The word Bonsai simply means a plant grown in a shallow container. It does not define what type of plant or what sort of container.
It also does not tell the novice bonsai grower of the many hours of happiness that can be gained by lovingly caring for and training your own bonsai trees.
If you have a plant in your house that is growing very well and becomes too large for its position, you have a number of options-- move it somewhere else or give it away.
On the other hand you could throw it away; but you are not going to do that because you are fond of it - perhaps a favourite person gave it to you or it reminds you of a special occasion. However, if none of these alternatives is available to you, one way of being able to keep this plant is to prune it.
Pruning, in this instance, simply means reducing the whole of the plant to a more manageable size. Out come a pair of secateurs and you quickly remove unwanted growth. However, then comes another consideration - If you had pruned it slightly differently would it have looked better? Without realizing it, your thoughts are turning to the art of bonsai, even if you might know little or nothing about its training.
In ancient times in the Far East, bonsai was the attempt made to create a symmetry between man and nature. Learning to grow bonsai is not as difficult as people think.
Admiring and spending time with a bonsai relaxes a person who returns stressed and exhausted from a hard day’s work. Care of bonsai requires a few minutes a day to check whether the plant needs watering, also pruning and fertilizing when necessary. Watching and helping this living art become what you imagined gives many hours of pleasure.
(The writer is
President, Sri Lanka Bonsai Association)
Exhibition
“Natural Images" an exhibition of bonsai by the members of the Sri Lanka Bonsai Association will be held at the Art Gallery, Green Path, Colombo 7 on November 28 and 29 between 9.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. This exhibition will give an opportunity to see how Bonsai is done. There will be demonstrations in Sinhala and English on both days at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Japanese Ambassador Kunio Takahashi and Mrs. Takahashi will open the exhibition on Saturday November 28 at 11a.m. This is the 17th exhibition organised by the Association. |
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