The "Rules" of bonsai

[Adair M]

Hopefully, this thread will promote respectful discussion!

Why are there "Rules" in bonsai? Who makes these rules anyway? Is it "Art" if the tree follows the rules?

I'll start off the discussion with my answer to almost every question about bonsai: "It depends"!

(I know that's not really helpful. So, here's another: "There are absolutely no absolutes.")

Lol!!!

The "Rules" exist primarily to help guide the developing artist. There are plenty of wonderful trees that "break all the rules". But for someone starting to study bonsai, I feel it's important to learn the rules. And I feel that beginners should largely follow them. The "rules" exist because they are good things to do!

Now, some "rules" are definitional. Like the height of a Shohin is 8 inches, max. If the tree height above the pot is 9 inches, it's not a Shohin. Why 8 inches? Why not 7? Or 9? I have no clue.

There are other "rules" pertaining to horticulture. Should you repot in spring? Or fall? Can you defoliate a maple? A lot of these kind of "rules" depend (there's THAT word!) on your climate and the species and/or cultivar of the tree. How long do you keep a collected tree in a grow box after collection? How long do you leave wire on before it cuts in? It depends. Lol!

About the most famous American Bonsai Artist is John Naka. His legacy still influences Bonsai today. Many like to quote his teaching: "Make the bonsai look like a tree, not like a bonsai" and "Style it so the birds can fly through".

And yet, John is also the one who wrote the most complete and thorough definition of the "Rules of Bonsai": Bonsai Techniques I.

Here are two pages from the book:






The whole book is filled with rules: "good branch", "faulty branch", etc.

That said, he even acknowledges that strict adhereance of the rules is too regimented! See his comment on Figure 61: "These measurements are never used because they are too symmetrical"!

What??? He listed and illustrated the rules, then said don't use them???

Lol!!!

I think that's John saying, "Well, it depends!"

 

[Vance Wood]

I tend to agree 99.9% in the above. However if you take the time to learn the rules, if you can find them, you will have a better idea of how a bonsai can be formed by the numbers like a paint by number painting or a model airplane. What happens from that point is where the art/artist in you takes over. Let's look at the logic. Bonsai is like any other art form. Successful art following successful artists and their accomplishments. The method used by a successful artist to create a beautiful image of a bonsai if repeated enough times over long enough time will become a rule just because it works. Bonsai did not start out with a set of rules graven in stone handed down from on high. Bonsai as an art has developed over many years with one generation building on the work of the previous generation of artists.

Over the years I have been doing bonsai I have found that if I have a tree that does not work and I am unable to make it work I will default to the old rules and I will usually find a place in the tree that is a gross rule breaker that has no artistic validation to it.

 

[jeremy_norbury]

Like it or not, nature has rules - and they may not always be that obvious but they are most certainly there.

That's not an excuse for applying the wrong rules to the wrong tree or to the wrong element of design - which is why "It depends..."

 

[aml1014]

As Vance said, I think it is important for beginners to learn the "rules", it helps teach them how to develop a pleasing tree (also why there is styles) while at he same time learning why certain "rules" are around. For instance, we should remove bar branches down to at most 1, the reason for this is that it will cause reverse taper in the years to come. Or as @sorce says, keeping potential problems at bay. I personally think of them more as guidlines, and I follow them when I feel it is applicable.

Aaron

 

[M. Frary]

Style it so the birds can fly through".

The only thing I disagree with. Birds don't fly through trees. They fly into them for shelter.
Other than that I follow all the bonsai rules as much as possible.

 

[chicago1980]

In for updates and concepts.

 

[armetisius]

I had forgotten about that; everything you need to know--down to the
relative angle about the tree's central axis--to grow by number, only to say,
"NO don't do this; it is boring."(paraphrased)

But from a practical sense isn't it just to remind us of the "rules of nature"
that @jeremy_norbury mentioned in his post. You know like:
Don't stack'em up--branches and foliage must have sun/light
Don't let the bar branches go for long--"MATURE" trees do not have them normally.
But they do make a good sacrifice in some instances.

Many things are "all depends" and the variables you are dealing with
will make each case special and unique.

Those little decisions and the "accommodations" for the "future of the tree"
are the soul of bonsai practice. To be involved/orchestrating the growth
of another creature is awesome. Only reason to do bonsai in my opinion.

 

[GrimLore]

The only thing I disagree with. Birds don't fly through trees. They fly into them for shelter.
Other than that I follow all the bonsai rules as much as possible.

The practice is widely used in orchard growing and tree farms as it encourages a healthy plant and over all good appearance because it is healthy. Just my 2 pennies Mike

Grimmy

 

[GrimLore]

To be involved/orchestrating the growth of another creature is awesome.

And threatening it with saws, cutters, and such.

Grimmy

 

[M. Frary]

The practice is widely used in orchard growing and tree farms as it encourages a healthy plant and over all good appearance because it is healthy. Just my 2 pennies Mike

Grimmy

If you were the Most Interesting Man in the World that two cents would be worth thirty seven dollars and change.

 

[chicago1980]

These are the two books I'm currently reading on design.

 

[jeanluc83]

"It depends"!

"It depends..."

"all depends"

I would like to add "it depends"...

The practice is widely used in orchard growing and tree farms as it encourages a healthy plant and over all good appearance because it is healthy.

I was told that you should be able throw a cat through a properly trimmed apple tree and not hit a branch. I'm not sure that a cat would be all that keen on the idea!

 

[Adair M]

I would like to add "it depends"...



I was told that you should be able throw a cat through a properly trimmed apple tree and not hit a branch. I'm not sure that a cat would be all that keen on the idea!

Here are some more "It depends" for you!

Enjoy!

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Yes we need rules, yes we need to study and know them. Yes you start with applying them. Yes when you start having a feeling what is right you might skip some rules, but most rules are there for a reason. If a branch is on the wrong place, you have a lot of options to make his place the best possible place. Look at some masterpieces. There is no tree following all the rules.

 

[M. Frary]

I was told that you should be able throw a cat through a properly trimmed apple tree and not hit a branch. I'm not sure that a cat would be all that keen on the idea!

They're not. Ever try to throw a cat? They tend to cling,throwing your aim off.

 

[Josh88]

So much about this art form causes me to relate to my other artistic passion as a bassist. Arguably the best bassist in music history is James Jamerson, who was the session bassist for Motown Records through their heyday. If you have ever heard Marvin Gay, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Jackson Five, (the list goes on and on) you know Jamerson's work. He was so incredibly well versed in the rules of music that he could break them with what seemed like reckless abandon, and still create something that felt completely familiar and at home to listeners. There are all kinds of rules in music that relate to how we all hear harmony and dissonance. Much of music's artistry comes in how and when we bend, blend, or break these rules. It seems to me that bonsai can be viewed the same way. The more I learn about the rules (and I have a lot to learn) the more I feel I can effectively create something beautiful and artistically fulfilling. Rules in art are not meant to be confining, but to form foundations for our artwork. If we were meant to just stick to the rules there would never be anything new or interesting created, but understanding the rules helps make our creations much more powerful.

 

[Vance Wood]

Like trying to throw off a piece of tape stuck to your finger.

 

[M. Frary]

rguably the best bassist in music history

Steve Harris from Iron Maiden

 

[M. Frary]

Like trying to throw off a piece of tape stuck to your finger.

Except when you pull tape off your finger you won't be bleeding.

 

[Anthony]

Not rules - Guidelines.

And as you explore, situations change.
Adaptability.

Observing nature and chewing on it, increase the imagination.

Imagination creates new Guidelines and then more Adaptability.

Keep seeing / looking and the imagination renews itself, new guidelines and adaptability.

Adaptability, allows one to enjoy Life.
Good Day
Anthony