Horticulture Principles and Practices

26
Bonsai: The Art of
Miniature Plant Culture
PURPOSE AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES
This chapter is designed to describe the principles and show the techniques of creating
and maintaining miniature plants.
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to
1. Describe the art of bonsai.
2. Discuss the principles of bonsai design.
3. Describe the steps involved in creating a bonsai.
4. List plant species that are amenable to this art form.
5. Discuss how to use and care for a bonsai.
[COLOR PLATES—see color plate 32 for additional chapter photos]
Bonsai
The art of growing and
training plants to be
miniatures of their natural
forms.
OVERVIEW
In Chapter 6, we learned that the expression of genes in an environment produces a phenotype.
For the genetic potential to be fully expressed, optimal environmental conditions
must be provided for the development of the genotype. In other words, it is possible to
manipulate phenotype to some extent by altering the environment in which an organism
is developing. Plants in the landscape are usually nurtured to quickly establish a vigorous
vegetative growth and to develop to full size. However, when growing plants indoors,
it is desirable to nurture plants such that they grow and develop at a much slower pace.
An extreme case in the application of this concept of slowing plant growth and development
is found in the Japanese art form called bonsai (bon meaning tray and sai meaning
tree). Bonsai is the art of growing and training plants (trees, shrubs, and vines) to be
miniatures of their natural forms (Figure 26–1). In effect, bonsai is a cultural technique
for dwarfing plants. Dwarfing is accomplished through creative design, pruning, and
culturing plants in shallow containers.
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