My thanks to Tom Davidson for his permission to use the picture below. It was
the cover of a program that was used when he made a presentation to a group
of people at an OHECC conference at Youngstown State University in the Fall of
1993. A complete copy of the program text also follows below.
What is a bonsai?
Simply stated, bonsai (BONE-SIGH) is the art of growing small
trees in equally small containers. This art originated in China,
where it is known as pensai, and was brought to Japan by way of
Chinese monks. Today, bonsai is no longer a strictly oriental art,
as evidenced by the growing numbers of devoted followers throughout
all parts of the globe.
How can the trees be so small and what makes them stay that way?
The trick to bonsai is not really a trick at all, but a rule of nature.
The growth of living things is directly dependent upon the size of their
environment and with repect to green, growing things, what goes above the
soil is a mirror-image of what goes below. Therefore, if we restrict the
growth and development of the tree by keeping it in a small pot, nature will
do the rest.
Isn't it cruel and unusual punishment for such nice trees?
Absolutely not. Bonsai, when grown correctly, are much healthier and
stronger than their natural, unbounded relatives. This is because their
roots are trimmed annually to allow for new, vigorous growth at the same
time that new soil is added within the same pot. The branches
and leaves are trimmed during the growth season to allow for smaller
leaves and more plentiful budding. Combine these practices with the
provision of light, water and essential elements(fertilizer) and you
will have a very healthy, very happy tree.
Can anyone grow bonsai, or more importantly, can I?
Sure. Well ... maybe. If you are willing to learn the basics and give
your tree the attention it deserves, then I see no problem. But if you
just decide that these things are so cute, I just have to
have one, and then stick it in a dark corner of the living room and water it
whenever the mood strikes you, then NO! Any living thing in your
care (dog, cat, tropical fish, etc.) is dependent on you for its survival.
Forget to feed Rover for a month and see what happens. And so it goes for
little trees. Water them regularly and diligently, feed them once in a
while, and keep up their appearance and they will love you back.
What can bonsai do for ME?
For one thing, it can teach you to forget those selfish motives of yours.
Bonsai is an activity which allows you to commune with nature and let the
stress of the work day disappear with each branch pruned and each bud nipped.
There is no way that I, or anyone else associated with bonsai, could effectively
explain the exhileration of working with these little trees. Perhaps the
fast-paced, high-tech times we live in are the best explanation for why bonsai
is enjoying its rapidly growing popularity today. It's fun, it's LOW-tech and
it's machine-free.
Where should I grow my bonsai?
Contrary to popular belief, traditional bonsai are grown OUTSIDE,
364 days a year! You can bring it inside on Christmas Day. Trees grown as
bonsai are, for the most part, those which hail from temperate climates. They
need a growing cycle and an equally important dormant cycle to survive. Deny
them their dormancy and they will persist for no longer than one or two sickly
years. To induce dormanacy, temperate trees need a certain number of days
below 42 degrees. How many days depends on the particular species of the tree.
Tropical trees, known in the trade as non-traditional INDOOR bonsai,
need no dormant period since the temperatures where the trees naturally live
never drop below 60 degrees. This type of tree, although non-traditional in
the sense of bonsai purism, has a charm all its own and may be grown inside
on a bright windowsill all year long. But it probably doesn't look like what
you picture a bonsai to look like. In other words, if you want a tree just
like the one the Karate Kid had, it goes outside.
So now that I know that I want to learn, how do I begin the journey into bonsai?
Now this is the part you've paid ME for! Watch, listen, and ask lots
of questions and you will leave here with enough understanding of the basics
to go out and start your own bonsai from scratch. But be warned, bonsai are
addictive. One leads to two, two lead to three, and before you know it, your
backyard is full of tiny trees in pretty pots and you have to begin booking
speaking engagements on the subject just to support your habit.
About your speaker...
Tom Davidson is a self-trained, obsessive, compulsive bonsai enthusiast
who discovered the art four years ago and hasn't been the same since. He
currently resides in Hubbard, Ohio and is gainfully employed as a computer
systems analyst at Youngstown State University so that he can finance his
not-so-gainful passion for little trees and his very small, retail bonsai
business that he prefers to keep very quiet.
Tom spends much of his free time in the GOOD months
(March-October) maintaing his collection of 200 bonsai. Just so
he doesn't stay out of touch with bonsai, Tom spends the COLD,
DREARY, DEPRESSING months
(November-February) drawing pen-an-ink renditions of bonsai, making
hand-contructed stoneware bonsai containers and anything else artsy
that he thinks will have have a chance of appealing to others.
Tom has also written a book on bonsai entitled Basic Bonsai: A
Beginner's Approach, and when he finds a publishing house on this
planet who seems even the least bit interested, he'll let you know! As
an envoy of bonsai, Tom say he will go to any length and speak to any
group in an effort to spark the same kind of intense interest within others
that bonsai has obviously instilled within him.
Punk Pine Bonsai
© 1993
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