Bonsai aesthetics

[Music4cash]

At this point I've done a pretty good amount of reading about bonsai, unfortunately most of the reading materials I've found has been very broad and basic. But I've read in quite a few places to avoid bar branches and branches that split into three instead of two.

At the same time my interest in bonsai has lead me to pay much more attention to wild trees, with the goal of recreating them in miniature. I've noticed that wild trees even very attractive ones often have bar branches and they almost always have branches that divide into three.

So my question is should I avoid bar branches and divisions into 3 completely or are these "rules" more like the rules in music where they can all be broken when the situation calls for it? And is it truly the goal of bonsai to make miniature trees? Some of the juniper bonsai I've seen with huge crazy shari don't look like anything I've ever seen in nature.

 

[Anthony]

If you can DESIGN it and it works - harmony
then it works.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Cadillactaste]

There is a reason behind it. It can cause reverse taper in the upper trunk. In nature in a mature fat tree you may not notice it as much. But to scale for bonsai, it leaves a noticeable bulge over time on bonsai material.

 

[Shinjuku]

I see where you’re coming from. On the one hand, you’re told to follow the rules of bonsai, and then you see that nature (or advanced bonsai people) doesn’t follow those rules and have beautiful trees. There’s a tradition in Aikido that I think would apply here also. The concept is 守破離 (shuhari). It describes the three stages in learning a “way,” and I think can apply to bonsai also.

“Shu” is the first stage where you learn the rules, and you never deviate from the rules.

“Ha” is the next stage, where you begin to innovate on the rules and break the rules sometimes, but in general, you still abide by the rules.

“Ri” is the final stage, where you advance to a level where you are no longer limited by rules. You’re free to break all the rules and to do whatever “feels” right, but only because you know the rules so well.

This model of learning started with Japanese martial arts, but people also use the model in Agile software development and in all kinds of places.

The most common error that some people make is moving up to the next level too quickly. For example, if you think that you can move up to “ha” when your skill level is actually still at “shu,” you’ll probably kill your trees.

So for someone new at bonsai (and I’m in this group myself), I’d suggest to follow all the rules without breaking them. Then as the person gets a solid understanding of the rules, then they can start to break them a little and experiment. Then maybe in 10 years, the person will be a “ri” bonsai master and can break all the rules and still have beautiful and healthy trees.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Bonsai aesthetic rules are like rules for writing jazz music. There are reasons for the ''rules'' but if you can break them creatively, all is good. And like much of jazz music, some of the most creative bonsai are improvised. The junipers with extensive deadwood, or highly developed foliage pads, are like abstract art, a technique taken out to its extreme, or with deadwood, a line or form exaggerated to abstraction.

Darlene Cadillactaste, is right, multiple branches from a single point can cause bulges, reverse taper, and other unbalanced maladies. This is one reason these cautions against bar branches and multiple branches were put out thereas ''rules''. In an exhibit ready tree, zones of obvious reverse taper significantly lower one's score in judging. Minor reverse taper is usually ignored by judges. On trees in development, it the plan is to increase the diameter of the trunk by any significant amount zones of reverse taper can be fixed, the tree can be encouraged to ''grow out of'' zones of reverse taper. This needs to be paid attention to early in a tree's development. So reverse taper is not a ''fatal flaw'' in a bonsai, but it is an issue best handled while the tree is early in development, the closer to exhibition the tree is, the more difficult it is to take obvious reverse taper and grow the tree out to make it minor reverse taper.

 

[Deleted member 21616]

regarding bar branches in particular, there are some good posts by Walter Pall in the following thread:

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/japanese-maple-17.35048/#post-587451

So my question is should I avoid bar branches and divisions into 3 completely or are these "rules" more like the rules in music where they can all be broken when the situation calls for it?

As far as aesthetics go, newcomers to bonsai often get the impression that there are 'rules' of some sort, but when you've reached a certain level of exposure you soon realize there actually aren't very many people out there who are prescribing rules. It sounds like you have the right idea -- for every idea that somebody is foolish enough to identify as a 'rule', there is an overwhelming number of examples that go against that rule.

And is it truly the goal of bonsai to make miniature trees?

Don't get caught up in the meaning of the word 'bonsai'. The goal of 'bonsai' for your trees is whatever you want it to be.

To answer your question in particular, there is no obligation for your trees to be miniature -- for example, see attached photos of one of the oldest 'bonsai' in the US, the domoto trident at the pacific bonsai museum. It must be 6 feet tall.

I would add that this maple would be no less of an interesting tree to me if it were to be planted in the ground at some point with the same exposed nebari and branch work. Some people would certainly refuse to call the tree a bonsai, even if 'bonsai techniques and practices had been applied to it for decades (in this case, a century) (@Adair M ?)

So much depends on personal taste

 

[rockm]

At this point I've done a pretty good amount of reading about bonsai, unfortunately most of the reading materials I've found has been very broad and basic. But I've read in quite a few places to avoid bar branches and branches that split into three instead of two.

At the same time my interest in bonsai has lead me to pay much more attention to wild trees, with the goal of recreating them in miniature. I've noticed that wild trees even very attractive ones often have bar branches and they almost always have branches that divide into three.

So my question is should I avoid bar branches and divisions into 3 completely or are these "rules" more like the rules in music where they can all be broken when the situation calls for it? And is it truly the goal of bonsai to make miniature trees? Some of the juniper bonsai I've seen with huge crazy shari don't look like anything I've ever seen in nature.

Don't make the mistake of thinking if it happens in nature, it's ok to do it in bonsai. Or, if it doesn't happen in nature, it's not acceptable in bonsai. Those "crazy" junipers are more modern art sculpture than "natural" trees for instance...

Bonsai ARE NOT Rote replications of natural trees. They are representations of trees MADE BY PEOPLE. As such they tend to have a set of visual cues that satisfy the human eye (that why "The Rules exist --BTW they aren't rules, just a set of guidelines that have proven over time to produce esthetically satisfying bonsai). Experienced bonsaiists can selectively ignore them at will if the a tree's composition might benefit).

Just because something happens in nature doesn't make it attractive. Wild trees develop all manner of growth that grates on humans' perception of "beauty." Nature has no sense of beauty. It is what it is...

Bar branches tend to be a visual no-nos because they're boring and visually confusing to the eye which sees them as a continuous line, instead of separate ramification. They're also, as pointed out, a growth center that can lead to unwanted thickening above them. Don't know where you came up with the "no branches splitting into three rule," but it's not true. I have a feeling you're confusing it with not allowing a tree to develop UNREFINED growth. Sometimes a branch that grows vigorously (as in three) can make a tree appear too dense, have extensions that are redundant or growing in insipid directions (such as up or down or back towards the trunk).

 

[Anthony]

Remember what you do in your backyard is your business.
Public Exhibition has guidelines.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Bonsai requires the tree is growing in a pot. A tree that has been trained and shaped, but is planted in the ground is called "Niwaki". That is the separate name for training trees growing in the ground. Niwaki is a big part of a well done Japanese garden.

 

[Deleted member 21616]

Bonsai requires the tree is growing in a pot. A tree that has been trained and shaped, but is planted in the ground is called "Niwaki". That is the separate name for training trees growing in the ground. Niwaki is a big part of a well done Japanese garden.

This is why i find the terms unhelpful.

What you're saying is that if Walter Pall takes this tree and plants it in the ground, but continues to work on it as if it were in a bonsai pot (so to speak), it no longer deserves to be shared on this forum?

If one insists on using terms, I think it's important to recognize that bonsai need not refer exclusively to 'bonsai trees'; there is also bonsai as an art, and bonsai as a practice, among other things.

Moreover, bonsai as an art and practice--and, therefore, the resulting bonsai trees--is an ever-broadening umbrella term under which a mix of both conservatism or traditionalism and innovation operate as a variety of sub-categories and paths take shape.

Sure, Walter Pall wouldn't be able to bring this tree to a show anymore, but would you think he was "wrong" for calling it a bonsai tree - and, more importantly, why would you care what he called it?

At the very least, you must agree that there is a blurring at the edges of the category you refer to as 'bonsai', and not hard rules.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

I guess they are just trees until they are put in a pot. But if not a bonsai pot I guess they are still not bonsai. Do the Japanese have a name for pre-bonsai?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

This is why i find the terms unhelpful.

What you're saying is that if Walter Pall takes this tree and plants it in the ground, but continues to work on it as if it were in a bonsai pot (so to speak), it no longer deserves to be shared on this forum?

If one insists on using terms, I think it's important to recognize that bonsai need not refer exclusively to 'bonsai trees'; there is also bonsai as an art, and bonsai as a practice, among other things.

Moreover, bonsai as an art and practice--and, therefore, the resulting bonsai trees--is an ever-broadening umbrella term under which a mix of both conservatism or traditionalism and innovation operate as a variety of sub-categories and paths take shape.

Sure, Walter Pall wouldn't be able to bring this tree to a show anymore, but would you think he was "wrong" for calling it a bonsai tree - and, more importantly, why would you care what he called it?

At the very least, you must agree that there is a blurring at the edges of the category you refer to as 'bonsai', and not hard rules.

Members of this forum post many pictures that are not specifically bonsai. We encourage non-bonsai pictures, and have sub-forums for them. And nobody gets bent out of shape over whether a picture is "bonsai". So no problem.

But the common usage of the language is a trained tree in the ground is Niwaki. Full stop. Walter Pall would agree, and he would be welcome to show us pictures of his Niwaki, but just because he does it doesn't matter, it is still Niwaki.

There are forums devoted to Japanese Gardening and Niwaki. There is a whole bunch of people doing it. The techniques overlap, but there are some differences in techniques. When you get in deep the differences are important.

 

[amatbrewer]

Bonsai aesthetic rules are like rules for writing jazz music. There are reasons for the ''rules'' but if you can break them creatively, all is good. And like much of jazz music, some of the most creative bonsai are improvised. The junipers with extensive deadwood, or highly developed foliage pads, are like abstract art, a technique taken out to its extreme, or with deadwood, a line or form exaggerated to abstraction.

One of my favorite saying is: "Innovation requires knowing the rules, but not having much respect for them"
The more I grow in Bonsai the more I find both of those to be true. I may not always follow the rules, but knowing them sure helps, and not knowing has cost me more time and $ than I care to think about.

 

[Anthony]

Storm in a Teacup

Trees grow, thicken and the Design changes about every
10 years.
Adaptability is required.

Guidlines not rules.

Better than display is Inspiration.
Bonsai inspires the mind ---------- ideas.
The mind relaxes and then grows.
This is the reason bonsau were originally grown.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[AlainK]

Good taste is my taste.