Bonsai Trees…I Dare You To Stay Stressed Out
Posted on July 27, 2008
Filed Under Gardening |
I am not going to go into the ins and outs of the technicalities of caring for Bonsai Plants. There are plenty of articles that cover all aspects pruning and styling, repotting and maintaining your Bonsai Tree. No…I am going to take you into the why of Bonsai and so explain why a lot of Bonsai gardeners are addicted!
It would be a very rare person who has not heard of Bonsai trees or Bonsai plants. Originating in China many centuries ago, Bonsai trees were taken up with a vengeance by the Japanese who perfected the techniques of miniaturizing some of their standard trees and turned the skill into an art form. Gradually the rest of the world has become captivated by the Bonsai tree and the techniques have spread to the home gardener and hobbyist.
There has been a lot written about Bonsai and it’s care, growing techniques, forms, styles, dos and donts. If I were a newcomer to the hobby I could be quite overwhelmed by the amount of information and seemingly complicated rules to follow. I may then decide that it is all too hard and not get involved in Bonsai at all. But that would be to miss the entire point.
There is a uniqueness to Bonsai trees that is hard to describe. Their tiny size and indefinable beauty transport you to a completely different perspective, a place of peace and tranquillity where “chill out” is the word of the day. The noise and tension of the day drain away and you experience a feeling that has to be felt to be understood. Its even better when those Bonsai plants have been groomed by you!
As you begin to care for your Bonsai plant and spend some time getting to know your Bonsai you tend to enter into a kind of meditation. The rest of your busy world looses its focus while you concentrate on the job at hand. You can see the shape that the tree is inclined to grow into so you coax it by pruning and shaping, bit by bit until you have the result you were after. It becomes so soothing and relaxing that you can become quite addicted to your ” Bonsai time “.
Of course nothing really beneficial comes without putting in time and care. But the thing about Bonsai is that the journey towards perfection is the addiction! Its the doing not the getting that calms the spirit. This is the whole point.
There are some basic skills you need to learn before you can loose yourself in this type of stillness. Choose which type of Bonsai trees that you want to work with and purchase some good Bonsai supplies. For the beginner there is comprehensive information available to get you started.
If you allocate enough time to the basics in the beginning you will be rewarded well into the future with a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure.
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