Many horticultural and aesthetic decisions go into achieving the true goal of bonsai: nurturing and training a tree in a container to resemble the way it appears in nature. One such decision – and one that involves both horticultural and aesthetic considerations – is determining which Style A bonsai must be followed. In nature, trees grow in different styles – for example, consider the upright style of a redwood tree versus the cascading leaves of a willow tree. The way a tree grows is often determined by their environment, and as a bonsai artist, when determining how to shape and style a bonsai, I respect that environment, and how that tree would grow in nature. Those decisions and determinations can be seen firsthand when viewing the diversity of bonsai in our new bonsai display along the green wall in our conservatory.
The centuries-old Japanese art of bonsai originated in China in a practice known as penjingOr the art of creating landscape scenes on a small scale. Over the years, several styles of classifying bonsai trees have been developed that closely resemble conditions in nature. However, these styles are not rigid rules, but rather open to individual interpretation and creativity, meaning that bonsai trees do not need to conform to any particular style. However, styles help shape a tree and serve as guidelines while respecting its natural environment.
It is possible for bonsai to be trained into various shapes throughout their lifespan. Sometimes artists give a new look to a bonsai simply because it changes hands between the previous and current artist; Sometimes a style needs to be changed because, for example, a branch dies and the structure of the tree needs to be rebalanced.
Just as the styles themselves are open to individual interpretation, so too are the groups and definitions of bonsai styles – in fact, there is great variation among bonsai artists as to how many bonsai styles actually exist. Many people agree with the belief that there are five basic bonsai styles, each derived from the angle of growth of the tree from a container.
The first of these five basic styles is called formal direct Or Chokan. The formal straight style is considered the most common of the bonsai styles and follows the natural design of the tree growing straight. In nature many formal upright trees grow in open spaces without much competition for light. The line of the trunk is perfectly straight and vertical, with the apex (or top of the tree) located at the center of the base of the stem; The stem should also be tapered from the base to the top, meaning it will be thick at the bottom, then thinner as you go up. To obtain a thin stem, the bonsai artist must make a series of cuts at the top. The apex is cut off and an adjacent thin lateral branch is oriented or wired upward as the new apex. This process continues several times over many years. Each branch is smaller than the branch below it.
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