Page 62 - Tạp chí bonsai BCI Q12011

first is that the plates of bark reform and are again too large and dis-
proportionate to the trunk and will have to scraped or removed. Or
secondly, the trunk or veins cleaned during the first phase will crack and
form smaller bark flakes (see photo on left). In this case my advice is to
leave the smaller flaked bark as is, because it is naturally proportional.
Someone may ask: “Does the result of cleaning the trunk or vein of a
juniper really provide a natural result?” My answer is “yes.” Recall that
bonsai is an optical illusion striving to simulate a large tree in a smaller
scale, but no one can be sure of the distance the viewer is from the tree.
Let me explain a bit more. When viewing either a large California juni-
per or a Scots pine forest (see photo below), the human eye can perceive
some details, but not all, depending on the distance of the viewer from
the trees.
As the pictures below show, when tree trunks are viewed from a moder-
ate distance, the red living part can be readily distinguished from the
white, dry wood. However, one cannot clearly see the bark detail, let
alone the leaves. So the artist who creates a bonsai juniper tree with a
cleaned-up trunk or vein, may want to give the viewer an impression
of a large tree seen from a distance. One of the reasons why the juniper
is considered the queen of bonsai is due to its minute foliage, making it
similar to a large pine tree or a majestic yew seen in the distance. This,
in my opinion, falls within the canons of bonsai and naturalness.
Since boxwood, yew, bougainvillea and myrtle have flaking, scaly bark,
the same strategy for junipers applies. That is, if the bark scales are large
and disproportionate, they need to be removed, hoping over time the
plant forms tiny bark scales.

60 | January/February/March 2011