Bonsai

PATIENCEISKEYTOHORTICULTURALARTFORM

Story and ASAGARDENERFOR Shangri La photos by Tara Botanical Gardens in Orange and as a folk artist, Greg LeBlanc’s skills lend themSmith selves naturally to the horticultural art of bonsai. LeBlanc, from Lake Charles, La., said the word “bonsai” is Japanese in origin and actually means “planted in atray” because of the tray-like pots in which the trees are planted.

He also uses his expertise to expel one of the most common bonsai myths.

“A lot of people think that bonsai is a specific species of tree,” LeBlanc said. “But it is not. You can make a bonsai out of any tree.”

He emphasizes that this does not mean a person should pick just any tree.

“You usually want trees that have smaller leaves,” he said.

Choosing a tree with smaller leaves is only a part of the key to reaching the goal of the art.

“The goal,” he said, “is to make a tree look like areally old tree in nature, but in miniature.”

LeBlanc said he knows he has reached his goal if the tree reminds others of an old tree from their childhood or one they have recently seen in nature they found beautiful. Children are especially good critics.

“When a child walks up to a bonsai and says the tree looks like a big old tree in the woods,” he said, “you know you’ve done something good.”

The process of reaching this goal is arduous because bonsai trees have to be specifically trained into a certain shape and style.

“It all depends on what shape you want it to be,” he said. “There are the formal uprights, the informal uprights, the slanting, cascading, and then there are group or forest-style plantings.”

According to LeBlanc, bonsais are trained mostly through pruning and wiring. The wiring works similar to braces on teeth and bone by pushing the tree into a particular shape and style.

It is a time-consuming process.

“It takes anywhere from one to twenty years to train a tree into a nice-looking bonsai,” he said.

LeBlanc, therefore, suggests that before getting into bonsai, people should ask themselves if they have the required patience needed for the art.

“Some people, when they start, they soon get out of it,” he said. “It takes a lot of responsibility.”

Part of that responsibility is having the materials needed, which can be expensive.

“Because you put so much time in it,” he said, “bonsai is kind of expensive. So, if you are just starting out, you don’t want to spend $300 to $400 on a tree when you don’t know anything about it.”

LeBlanc admits that he is now hooked on the art of bonsai and the philosophy and spiritual lessons that come with it.

“It is sort of like a meditation, a peacefulness you get when in and around nature,” he said. “I get into the soul of a tree and find its movement, where it wants to go or what it wants to be.”

He said the phrase “Wabi Sabi” often comes to mind as he is working on a tree.

“Wabi Sabi has lots of meanings of beauty and aesthetics,” he said. “Imperfections of nature, asymmetry, simplicity, modesty, patience and intimacy.”

The art of bonsai caught LeBlanc’s attention around 28 years ago when he landed his first landscaping job.

“My boss had a book on botany,” he said. “I started looking through it one day and saw pictures of bonsai.”

Though there were only three pictures of them in the entire book, the trees made a serious impression on him.

“One was a double trunk sago palm, and the other two were hemlocks,” LeBlanc said. “The hemlocks reminded me of the beautiful huge bald cypress trees in the swamp at my uncle’s camp.”

Shortly after seeing those three bonsais, he decided to buy his own book and started experimenting with different trees.

From the beginning, LeBlanc found that his background as an artist helped him master certain aspects of bonsai.

LeBlanc was already drawing, mostly doing commissions of swamp landscapes.

“The art and aesthetics of bonsai came to me really easy,” he said. “I was, and still am, a folk artist.”

Other aspects of bonsai, however, did not come so easily. LeBlanc said he made the usual beginner’s mistakes, most of which revolved around hydration.

“Learning not to kill them was the main thing I had to learn,” he said. “Most beginners kill their trees by not watering enough when it is hot. Because they’re in small shallow pots they can dry out fast.”

Over-watering was just as much of a problem as under-watering and more complex.

“Some trees transpire water — take in water

See BONSAIon page 15