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Short
and sweet - the small wonder called bonsai
Not more than two feet tall, and growing
out of small trays, bonsais demand all the patience and creativity
there is. But, who's complaining! The art has caught the fancy
of Coimbatoreans, observes Anima Balakrishnan |
A
WALK around M. Ponnuswami's office terrace garden is like a stroll
in your grandmother's backyard.
Little green mangoes dangle from tentative stems, bougainvilleas
are in full bloom, chikoo and guavas wait to be plucked, and
seasonal, yellow cassia fistula flowers remind you it is festival
time.
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From China
But
something sets these trees apart - none of them is more than
two feet tall, and they grow out of
small trays! The art of bonsais, which took birth
in China centuries ago, is beginning to catch the
fancy of Coimbatoreans.
As high rises
and space constraints make trees and gardens at
home impossible in the
cities, bonsais
allow you to have the greenery you want within the
available area. Bonsai lovers say it is an art to
make a tree grow in a small tray. "Bonsais are
not space consuming, and I had my bonsais on my apartment
terrace for a long time," says Neena Dhanan,
a bonsai lover.
`Bonsai' is a combination of two Japanese words
- `bon' which means a container or a tray and `sai'
that stands for a plant. According to Japanese legends,
bonsais in front of the house ward off evil eye.
"Bonsai making is 90 per cent art and 10 per
cent horticulture. You can enjoy the three seasons
on the table-top with bonsais," says M. Subramanian,
bonsai maker (98941 70255). Bonsais can be fruit
bearing, flowering and even ornamental ones.
For these people who swear by the bonsai, the art
of making one, giving it a style, and seeing it fruit
and flower is a process close to their heart.
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Like meditation
 " Making a bonsai is like meditation to me. Every
day I spend over an hour in my bonsai garden, and in the weekends
it extends to six to seven hours," says Ponnuswamy (99944 99955),
president, Friendly Bonsai Club, Coimbatore.
The key to growing a bonsai
is patience, for it takes
two to three years for the plant to attain full growth.
Beginners, say experts,
can start off with any plant from the nursery or one from the jungle. "You
can begin with any of the ficus varieties such as banyan for they
do not die quickly," says Mr. Subramanian. After planting it
on a tray, clay or porcelain, it is all about styling it. The bonsai
will have to be constantly pruned and the buds nipped to ensure thick
foliage. Styling the bonsai is where you can showcase creativity.
Since bonsais are all about controlled growth, the plant is often
trained to grow in a fixed fashion by wiring it.
Innovation is what the bonsai makers aim at, and so you have the
roots of an orange tree growing firm on rocks, plants that resemble
birds and even group of banyan trees growing out of water. But there
are certain rules to be followed. A bonsai can grow either upright
or even slant a little. If the tree has to spread out like a broom,
it can be pruned in the broom style.
The rulebook also allows other styles such as the ones with the
plant descending down (cascading style).
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Styling
 Styling
a bonsai is all about concentration. "You should be
extremely careful when trimming the plant, for a little mistake would
leave it looking very ugly, and the marks will not fade. Further,
the train of growth intended for the plant will also change," says
Mr. Subramaniam.
The bonsais require good sunshine, and once in two years it will
have to be replanted, and the soil and the tray changed.
There are some criteria to
judge a bonsai too. "Every bonsai
should have a natural triangle, a prominent root line, primary
and secondary branches, and canopy and foliage," says Ponnuswami.
The worth of a bonsai is judged by its age and style. The older
the bonsai, the more priced a possession it becomes. As far as
the bonsai philosophy goes, the age-old ones are never parted with.
"The rare ones are those we collect from nature and normally
people are not willing to sell their bonsais," says Mr. Ponnuswamy.
Tree hunting is an experience that many of them treasure. "My
first bonsai was collected from an abandoned bridge near Tirupur," he
says.
But maintaining a bonsai can be expensive. With the crafting tools,
pesticides and special solutions, roughly Rs. 500 will have to
be spent on a bonsai every year. Bonsai lovers, though, are willing
to take the burden for the pleasure of seeing tiny tamarinds, cherries,
wood apple and grape bear fruit in their courtyard.
On the other hand, bonsai makers have to
often deal with a school of thought that believes bonsai making
is a cruel art, where the
natural growth of a tree is tampered with. But the enthusiasts
have their explanation. "We often pick up discarded plants
from nurseries and ditches, and give them life," says Ms.
Neena.
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Too many destroyed
 "Too many plants are being destroyed today. We are giving
them sufficient nutrients, and the care and attention given to
them is significant," says Mr. Subramanian. Mr. Ponnuswamy
puts it all in a nutshell. "In the Japanese gardens there
are bonsais that have lived for over 1700 years - much longer than
the normal plants," he adds.
But whatever the naysayers say, for the
bonsai makers, "this
art is an addiction."
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