Bonsai enthusiast George Masumoto tends to a
Japanese Garden Juniper in his back yard.
Photo by Dean Sensui, Star-Bulletin
The art of dwarfing trees in containers originated in China about 1,700 years ago, but it was the Japanese who brought the art to its present state. Japanese merchants and students visiting China in the 12th century returned home with samples.
The cultivation of these little trees was rapidly taken up by the aristocracy. A five-needle pine grown by the Shogun Tokugawa Iyemitsu more than 300 years ago still survives in the Imperial Gardens of Tokyo.
All of these facts come out of the first two pages of the Hawaii Bonsai Association's handbook "ABC's of Bonsai." The book is a compilation of knowledge and experience of about 50 veteran bonsai growers in the state. It is used as the text for the 10-week class given by the association at the Academy Art Center at Linekona, across from Thomas Square.
Classes will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. each Wednesday from Sept. 11 through Nov. 13. The course is $95 and open to anyone interested in bonsai. Register at 839-9910.
For a better understanding of what bonsai is about, it would also be a good idea to visit the 24th annual Bonsai Show at the Ala Moana Center exhibition area this weekend.
One of the club's most active members is orthodontist Dr. George Masumoto, whose collection of plants ranges from black pines, extremely difficult to cultivate, to banyans, which are the training wheels of bonsai growing. You just about have to kill a banyan on purpose.
The degree of difficulty with black pines is caused by its needles. You can cut or pluck off leaves, but you can't trim the ends of needles or they will turn brown. The length of needles on a normal black pine is 5 inches, but they must be kept to less then 2 inches on a bonsai tree. This requires constant attention.
Masumoto usually starts his bonsai trees from nursery stock, plants bought from any of the local garden shops or at plant sales. "When you choose a plant for bonsai," he said, "you want one with reasonably small leaves, many branches, a thick tapering trunk and radiating roots. And you want a tree with a long life span.
"You can reduce the leaf size by plucking and pruning, but the fruit and flowers will be the same size as those on the full-sized tree. You can't bonsai an avocado." For that reason, choose a plant with small flowers. Blooming bonsai are spectacular, but the flowers must be in scale.
The mini trees are classified by size into six groups. The largest can be 4 feet tall and require two people to carry it. The smallest is started from a single seed in a thimble-sized pot.
Since the natural urge of the tree is to grow large, growth must be controlled. This is most often done by wiring the trunk and branches, and is one of the major subjects of the bonsai lessons.
The purpose of wiring is to reposition the branches and trunk of the tree, forming it to one of the five basic styles of bonsai. Experienced growers usually prefer copper coated aluminum wire, which is more expensive but easier to work with than pure copper wire.
The basic shapes are formal upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade and cascade. Informal upright has a somewhat curved trunk, unlike the straight trunk of the formal upright. Cascade is a style in which the branches drop below the level of the bottom of the pot and must be displayed on a shelf or pedestal. The growth of a semi-cascade extends horizontally between the rim and the bottom of the pot, but no lower.
Masumoto explained that the plants are kept small by limiting the soil and growth area, which is tricky. Too much and you have a large tree, too little and you have a dead tree. They are grown in small containers, which limits the root expansion. The choice of a container is second only to the choice of the plant and the best come either from Japan or from local ceramic artists.
The roots of mature plants are cut back, limiting nutrition sent to the trunk, branches and leaves. The plants must have abundant sunlight because the growth hormone that controls cell enlargement breaks down in intense light, retarding growth.
The best way to learn to grow these beautiful trees is not by reading about them, but through hands-on experience. Masumoto emphasized that the Hawaii Bonsai Association class is designed for beginners, and that all you need is interest in the subject.
While this is a marvelous hobby for those who have retired, the association also welcomes younger people who made up more than half of last year's class. "You want to see your tree mature," Masumoto says, "and that can take anywhere from five to 20 years. Bonsai takes time."
What: Bonsai Show
Where: Ala Moana Exhibition Area
When: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday. Also, demonstrations of bonsai culture at 10 a.m. daily and 1 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday
Admission: Free
