Bonsai gardener David Castro shares some of his favorite trees and describes how they are cultivated.
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum
“This is a fan favorite at BBG. The Rocky Mountain juniper is about 500 years old. Older trees are cared for differently than younger trees; they need to be pruned, reshaped, and repotted at particular times in the year. With respect to their age, you go a little easier on older trees, maintaining their shape rather than making big changes.”
STYLE: Full Cascade This style is meant to depict a tree hanging from the side of a cliff by the seashore or a stream. Aesthetically, the tree must never touch the surface of the stand on which it is displayed.
Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum
“Most of these trees, if planted in the ground and left alone, would grow to the size of a regular tree. So what we do is bring it back down to a proportional size. Maple leaves are big at first, because they’re trying to get as much sun as they can. So you wait until late spring and you partially or fully pinch off the leaves. The second set of leaves will be smaller due to the intensity of the sun in mid-summer. This is just one of the ways we reduce leaf size.”
STYLE: Formal Upright The bonsai of this style are reminiscent of trees growing in nature in an open location without stress.
Trident maple
Acer buergerianum
“The style of this trident maple mimics what happens in nature, where through floods, rain, or other conditions, the soil erodes and the roots of a tree eventually become exposed and operate more like bark. To do this, you can put the tree in a large wooden box and wrap the roots around a rock. Over a period of years, you take off layers of soil to expose the roots and allow them to harden off.”
STYLE: Root Over Rock In this style, exaggerated woody roots are hugging a rock aboveground. Patience is key to achieving this, as is often the case with bonsai in general.
Crabapple
Malus
“This tree blooms in April, and it makes the tiniest, prettiest red apples later in the summer. The two things you can’t really reduce in size are flowers and fruits, so we try to find dwarf versions of trees that have small fruits and flowers. That’s why we use a crabapple, because the fruits are a lot smaller than a regular apple tree.”
STYLE: Slanting This style is inspired by trees in nature that have been tilted to one side by the forces of wind or water, or that lean at an angle reaching for sunlight.
Bonsai Collection Centennial
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is celebrating 100 years of its incredible Bonsai Collection with an expanded display of bonsai specimens along with new interpretive signage plus special tours, exhibits, and workshops. Celebrate a century of tiny trees with us!
