About

"The Treeherd" Why?

Since I posted an explanation of what "Naturalistic Bonsai" meant to me, so you could understand where I am coming from, I thought I should also explain my choice of alias: "The Treeherd". It has become pretty clear to me that we do not actually create a tree. The tree is already there, it has already been created, and what we do is tend it to bring out its best, according to our lights. We shelter it in Winter, shape (similar to shear if it were a sheep, but I hope that none of us actually shears a tree, and thinks that it is a good idea) in the Spring and Summer. We feed it water and the proper amount of sunshine regularly, and add vitamin-like nutrients to its feed when appropriate. We protect it from pests and diseases. We provide it with an environment (for its roots, a pot), for the tree as a whole, an attractive stand or bench. If this sounds like "Horticulture" only to you, then so be it. But to me there is an Art to being a Treeherd, just as there is an Art to raising a prize heifer that wins a Blue Ribbon. Besides, there was a Bonsai Wise Man who wrote (approximately), "Bonsai is 90% Horticulture and 10% Art. I am just adding the notion that Horticulture is an Art, too.

 Naturalistic Bonsai

Since my blog has, as part of its title "Naturalistic Bonsai", I'll try to explain to you what that means to me. I was first stimulated to go in this direction by reading the late Dave Joyce's book "The Art of Natural Bonsai".  In it, he gives a definition of natural bonsai design. Many bonsaists follow this path instinctively, but it is worth it to be clear about one's goals. Her it is:

"A natural bonsai has no man-made elements to jar the design, such as an ugly chopped trunk, branches or stumps, and no wire marks or sudden big changes in taper, texture or refinement. The trunk and major branches in particular will have a pleasing taper and shape. It does not have long straight, uninteresting branches or trunk. Rather, it has interesting curves or direction changes, It does not possess unconvincing areas of dead wood or overly large leaves or flowers. It is three dimensional, containing many areas of interest and viewing angles. Its treelike shape is pleasing, evoking images of trees in nature and allowing you to cross that tree/bonsai line."

That last sentence is most salient, I think. There are no better examples of naturalistic bonsai than those in Peter Adams' book "Bonsai with Japanese maples" and he continues to be an advocate, with delicate prodding in print and in person. I'll qualify that: sometimes not so delicate. I took a workshop with him a few years ago, and, after he had spent a little time with me, to get me to understand how to work a particular tree, he went on to the next person who had a particularly rare (in these parts) French pine cultivar. He said, and this is exactly what he said: "Nice tree. The only problem with it is that you have turned it into a bonsai." We all knew what he  meant - the tree was spit-shined  with almost mechanically perfect finished leaf pads. Not how a tree grows in nature at all. In the Jan/Feb issue of Bonsai Focus magazine, he starts his column on suggestions for a tree's design: "An interesting  tree with a very natural trunk form typical of the Scots Pine. The challenge here is to maintain the character and feeling of this tree and not to 'bonsai' it out of all recognition." Even John Naka, whose books are the epitome of bonsai rules, has sections that he calls "Hints from Nature" and he bases his design on those hints.

So, I know all the rules, by heart actually, but mostly I don't follow them. I always try to discern what the tree would want to be if it weren't in a pot, but out in a field or forest.