Page 9 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q2

“The World of Bonsai Aloha,” View Two: The Transition to Land
A stout exposed root banyan stands tall and straight was allowed to be exposed as the background for the
against the forces of the sea and survives amongst the trees. But this left 6 to 10 inches for potting media! A
rocky inland boulders. I tried to position the two trees 3-inch thick layer of coarse media on the bottom as-
so when they lined up, the other tree would be the sures good drainage.
background, and the two trees appear to be one. Note that in the two sections where the trees are
The main large rock had a section that suggested planted, there’s a half-inch concrete berm to aid in
a large cave and the back portion of the rock was el- retaining the potting media. Short straws were em-
evated to allow the shadow of the cave to be the back- bedded to serve as drain holes.
ground for the heavy aerial roots. The area where the The view of the giant sea-cave was almost all rocks.
tree is planted had portions that held water so the This section also has many rocks too, but of a different
ledge was removed and this created a larger area for character. Note that the two trees also have different
much more potting media. character to try to suggest a harsher situation near the
The entire area was cemented to prevent roots from ocean but in the area shielded by the wall a rain-forest
migrating into the giant sea-cave. If you look at the type banyan with free-falling aerial roots developed.
third photo in this article, you can see that the top of
the main rock is 15 inches high. About 4 to 6 inches

April/May/June 2014 | BCI | 7