This site is approved as a link in "bonsaichat.net" - an international bonsai community

Dear Friends,

I am proud to annnounce that this website was approved as a link by a reputed international bonsai community http://bonsaichat.net/. I thank them very much for giving me an opportunity to share/acquire knowledge of bonsai from the international community

The ficus religiosa - Bodhi tree

This is my favourite bonsai (or the first one developed to a mature level). This one started its life as a small plant in one of our pots. I started to training it for last two years (just trimming). Recenly I moved it into a bonsai pot, and styled it. The nebari structure is very amazing, looking at this tree is my favourite pass time !

                              

Erythrina indica

Ethyrina indica

This tree is with me for last 5 to 6 years. It was bought as a dwarf tree variety. The life of the tree was not promising untill few months before. Once I decided to throw this one out, because it is not having any attractive trunk and branch structure (ofcourse its due to my inexperience while training it). But after feeding the organic manure to this one during the routine, I saw this tree was growing suddenly vigorously and to my surprise it started to flower very beautifully as well as the seeds. Looks like this tree got matured completely.

                    

Update on Amla tree - Dec 10

The amla tree was growing well, and more foilages were added up. I trimmed the apex little bit and allowed it grow in horiz direction. Meanwhile the bigger side branch with more foilage was cut down. I decided to make it as a shari/jin, but I found it started grow more new shoots. I will be now trying to make a secondary apex from this side.

July 10

                                                  

Dec 10

Update on root over rock - Dec 10

This ficus sapling's roots were tightly held on a stone, covered by sand and kept inside the soil for about 6 months. I thought now it is the time to take it out and start the life of this bonsai. So the plant was digged out , carefully the sand and the cover were removed from the root. I found the stone was nicely covered by the rootes. Two thick routes were rolled under the stone and the tree was planted again, by exposing its beautiful root over rock style. Also I cut the top half of the tree (it has started its life separately in another pot), and styled the remaining foilage to give more beauty to it. I will be transfering this to a bonsai pot next year, by exposing more routes and stone part.

July 10 before ready to pot



                                           

July 10 roots and stone buried inside the soil

                                                             

Dec 10, after taken out

                                                          

Dec 10, after restyling

Another view

Update on Banyan bonsai

The banyan ficus bonsai was growing vigorously. I recently trimmed it and given  a rough shape to it. I will be changing it into a typical bonsai pot may be next year.
         



Oct 10



Dec 10

Citrus tree - 4 Years

This is one of the sapling which started to grow from a seed through some birds which we found in one of our pots. My father was trimming it for last few years as a dwarf plant. I recently saw this tree and by seeing  its dense foilage,branch structure and nebari, guessed that this could be a wonderful bonsai if properly designed. Initially I defoilated all the leafs to see the branch structure. It was looking little ugly with improper branches and two branches at the bottom of the trunk.

 

Before styling



I removed all the unnecessary branches. Mainly I bent down the major branch at the right side and given it a curvy look through wiring to increase its beauty, but it also caused a little break of the wood at their joining, but it is unevitable. It took about 4 fours in total ,and I finished it two days after my return from work. Also this tree is having a lot of sharp thorns which was pinching my fingers during the work.



After defoilation for wiring

  

I kept the two thin branches in the bottom with design untill last week. Then found that they are not adding any beauty to the tree , so I removed them and decided not to keep any other branches down to those two main branches.

The tree was responding very fast for defoilation. I saw with in two weeks enough growth of buds. I decided to leave this tree as such now untill next summer. Then again I will repeat the process which will increase the ramification of the branches and foilage density. But still I dont know the trees growth nature in winter and rainy seasons. If I found it still vigorous I may do the rework before the summer to make it quickly a nice tree, but it is highly a risk !

Finally I think turning the tree little bit clock wise makes a good look and that will be the front position. After seeing the big gap between the bottom of the trunk and a thick aerial root, I kept a small stone so that it also look like a root over rock style. But now I removed this stone and kept another rock stone which will look more natural.





After wiring and branch styling



This should be the front

Indian Bonsai: Kasturi flower tree - progression series

Indian Bonsai: Kasturi flower tree - progression series

My effort to make a banyan bonsai !!

Though there are no short cut to success usually, few examples are existing in bonsai art. After going through a lot of websites I came to know that we can make a wonderful bonsai with bigger trunks by collecting the trees from wild (yamadari) which will reduce about 10-15 years or even 25 years insome cases as it would take to start from a young sapling or seed. I have given below one of my attempt combined with an interesting banyan bonsai.

After seeing the banyan bonsai or the rainforest bonsais in the  Fukubonsai from Hawai (http://www.thefukubonsai.com/), I was verymuch impressed with them. The significance of banyan bonsai is the aerial roots, it requires much humidity to form the aerial roots. We know very well about the higher humidity of chennai and a famous banyan in Adyar. During  my  recent visit to a nursery in Madavaram, I found a tall (4-5 meters ht) ficus tree  of about 8 years old with a very impressing trunk and nebari structure and a lot of aerial roots, and it was in the nursery for few years with no takers, once a person advanced to buy and didnt turnout.

When I saw it accidentaly  I started to imagine it immediately in the form of a bonsai from the look of its trunk strucuture and aerial roots (thanks to Ms.Suseela of bodhi bonsai for inspiration, who is growing a ficus tree for 25 years, thought it will have a very good future and bought it for Rs. 900/=. We cut all  the top big branches (few of them I potted now for rooting and will make a new trees) and brought home in my car. But it was very difficult to lift the tree in big cement pot with full of sand ( more than 20 Kg) and I had to lift it to the 2nd floor of my apartment !!!. So we decided to remove the tree from the pot, bare root it then it would be easier to lift the tree and empty pot separately. But it took me a whole day to do this under the hot sun. It was very difficult to remove the tree without breaking the big pot.

Finally I managed to bring the tree and the pot successfully to my terrace and joined them again. I am planning to grow thick side brances and develop aerial roots from it (it may require grafting).

The mame Jade and Pomgranate bonsai's

I  have recently bought two jade and pomgranate bonsai's from a nursery in kotturpuram.  The jade was impressed me with its semi-cascade look. I am planning to grow it further to a full cascade style. The pomgranate tree was having a few flowers at the time of purchase. I wanted to do few stylings in the branches. But they are very tendor, and may break. So I am waiting for some more time to make them little harder, and the pot size seems little bigger, have to be changed

Amla tree progression series

This is the amla tree which I have been growing for past 4-5 years from a pencil thick plant. It has grown upto 2 meters height as a tall mini tree. Recently I prunned all the top branches, and left a single foilage for feeding, as well as the roots, and transferred into a shallow bonsai pot (I use to buy them from a nursery in kotturpuram- very good one with lot of bonsai's). The tree responded very early within 2 months and foilages are growing now. I will be removing the right branch with bigger foilage quickly and make it as a deadwood branch. I feel very happy at everyday morning to have  a look at this new born bonsai.



The tree's present look, the stone was removed now



Soon after the cut

The root ball which was grown for years

The trees look before all the work

The hard prunned root ball

Kasturi flower tree - progression series

You all may be familiar with beautiful taller kasturi trees with rose flowers. We have been growing once since last 2-3 years,which was actually started from a broken branch from the neighbourhood. Since we started to grow one more, I decided to convert one into a bonsai, mainly due to its nice trunk structure. Initially i thought about making a multi or twin trunk bonsai from it, but after so much of thought, I removed other two close trunks and made it into a single trunk tree. So far it is very vigourous and growing very fast.  Also I tried to make a deadwood patern in the trunk

Asoka (saraca Indica) tree (5 years old)

These are pictures of a Asoka tree (Saraca Indica) I have been training for the last five years. It was land potted for the inital few years, then when I had to move to the apartment , I transfered it into this cement pot. But to say honestly, I bought this tree when I didnt know much about this art (even a little now too !!), and I almost forgotten this tree, and it has been under the maintenance of my father in our terrace. I started to see this recently when I decided to take this hobby seriously, and this tree's present looks was given by my father by bending down the upper branches roughly with some wire. I think that I have to clean up the routes and do a rewiring to this to give much cleaner look and to trigger the growth, but my father somehow doesn't like me to work on this tree. I may either do something to this or will leave it as such in its own way of styling. But I will do the root prunning and change the soil shortly.

                                            

Indian Bonsai

Hi Friends ! I am Saravanan from Chennai. A pharma scientist by profession and an amature or a beginner in Bonsai art. As bonsai is an art which is existing for more than centuries, but the hobby/art was not grown enough in India and  there are only a very few well known bonsai masters in India. Most importantly the existing bonsai masters are not focusing much on our native trees, for eg. you can see only a very few neem bonsais in the internet (but there may exist a few which are not posted in net) , where neem saplings are much abundant in each nuke and corner in our country, esp. south india. The main idea of starting this blog is to create the awareness of this art amoung our community and training of our NATIVE TREES as a bonsai to the international standards. I will be sharing the bonsai pictures of mine here, and I request you all to comment about them and post the trees of yours too, and lets have a healthy discussion forward.