This post is for those plant lovers who will agree, when I say that growing healthy lush green plants is an art and one needs to invest tremendous time and energy to have beautiful and well maintained greens.
Now, when it comes to Bonsai, the effort and patience required just doubles up. And therefore when I visited a Bonsai Garden recently I was left dumb found!
Bonsai is the art of involving miniaturizing plants and growing them in pots or trays.
'Bon' means tray and
'sai' means tree.It is said that this art took its root in China and then came to Japan.
Interestingly, there is also a mention of a miniature forest in the Ramayana.It is the 'Kishkindha Vana’ developed by Dadhimukha, the maternal uncle of King Sugriva. Kishkindha was the name of a mountain. The word is also used to signify ‘a narrow space’, or ‘a compact space’.
These are the snippets from the information board that I read at
Kishkindha Bonsai garden Mysore.
The Bonsai Garden is a part of the SGS Ashrama and has an exquisite collection of more than 450 carefully shaped and aesthetically pleasing miniaturized trees.
Come on, let me not make you wait...Join me on this Bonsai garden tour.
I noticed that trees like ficus, peepal, banana, jade, gooseberry,tamarind, drumstick etc were developed into Bonsai. The shape, size and the form of these Bonsai trees were amazing.Over a period of time with due human intervention these trees were no less than a masterpiece!
For trees to form a Bonsai it takes good to around 40-50 years. Fruit bearing trees like these gooseberries looked stunning with their bushy appearance.
What do you think about this beauty? It is a drumstick tree.It somehow looks like a deer with a horn to me.
Then, on display were a variety of Jade plants.You can see in one of these images how the stem have been passed through a spiral spring like tube and as the stem develops it will follow a similar pattern
Not only the Bonsai, but the entire garden was well landscaped.I could even gather few tips that i can follow even in my small terrace garden.
Tip : Place small figurines in and around your green space.It immediately enhances the look of your space. They can be small idols of your favourite Gods or say a laughing Buddha
Notice how skillfully and aesthetically a small Ganesha has been placed within the hollow space of the stem with a stair leading to Him. Interesting isn't it?
Tip: You can combine plants in a single tray or pot.When you do so let it be a combination of a bushy plant and a long one. Adds drama to the entire set up.
Again a jaw dropping tangled beauty!!! I could simply be there,do nothing and spend hours if not for the time restrictions
Tip: Place an idol / figure in the pot and manoeuvre the plant around it, just like in the image above.Again, it creates oodles of drama!
Have you heard about the Japanese concept of
Wabi-Sabi. If not head over to this post for my understanding and interpretation of it. Meanwhile the pot with the jade protruding out of it is the perfect Wabi-Sabi for me. And here you have my next tip...
Tip: Many a times we have such partly broken ceramic or earthen pots. Think of ways to incorporate them in your garden decor. Believe me,though damaged, if used wisely they can become your 'conversation starter' buddies!
Leaving you with a blooming image of a bonsai frangipaani. Hope you enjoyed this post...Stay tuned folks..More interesting stories coming your way!!!
