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| *Chinese Elm (c) 2006 National Bonsai Foundation |
At Incoming Bytes one of my favourite past times is playing with indigenous species and attempting to grow bonsai--real trees that grow for many years in pots. As a hobbyist I work with indigenous species simply because they are already acclimatized to our severe weather conditions.
There are dignified, elegant old bonsai specimens that are many hundreds of years old in Japan and China.
Fabulous specimens like the Elm above also exist in North American displays .
Here in Northwestern Ontario, I do not pretend to be able to immediately imitate the results of many decades and centuries of labour by dedicated bonsai specialists in China or Japan.
We can, however, produce amazing results in a few years with patience and some learned techniques.
As hobbyists, realistically, we may not have 400 years to train little trees, but with patience we can can grow presentable and very beautiful bonsai using proven techniques that can be learned.
The following article on creating your own Bonsai was published in Helium in 2007. Enjoy!
Grow a tiny tree-create your own bonsai !
This simple experimental bonsai discussion may change your mind, like growing things often do. Ideas change with the learning process, so may it be here that you discover the spirit and joys of Bonsai, an ancient eastern art form that has spread throughout the world at an amazing rate, as people everywhere have discovered the incredible beauty and allure of these tiny trees. Bonsai can and most likely will affect your life.
They grow in your mind just as they grow in your environment.......read more...
*Here at Incoming Bytes we will be discussing some interesting ideas and methods of creating bonsai in future posts .
*Is that incoming I hear?
That's my story and I'm sticking to it
* Photograph courtesy of the National Bonsai Foundation Supporting the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum
