Shari Goldstein, Age 13, Of Lancaster, Pa., For Her Question:
How do they make little bonsai trees?
The people who live on the islands of japan are noted for their neat way of doing things, for their patience and hard work. They apply their artistic taste to small details and in the everyday objects of their homes and gardens. Bonsai, the art of training dwarf trees, has been one of their favorite hobbies for centuries.
A bonsai has a special attraction for children and for pixies. A display of these dwarf trees is like a miniature forest from fairyland. You may find them in the right kind of plant nursery or florist shop. There are pixie size pine trees, scaled down from the giant evergreens of the forest. There are midget wisteria and pomegranate, dwarf bamboo and camellia and perhaps a doll size cherry tree loaded with dainty doll size blossoms.
Each little tree grows in an artistic pot made of stone or metal, of ceramic or sturdy wood. Its dwarf trunk and branches are gracefully curved and twisted, and the soil may be topped with mosses and. Pebbles to resemb1e a patch of the forest floor. When properly tended, a bonsai may live in miniature perfection for 100 years or more.
We can thank the Japanese for the art of bonsai. They have been practicing the skills of dwarfing trees for some 700 years. The basic trick is slow starvation. But this does not mean that the little tree is deprived of food and water or that it is neglected. Far from it. A tree feeds through its roots, and when its roots are cramped and reduced by severe pruning its food and, therefore, its growth must be limited.
You can buy a three year old bonsai already planted and trained by an expert. But if you have a green thumb you can create your own model from a young tree purchased in a gallon can. In either case your dwarf tree needs patient tending from day to day. P1ace it on the porch where it gets a constant supply of circulating air. Give it a daily drink of water, and through the hot summer water it every morning and evening. Always spray the whole tree, leave and branches, with a gentle shower.
Every few weeks give your diminutive tree a spoonful of camellia plant food, rich in ammonia nitrates. Pinch off the tips of new twigs as they occur. Every two years remove it from its pretty pot and prune off one third of its roots. Remove about a third of the old soil and refill the pot with a mixture of equal parts of peat, light soil and sand. This well tended bonsai will survive for years, perhaps long enough to bring a glimpse of fairyland to your grandchildren.
If you start your own bonsai, survey its artistic possibilities while it is still in the can. Bend and twist its miniature boughs and wind them with spirals of copper wire to keep them in shape. Then prune off two thirds of its roots. The base of its pot must have several holes and a lining of perhaps wire screening for good drainage. Pack the container with firm soil and cramped roots to within a quarter inch of the top. This space at the top is needed to hold the daily puddle of drinking water.