of the coffee table," said Harold Sasaki, Colorado Bonsai Ltd. in Wheat Ridge (Fleet 17). “Positive growing conditions for indoor bonsai include indirect exposure to natural light such as a window box or display shelving near a window or that of fluorescent lighting if no sunlight is available” (McGoutry 35). Part of the spirituality of bonsai care is that of the supplies used. The containers, especially, must be chosen to harmonize in size, shape, and color with the tree.
The overall artistic effect is of great significance in growing the trees. “Everything must be proportional: the size of the tree, its leaves or needles, its flowers or fruit, and the container in which it grows” (Compton’s Online). A skillful bonsai artist can prune, bend, and shape branches to suggest trees standing tall and upright in a field or bent and gnarled by age or weather.
The branching out of bonsai here in the United States has helped to provide a new twist on an old art. Those interested can find this discipline very emotionally rewarding as well as financially beneficial. “Today, two and a half years after opening Maine's only bonsai nursery, Arthur Davis has more than 3,000 trees. His first 14 months in business earned him more than $150,000 gross. "That's sales in Maine, where they said it couldn't happen," he states with clear pride.” (Gold 30)
A pride for one’s work can truly develop from their mastering of bonsai. Artists grow with their plants, finding new ways to express the value of nature and the beauty that stems from its simplicity. "My collection has been growing naturally for literally 200 or 300 years," Sasaki explained. He has helped to spread his knowledge of this spiritual art through teaching bonsai artistry at the Denver Botanic Gardens for more than 20 years (Fleet 17).
The desire to help the spread of bonsai in the United States has brought forth organizations such as the American Bonsai Society, and set root in schools like the Denver Botanic Gardens, and exhibits at Morikami Museum in Boca Raton. There are multiple resources online that provide for the exchange information and open discussion. The dissemination of information in regard to these “tiny treasures” is very abundant and had been covered by various magazines as the “growing trend in America” (bonsaiweb.com).
The market for bonsai is rapidly growing. Independent bonsai artists and masters are either training others in the art or selling their own signature works. Their heavy competition is the large-scale commercial vendors that reach the larger home and garden community. The trend of bonsai is being absorbed into American culture because of its “foreign quality”. The United States’ fascination with other cultures and its acceptance of other cultures have helped stimulate the growth of bonsai in American soil.
The true test of any bonsai artist is that of training their tree, and personally finding a design that expresses the beauty and spirit of the specific tree. Trees can be created from a clipping from a larger plant or can be grown from a seed. If taken proper care of bonsai can last for over a hundred years. Given proper care, bonsai can live for hundreds of years, with prized specimens being passed from generation to generation, admired for their age, and revered as a reminder of those who have cared for them over the centuries.
Although bonsai are extremely beautiful, many are meticulously cared for over the years and containing such a wealth of knowledge, age is not essential. “It is more important that the tree produce the artistic effect desired, that it be in proper proportion to the appropriate container, and that it be in good health” (Bonsaisite.com). One of the more popular tree types used are evergreen conifers because as bonsai subjects “even when they are very young, they often five an impressions of great age” (Clifford 8).
The evolution of bonsai over the past two centuries is truly amazing and is now a “well-known and respected horticultural art form that has spread throughout the world. It is constantly changing and reaching even greater heights, representative of how small the world is really getting” (Compton’s Online). The art of bonsai has not grown into the culture of the United States, but in the hearts of those that have learned, viewed, or taught the art. This age-old craft of horticulture training for aesthetic pleasure and discipline has taken root in U.S.A. and growth to massive miniature proportions.