Saturday, February 15, 2014

The Bonsai Tree

By Adah Bumpaus


If you already know what a bonsai tree is, then I'm sure you've always wanted one. Why? Because a bonsai tree is a miniature tree that you can keep inside, but looks like it's fully grown. You can't get much more awesome than that. But aside from my personal opinion of them, let's talk a little bit about what a bonsai tree is.

The art of creating Bonsai trees is often confused with dwarfing. Dwarfing, however, isn't the creation of miniature trees, but instead the research of them. A dwarfed tree is still a miniature of an existing species, but it's a permanent type of that species. In other words, a dwarf tree can grow on its own, whereas a Bonsai tree is created by a Bonsai artist.

The selected tree needs to be trimmed and pruned regularly with specific techniques, along with clamping, defoliation, wiring, and grafting. Once the bonsai tree has reached the artist's desired look, the tree is placed into a display pot which limits the growth of the bonsai tree, which permanently keeps it about the same size.

The practice of bonsai is sometimes confused with dwarfing, but dwarfing generally refers to research, discovery, or creation of plant cultivars that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees, but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses cultivation techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-size trees.

The art of creating Bonsai trees is still very popular in today's culture, and are sold all over the world. You can find Bonsai trees for sale online simply by typing it into a search engine. Most Bonsai trees likely won't have the look you're interested in, which is why I encourage you to try making one yourself.




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