They’re the little trees you often see indoors, sitting on someone’s table. Do you ever wonder where bonsai trees come from? Are bonsai trees normal trees or are they naturally tiny? Come find out on this episode of FactBites and check out some of our favorite bonsai trees that we’ve seen on this week’s episode!
It’s been a tough year but we know exactly the thing that’s going to help you achieve serenity tiny trees we’ve probably all seen a bonsai tree at some point whether that was in a garden at a friend’s house in a movie in a pop-up shop in a mall in middle school today we’re going to go over their simple history talk about why people do bonsai talk about how people do bonsai touch on some controversy and i’ll even show you some of my favorite trees if we have time up next on fact bytes [Music] and while i prune my bonsai tree take a second to like subscribe and hit that bell for notifications so you want to talk about tiny trees huh let’s get started from japanese bonsai translates directly into planted in a container the common goal of growing a bonsai tree is to represent a tree’s realistic nature qualities and shape just in a miniature version this started back in china centuries ago though the earliest documentation we have of this practice starts at about 600 a.d and it’s called penjing which means tray scenery this involved creating a miniature landscape of trees and rocks and mountains not just trees they believe that by creating specific aspects of nature in a miniaturized form you could gain access to its magical properties some even said that the smaller the realistic replica was the more magic it possessed the first bonsais were found naturally as they were in the wild and those were deemed to be sacred trees they were not to be used for any profane purposes such as lumber they were only to be admired and appreciated as they embraced and evolved this art form they developed the binding trimming and pruning techniques that keep these normal regular trees small and looking like a perfectly scaled version of a regular tree some believe that they would shape these trees to resemble dragons serpents or other animals in chinese folklore others argue that they would shape these trees to resemble yoga positions that bend and circle back upon themselves in unity representing longevity and life while we think that japanese students were returning from china with miniature landscapes since the 6th century the first known graphic portrayal of a japanese bonsai surfaces in the 1300s the japanese also inherited zen buddhism from the chinese and the chinese zen buddhist monks were teaching the miniature landscaping techniques to the japanese the japanese quickly developed their own style of penjing typically focusing on just the trees thus bunsai was created practicing bonsai slowly circulated from the monks to the affluent to the common people across japan the styles and plants chosen would reflect the philosophies and ideologies of the country as time moved on the tools used to cultivate the trees grew more sophisticated and reliable for example they began to shape trees with metal wire instead of string or rope in the 1930s they were even able to develop steel tools specifically for bonsai styling by the 1940s thousands of trees were being shipped to europe and america every year bonsai clubs and nurseries were being created in america by japanese immigrants sadly world war ii hindered the appeal of these trees but we’ll touch on that again later after the war a large increase in books exhibitions expert trainers and of course bonsai trees largely increased the mass appeal and practicing of bunsai on a global scale today the internet over 12 000 books bonsai associations and international master apprenticeship programs all receive massive credit for the vast widespread art of bonsai not to mention films like the karate kid the resources and community whether it’s passive appreciative audience members or trained masters with generations of experience are alive and well so why all the fuss about bun size why would one want to spend years or even a lifetime making a tiny tree well there are many ways of looking at it the obvious most limiting way of looking at it is for functional purposes bone size don’t really have a big functional purpose but if you think about it in a more philosophical or even spiritual sense you can have some fun with it here are a few quotes about why people do bonsai a full-sized tree that is left growing in its natural state is a crude thing it is only when it is kept close to human beings who fashion it with loving care that its shape and style acquire the ability to move one a sense of naturalness which has been subtly accentuated by human intervention but which is not spoiled by stark evidence of human interaction a particular representation of something much more than itself and thus allowing each viewer to interpret what is shown and to build upon their own experiences and memories a portable oasis and transportable miniature garden which can represent the seasons and vast or favorite landscapes close at hand for meditation or contemplation assistance however it is an art form so the meaning is derived by the beholder it is up to you to decide what bonsai means but to some these trees are a great evil not everyone agrees with bunsai trees some bunsai trees are actually genetically dwarf trees that would never grow any larger than they actually are but most modern bunsies are the regular normal sized trees just potted wired and pruned so that they’ll never grow to the size of their natural counterparts some argue that this is a terrible lifetime of torture for these poor plants but proponents would argue what would you call mowing the lawn what about the constant pruning and plucking of all of our fruits and vegetables or even house plants others will tell you that a properly grown bonsai tree is indeed one of the most healthy intended two plants that can exist it’s just in a smaller pot and doesn’t need to grow any larger since its roots won’t support that bonsai trees actually tend to live 25 percent longer than their natural counterparts in the wild but hey we’ll leave that decision up to you let’s take a look at some bonsai trees while you think about that we’ll check out some plants being housed in the national bonsai foundation in dc here is a lovely chinese elm this tree has been in growing since 1906 so there are only about nine living people on the earth that are older than this tree right here take note of this elm’s hollowed out trunk and surface roots a common practice adding to its intricacy check out this awesome trident maple this tree utilizes a long standing bonsai technique called root over rock as you can see the tree’s roots literally grow around and hold onto this rock before making it down into the soil an impressive showing of skill here is the satsuki azalea in bloom this illustrates the fact that bunsai trees still bloom just like regular trees the size of the blooms on a bunsai can make for an extremely interesting sight here is a handsome california juniper this is an example of a charis-style bunsai tree in which a large portion of the tree’s bark has balded or bleached but the tree continues to grow and thrive here is another chinese elm this time being grown through a rock instead of on top of it here is an impressive blue atlas cedar this is boasting a common bunsai technique called the cascade where the tree grows downward further down than its roots in many cases this shows off a style of tree that can be found growing naturally on cliffsides here is an example of the art of penjing that we talked about earlier kind of looks like an apple desktop background here is one of my personal favorites abunzai coast redwood if you’re familiar with full grown coast redwoods they grow up to 300 feet tall and can have a diameter of up to 20 feet this is the exact same tree that could have reached that height in the wilderness but in this instance it’s only a few feet tall and finally the most impressive bonsai tree i know of and an immense showing of what it can truly represent this yamaki pine is 391 years old and survived the atomic bombing of hiroshima it was donated to america by japan in 1976 and is still alive and thriving in dc those are some bonsai trees that i know of however the internet is a vast expanse and can lead you to some fantastical bonsai trees there are many styles trees and bonsai growing masters that we didn’t cover in this video that i highly encourage you to go check out on the interwebs i personally find a lot of joy looking at these tiny living art pieces and i hope you can too till next time on fact bites
