Garden Bonsai
When we first started establishing gardens we concentrated on the area near the house. Bill planted a handsome evergreen in front of the kitchen windows. It was a Canaert red cedar (Juniperus virginiana canaertii), which has rich dark tufted foliage. Its heavy crops of pale blue berries are quite beautiful and irresistable to cedar waxwings. Flocks of these birds would come in early winter to feed on the berries. Unlike most of the eastern red cedars which turn a brownish colour in winter, this species retains its rich green colour all year.
For years we have enjoyed the sight of deer wandering along the edges of our hardwood bush, some distance from our home. In the winters we have followed their tracks and seen where they have browsed. We had always been somewhat cavalier in our attitude to angry gardeners and their complaints about their deer damaged gardens, but during the winter of 2005 deer invaded our gardens. They slept in the lilac bushes beside the house; they looked in the kitchen windows; they ate the ivy and the periwinkle; they ate the buds off the apple trees and they wreaked havoc amongst the yew hedges. And they savaged the beautiful red cedar!
In May George Fujita and Anne Damin came from Northern California to visit our gardens. We were sharing our dismay at the damage done that winter by the deer. What could we do with the badly damaged juniper? Should we chop it down? Was it worth saving? George, who has had a life long career in gardening and in the creation of bonsai, offered to create a garden bonsai from that red cedar!
Armed with a small Japanese pruning saw, George started work on the tree, but only after spending considerable time viewing all aspects of the tree. We supplied a small plastic tub for whatever was to be trimmed from the tree, not quite knowing what the process would involve. George warned us that to create the bonsai he had in mind he would have to remove about 99% of the juniper.
It took George more than an hour and a half to shape the tree. He was right. He did remove 99% of the tree! The brush pile exceeded the capacity of the plastic bucket! The limbs that had been chewed by the deer were cut off. So were the limbs where the foliage had turned brown. We surmise that the saliva from the deer had effected the foliage that wasn't actually eaten. Slowly the trunk of the juniper was exposed. A new garden landscape appeared as the rocks that had been covered up by the lower branches were exposed.
Ideally three branches should have been kept. The top of the tree had been damaged, so George advised leaving the fourth branch in place. He suggested we weigh the fourth limb down with stones on a rope so that this limb would visually disappear behind the three main branches.
George selected one twig on each branch to be the "jin". These twigs were stripped of all foliage and bark. As the twigs age they change to the colour of driftwood. George suggested that we help Nature along by spraying the debarked twigs with lime sulphur. This would preserve the twigs and fade them rapidly to driftwood tones. We have allowed nature to take its course and the twigs are aging gracefully! One day in late summer a volunteer, with pruning shears in hand, said, "I'm just going to tidy these branches and take off these dead twigs." There was a shriek and a yell and the twigs were saved and the technique explained to a bewildered helper!
The summer of 2005 was very dry. The juniper had been shocked and needed care. We made sure that the tree was watered frequently. We just didn't have time to spray the tree twice daily with Vitamin B as George had suggested. We did follow his instructions to speak respectfully to the tree as we passed. New growth appeared on the branches. We cleaned the debris from the rocks and weeded the area. Bill placed a Japanese lantern on a nearby rock.
Maintaining the juniper is going to be an on-going project. Each year the new growth will have to be trimmed and the bonsai shaped. Because the tree is in a very dry part of the garden we will have to make sure that it gets watered regularly.
We have been really pleased to have this addition to our garden and we thank George very much for his creative contribution to Keppel Croft. At first, the starkness of the denuded juniper was a bit of a shock but as we pass by the tree numerous times each day we have grown to appreciate its new character. And so has a large spider, which presented us with this beautiful web.
If you are interested in learning more about bonsai George suggests checking out the website for the Golden State Bonsai Federation at www.gsbf-bonsai.org/
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