Today we got visit from Sakuragi Sensei, a Bonsai expert, who taught us a lot about how to plant and prune a bonsai tree. Bonsai is a Japanese art form using trees grown in containers. Also watching the bonsai growing through all four seasons, is considered as a part of Bonsai-art.
All participants at today`s workshop had the pleasure to choose one of their favorite bonsai, which had been thankfully brought by Sakuragi-Sensei. The most favorite one was a Bonsai called Suirenboku.
Next Sakuragi-Sensei taught us about the names and characteristic of the bonsai we choosed, and also explained the 3 most importants points in Bonsai-art. The first point is the "head", which simply stands for the tip of the bonsai tree. In order to make the Bonsai-tree to look more natural, the "head" should be a triangle form. The second important point is the so called "flow", which stands for the direction the leafs are growing at. If the leafs grow in different directions, the Bonsai-tree won`t be charming. Therefore one should always pay attention, while pruning or transplanting the Bonsai-tree, that all leafs grow either left or right. Last but but not least, the Bonsai-Tree should always keep a three dimensional form, so if you look down at the bonsai, it should also has a triangle Silhouette.
After the explanation of Sakuragi-Sensei, the participants started to transplant their own Bonsai-tree. First they took the Bonsai-tree out of the flowerpot and cut the big roots or removed the earth and moss. Than they planted the Bonsai-tree into a new flowerpot, applied moss and fixated with wire band.
Finally we took a lot of photos from everyone`s Bonsai!
This is a present from Sakuragi-Sensei. We gave this Bonsai-tree the name: "Kouchi-chan". Welcome at SUiTO Fukuoka Kouchi-chan!