The story of a foreigner's preference for Chinese bamboo bonsai (Chinese-English)
Because he likes Chinese bonsai, he chose to come to China; because he prefers Sichuan-style bonsai, he stayed in Sichuan. Studying bonsai, admiring bonsai, making bonsai - a foreigner's inseparable bond with Chinese bonsai.
Text/CHAD (Canadian) Translation: Keyi
In the past few years, every time I went to the bonsai garden, I always especially enjoyed admiring bamboo bonsai, and whenever I had time I wanted to try making one myself.
Over the last few years going to the penjing gardens, I"ve always enjoyed seeing the bamboo penjing. So I thought I’d give it a try.
The leaves of this bamboo are somewhat larger, so I added some short grass on the ground and placed an ancient figure playing the qin. This bonsai is 23 cm long and 20 cm high. I am very satisfied with how this combination produced such an artistic conception and effect.
This one above has larger leaves and I wanted to add some dwarf grass, but then I decided on the musician instead. It measures 23cms long and 20cms high. I’m happy with how it turned out!
This bonsai was also made not long ago; it is 19 cm long and 15 cm high. I do not know the name of this bamboo, but it looks like a "running" bamboo. The older, thicker bamboo is connected to the younger bamboo behind the rock, and if not controlled properly, it will gradually spread and grow.
This one above is quite recent. It measures 19cms long and 15cms high. This bamboo whose name I’m unfamiliar with is a ‘running’ kind of bamboo. The older, thicker bamboo is connected to the younger bamboo behind the rock and will gradually spread out, if not controlled properly.
In all my bonsai, I tend to use mostly clay-based soil mixed with a small amount of garden soil. Clay can prolong moisture retention, especially for those sweltering summers. From spring to early autumn, because it is too hot here, I water all my bonsai twice a day, and throughout the year I give all my bonsai some fertilizer every two weeks.
With all my penjing, I prefer to use mostly clay based dirt and a small amount of garden dirt mixed in. The clay based dirt will hold water longer, especially for those sultry summer days. From mid Spring to early autumn, cause it’s so hot here, I will water all the penjing twice a day and with all my penjing, I will give them some fertilizer every two weeks throughout the year.
The one above is 21 cm long and 20 cm high. There is a hole in the rock; whether man-made or natural, I did not deliberately carve it, I just let it be there, and then I started making the bonsai. I bought this stone when my wife and I went to the bonsai market. That day at the rock shop, we stopped to choose stones and spent most of the day. This bonsai is a bit large, but it can still be placed on my large table, or I will put it outside in the garden together with the other larger bonsai.
This one above measures 21cms long and 20cms high. There was a hole in the rock. I didn’t carve it, it was already there, either man made or natural and then I went onto making the penjing. The day I bought the rock, I was going out to the penjing market with my wife and stopped off at the rock store and there it was so I was carrying it around for most of the day. This one is a little big, but can still go on my big table, otherwise I’ll keep this outside with the bigger penjing.
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