Another Bonsai in my Garden

Ficus B.... The newest bonsai
in my garden.

The regular trips going to the clubhouse for my morning table tennis game with Mr. Chat has yet produced another wonderful addition to my collection of home-made bonsai.  Then I came across Mr. Obet, himself a self-taught bonsai enthusiast. He shared with me his techniques which he learned over many years of propagating and nourishing various kinds of bonsai plants.

“Any tree can be made into a bonsai,” he said it with much confidence as he prunes some of the twigs that have started to grow wild due to the start of the rainy season.  He added there are short cuts and there are the long cuts – both require patience and creativity.  “Can you tell me what the short cut is?” I asked with such eagerness that he stopped what he was doing, looked me in the eye, clipped his pruning shears and led me to the inner part of his bonsai garden . . . and that was the start of a regular weekend lecture that culminated in choosing one beautiful double twig of a ficus benjamina as a marcot item.

Months have passed and baby roots started to grow out of the edges of the wrappings of the twig.  The rain surely has helped a great deal in producing those roots but the watering during the summer season was due to the kind assistance of Mang Boy who is stationed at the Village Clubhouse  manning the small beverage store of the Sports Club.  The short cut, it turned out is not that short and as I expected and have already learned at the onset when I got hold of my first ever bonsai plant, patience is key to the growing process.

Today, I am transplanting my bonsai in a temporary pot to help the twig accelerate growth of its new roots.  Another one precious life added to my garden.  Thanks to Mr. Obet. 

Keisho-sodai

On occasional visits with friends, I sometimes see a natural beauty of nature miniaturized in a small flat tray. I actually appreciated the beauty but never gave much attention to how it came to being. I am talking about a bonsai. There is always something in this work of art that touches your inner self and imagination. This art coupled with a lot of science actually originated from Japan, hence the word "bonsai" which means literally "small". The fundamental concept of bonsai is called "Keisho-sodai" which means "small size, great similarity". And it was only very recently that I started to dig deeper into appreciating this newfound hobby.

In a hurried world, going into bonsai art is like going against the tide of fast-paced way of living. We live in a world where everything should be done fast and comfortable. So we have fast food, fast ferry, fast internet connection, fast ticket, expressways here and there, fast computer upgrades, accelerated college courses... and the list can go on and on... Bonsai making goes on the reverse. It is actually a balancing act of having a healthy plant which growth is stunted through root and branch pruning and a delimited source of soil nutrient. The art challenges one's capacity to wait, and in most cases to intentionally slow down the process and painstakingly wait for the desired result - Keisho-sodai.

They say that patience is a virtue. It is indeed a virtue specially when your involved in bonsai making. It is like wearing a clock without the hands so that it becomes timeless. It thrives in a world of its own, amid the chaos where time is suspended. As I gaze intently on the roots of my phycus benjamina that now hugs the little block of concrete, I wonder when they will ever grow bigger than my pinky. Maybe years from now. One leaf a day.

Outside, the bonsai brings calm and gentleness. Inside, one will never see the struggle of every small root to absorb the limited nutrients in its harshly made environment. It is that same struggle inside that brings out the best of the tree - a beauty to behold.