What is a bonsai? The Japanese word “bonsai” is often translated as “plant in a pot.” It may be used as an identifying term for such a plant or it may refer to special techniques and aesthetic models used to create a bonsai.

Bonsai is an art form using a tree and a pot as the media. The ultimate goal is to produce a miniature tree that appears to be mature or even ancient; a tree that has survived the vicissitudes of a natural life outdoors. To achieve this goal, understand that this project could take many years to achieve. Bonsai is a long-term endeavor. If successful, a bonsai will outlive its creator.

A bonsai artist must acquire skills and use good horticultural practices so that the tree is maintained at the highest possible level of biological health. This high standard is necessary to help the tree survive stressful growing and cosmetic techniques and achieve the appearance of an ancient tree.

How does one create a bonsai tree? Patience is required. There are a number of helpful attitudes and behaviors an artist might employ to create a bonsai. Intermediate goals such as learning concepts used in design and visual art are useful. Also, learning the fundamentals of horticulture, especially in relation to trees, will help

Seek out authoritative sources of information. There are many well-written, illustrated books appropriate for both beginners and accomplished artists. Appreciate that different bonsai artists often have contradictory recommendations related to many aspects of bonsai maintenance, such as soils and watering.

Conversely, there are also areas of almost universal consensus among bonsai practitioners; for example, tree species that evolved and are naturally found growing outdoors during all seasons of the year should, with some special exceptions, not be kept inside, even in winter.

Bonsai research is fascinating. Research will reveal there are a number of widely recognized bonsai styles. Some examples are informal upright, cascade, broom, and group. Once these styles are understood, they should be kept in mind when selecting a first bonsai plant.

When ready to select material for a first bonsai, visit a reputable nursery and consider plant species that enthusiasts have successfully used in your climate area—perhaps some that naturally grow there. An eventual selection should be a species recommended for beginners. At the nursery, evaluate a number of different plants within each species being considered.

Inspect the prospective plants carefully. If allowed, carefully slip a candidate out of its pot to inspect the roots. They should look healthy with little sign of damage or disease. Discard a candidate if it is so root-bound that its roots appear to be a hard, solid mass that would be difficult to comb out.

Ideally, the primary roots joining at the base of the trunk will be relatively large and give the appearance of strength for holding the bonsai in the soil surface. If these primary roots (nebari) don’t radiate from around the entire circumference of the plant, one of the creative goals over future months and years will be to develop the missing roots.

Determine if the trunk extends from the root crown with a relatively large caliper and then progressively shrinks in diameter as the trunk reaches to the desired height of your planned bonsai. Take into consideration that it is possible to develop the desired taper with future work.

Evaluate if there are sufficient strategically located branches to achieve the style design you have in mind. Remember that it will be possible to prune, shape by wire, and graft on new branches to help achieve the selected style.

Are there sufficient buds on the trunk and branches to suggest there will be a reasonable chance for back-budding (a process used to stimulate dormant buds on a tree) and the growth of new branches following strategic pruning?

Finding an individual specimen meeting all of these criteria is a happy but rare event. Compromise is usually required.

Appropriate soil and a temporary pot may now be selected. It is time for dirty hands. Welcome to the world of bonsai.

A very good reference to start on this journey is “Principles of Bonsai Design, 2nd edition” by David De Groot, 2024.

The Dungeness Bonsai Society is a group of bonsai enthusiasts with knowledge and skill levels ranging from beginner to accomplished who practice the art and science of bonsai and help newcomers do the same. The group meets on the first Sunday of each month, February through November, from 2-4 p.m. at the Dungeness River Nature Center. For more information, go to dungenessbonsai.wordpress.com.