Underlying Horticultural Principles

[MrG]

B Nuts,

I thought this might be an interesting thread, both for my own interest as well as what I can only assume many others come to in their bonsai journey.

Overview question: What are some of the core horticultural principles that underpin the bonsai calendar, decision making, etc. - pruning (light and heavy), hard cutbacks, feeding, repotting, even sunlight amounts.

A few examples that I've been contemplating below to get the party started. And please know that I am purposely thinking in conceptual generalizations to both loosen up my thinking and also to conceive of what I may not be aware of.

-Pruning - what are the core concepts governing when to prune, how much, when can certain plants heal/tolerate, and why? I thought of this as I consider not waiting to make larger prunes to a Japanes maple in order to get a jump on making it into a literati style.
-Sunlight - when a plant calls for partial shade, and also likes to have it's soil moist and never dry, are these two concepts related/interchangeable, meaning is it recommended that it's in partial shade so that it doesn't dry out with a normal person's watering schedule, and would it tolerate/thrive in more sun if it could be watered very frequently for example? I thought of this as I picked up a Camellia Hiemalis (Sasanqua) this weekend and am going to experiment.
-Advanced theories - for my Ponderosa Pine, I am closely following Ryan Neil's theories of very small pot, feeding like crazy, never pruning, to then simultaneoulsy increase the number of needles and reduce the energy to each needle, thusly reducing size. The thought popped into my head recently, would this work for an American Beech fro example? Small vessel, lots of fert, more and smaller leaves? Why or why not?


I hope this gives enough substance to perhaps start an interesting discussion for us all. Obviously there will be many nuances and differences between species and what not, but I am curious about what they may all have in common, and also the bigger picture differences.

Cheers,
MG

 

[shohin_branches]

Obviously there will be many nuances and differences between species and what not, but I am curious about what they may all have in common, and also the bigger picture differences.

Sorry, you now owe Ryan Niel $50 for saying nuances or nuance while discussing bonsai. Copyright law is so nuts.

j/k

Horticultural training around pruning has different outcomes in mind than what we prune for in bonsai. Structural pruning for arborists or pruning for yield with orchards are not going to get you the outcomes you want for bonsai. You have to get into more ornamental horticultural practices but that is generally hedges or topiary. With my basic Horticulture degree they didn't go too in depth about pruning timing beyond the basics of reducing the likelihood of disease and improving your flower or fruit yield. That is why the traditional knowledge is still very foundational. Hundreds of years of observation really can't often be beat except where poor assumptions and methodologies were used.

The hort knowledge I use for bonsai are basic understanding of plant structures and how they function, nutrient cycles, and pest management.

Nothing we learn from reading really replaces hands on application of skill. All the horticultural discussion is meaningless if we never actually practice applying wire or timing when to trim our trees. There is no formula for each possible branch setup and placement so you'll have to be infinitely adapable to infinite branch and twig layout. That is where your skill and artistic eye come in and that is built with time and practice. I get more out of doing maintenance pruning on a really large expensive tree for four hours than reading about pruning and plant structures for four hours.

 

[MrG]

haha! thanks much, @shohin_branches - great thoughts. So first off, definitely agree on practice versus research and study. I’m in the audio arts and have gone extremely deep, and all of the value has come from hands on efforts to achieve my goals I envisioned. I do approach bonsai this way, and every time I do so it provides a ton of insight and future knowledge to me.

To further this discussion, I will add this: perhaps I wasn’t using the proper term. I’m not really meaning academic horticultural here, I’m more referring to learned bonsai-specific horticulture. I’m curious of exactly what you mentioned - the hundreds of years old, folkloric almost knowledge that sort of exists in the air for the more experienced.

And also, I’m not looking to this as a shortcut or a formula, especially for my own garden and work - I’m just interested in the experience as we all go and experiment and observe.

All best,
MG