What is Bonsai?

While the term bonsai originally referred to any diminutive potted plant, it has come to be defined as “container-grown miniature trees grown in precise horticultural practices and displaying the artistry of nature.” Bonsai is unique among horticultural arts for its emphasis on both the art and craft of designing and caring for the tree. Bonsai is a portable garden of miniature landscapes which can hold representations of vast or favorite natural scenery.

In Japan bonsai has become a widespread practice of contemplation for the viewer and a pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity for the grower. The Japanese tradition describes bonsai designs using a set of commonly understood, named styles (formal upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade, cascade, raft, literati and group/forest). Although a single tree may embody several style characteristics, the name given to it is usually based on its most prominent characteristic.

After 1800, bonsai emerged from being the esoteric practice of a small number of specialists to becoming widely popular. This transformation was facilitated by the spread of new books, exhibitions and magazines on the subject in Japan. These were not aimed at the general public but specifically at an artistic bonsai audience. These publications often distinguished the bonsai they were describing by assigning them to size classes, which served as a convenient way for viewers of printed materials to determine the scale of the display. Bonsai was also becoming a hobby for the growing population of urban citizens, who could not afford to travel to distant mountains and forests to enjoy the outdoors.