Art of bonsai offers accessible garden activity

While stationed in Japan during the Korean War, a young soldier who had grown up on his family’s farm in Heflin encountered a method of growing trees that fascinated him.
   
The trees were bonsai and Houston Jones is one of the thousands of individuals worldwide who cultivate these trees and their ancient tradition.
   
As early as the 13th and 14th centuries, Chinese scrolls picture temple courtyards with miniature trees growing in shallow boxes. The art of styling trees into miniature form was given the name “bonsai” (pronounced bone-sigh) by the Japanese in the mid-1800s. 
   
The word “bonsai” literally means “planted in a tray,” describing the traditional planting method for mature bonsai trees. People unfamiliar with bonsai often do not realize that the trees and plants used are ordinary varieties, not special dwarf or hybridized trees. Therefore cultivating a bonsai tree is both a horticultural endeavor and a creative outlet for bonsai enthusiasts. 
   
Jones’ bonsai garden includes miniature versions of many trees that grow naturally in the woods around his home in Heflin including varieties of maple, pine, ironwood and sweetgum. In fact, he has collected many of his bonsai trees from his farm, some from new sprouts along his fence row and others from trees that have fallen in storms. In working with fallen trees, Jones usually can determine the age of the original tree and then continue to count the years of the bonsai cultivated from it.
   
“Trees in nature live many years, and the same is true with bonsai,” he said. “It is the ultimate challenge to see a tree grow like this.”
   
As a founding member of the Alabama Bonsai Society — which meets monthly at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and holds an annual show there — Jones has worked with bonsai trees and bonsai enthusiasts for more than 35 years. He said that bonsai is a hobby well suited for senior adults who enjoy gardening but may be unable to tend to larger gardens.
   
Leo Wagner, a member of the Alabama Bonsai Society and a horticultural therapist at Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa, agreed, saying that the work involves smaller pots and plants. 
   
“The smaller pots are easier to handle, though the plants require a little more care, a little more watering and a little more time per plant than working with plants in your yard or in big pots,” he said.
   
The pruning and trimming required to cultivate a bonsai is usually done at table level as well, which means less stooping and bending for the gardener. 
   
Though a working knowledge of horticulture and pruning is necessary in properly tending bonsai trees, Wagner said that individuals interested in the hobby should not be afraid to trim a tree or try new things.
  
“Bonsai is every bit more of an art form than anything,” he said. “You have to get over being afraid to trim the plant because it will grow back.”
   
Creative skills that are useful in bonsai art include a sense of scale, imagination and how things in nature relate to each other, Wagner said. In addition, bonsai trees require careful pruning of roots, shaping of branches, pruning of leaves and limbs and watering to train and maintain the shape and health of the plants.
   
The health of the plants is important to bonsai growers. In Japanese culture, bonsai trees represent the connection between man, earth and the heavens — sometimes with connections to traditional Japanese religions — although most Americans do not associate any spiritual meaning with bonsai. 
   
As a longtime Christian and member of Heritage Baptist Church in Heflin, however, Jones knows that bonsai, like all life, is given by God. 
   
“As with all life, [tending] a bonsai is a matter of learning to care for what God has given,” he said. Bonsai is also a hobby that requires patience and dedication, much like many aspects of an individual’s Christian growth. 
   
“Bonsai is about looking forward to future possibilities for that tree,” Jones said. “It’s about looking forward to what it can be, which is different for each tree, and planning for the future.”