Bonsai tree: Bonsai top dressing

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Bonsai top dressing

It’s customary, for bonsai displayed indoors, to cover the surface of the soil with moss. Moss, however, isn’t always readily available. What can a bonsai artist do? Here are some solutions from the East Bay Bonsai Society’s 50th Anniversary Show.

Moss – nice when you can get it

Scotch moss

Lava rock

Bonsai soil with patches of moss

More moss

Patches of moss with lava

Bonsai soil

Patches of moss, lichen, and fine soil particles

Moss growth accelerates in fall in the Bay Area. It’s around this time of year when Bay Island Bonsai members start scoping out moss collection locations ahead of the January exhibit. If the supply falls short, we’ll be sure to employ some of the above techniques.
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Bonsai tree: At Bonsai’s Edge

Mosses etc in a stone container. All the photos in this post are from Moss and Stone Gardens.

If it’s in a bonsai pot

You can plant almost anything in a bonsai pot. If it’s woody, you can call it a bonsai. If it’s not, you can call it a companion or accent plant; a planting that’s designed to enhance a bonsai display. Or it could be designed to stand on its own, in which case you can call it a kusamono (for more on this, you can check out Willi Benz’ Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, or this earlier post). No matter what you call it, you might come to the conclusion that, if it’s in a bonsai pot and it’s alive, it’s either bonsai or it’s related to bonsai.

Moss and Stone Gardens

When I recently stumbled upon the Moss and Stone Gardens website, I immediately recognized a kindred spirit. Not only are moss and stones are often incorporated into bonsai, but moss and stone gardens seem to fit with bonsai in more general, aesthetic ways. This is especially true when they are arranged in bonsai pots, but even beyond that, well-done moss and stone landscape gardens seem to have a natural connection with our bonsai sensibilities.

I this a type of bonsai? It’s in a bonsai pot (a cheap unattractive bonsai pot at that) and it even sports a little juniper. Or would you call it a type of penjing? Or saikei? Or…?

This bonsai pot suits this lichen, fern and moss planting very well.

A cornucopia of mosses in undulating, free form pot that may or may not have been designed for bonsai.

Moss and lichens (and maybe something else) in a well-chosen bonsai pot.

A seductive piece of an outdoor moss and stone garden.

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Bonsai tree: Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai 16th Annual Exhibit

The Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai (BASA) held their 16th Annual Exhibit on May 22 & 23, 2010, at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California. It was another colorful exhibit – here are some of the trees that were on display.

Chiyo no Homare

Kinsai

Hana Botan

Kanuma no Mai

Shiryu no Homare

For comparison’s sake, here are some photos from BASA’s 2009 exhibit.
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Bonsai tree: Maples

The Bay Area Bonsai Associates (BABA) held their 28th annual show at Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California. The show included a good number of maples bonsai. Some of my favorites belonged to local bonsai enthusiast Jay McDonald.
Jay is active in a number of clubs and has contributed greatly to the local scene. He acquired the maple below some time ago and has done a great job developing the ramification.

Japanese maple

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Creating bonsai moss: ponderosa pine

It’s common, when displaying bonsai at indoor exhibits, to cover the surface of the soil with moss. The alternative dirt doesn’t really compare. Scott decorated his ponderosa pine with a great arrangement of moss and lichens at this year’s BIB exhibit.

Depending on where you live, you may have found that moss doesn’t just show up the week before exhibit. Either that or you find it difficult to keep it under control. For years now, I have taken note of all of the patches of attractive moss I run across that grow on public property. If all goes well, I will end up with a few trays like the one below:

Collected moss

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