Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

BONZAI Show case

bédébédé Posts: 3,095
edited March 2023 in Plants
Come on guys there must be some of you out there.

After a cold February and early March, my deciduous bonzai have suddenly started shooting.  I might have missed my repotting/root pruning for this year.



This is a garden centre-bought weeping hemlock that is now about 40 years old.  The rest of my bonzai are a similar age deciduous native trees from seed.  My objective was to hone my skills before investing in a Japanese-grown Pinus, or Acer burgerianum, or perhaps an evergreen Azalea.

I'll show the others when they are in leaf.
 location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
«13

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    My daughter keep a Bonsai indoors for just over a year. I thought she wouldn't keep it more than a week!. It was a Chinese Sweet Plum, named Barry.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    GardenerSuze said:
    My daughter keep a Bonsai indoors for just over a year. 
    Was her not keeping it due to cultural mismanagement, or did she just not like bonzai.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited March 2023
    It was a  Birthday Gift, she reminded me that it lived for one year and two days. The fact that she had given it a name made it difficult to actually agree it was dead.
    She speaks some Japanese so that is where her interest comes from not at all plant related.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Clearly you have an abundance of experience Bédé so I am curious as to why you spell bonsai with a z. Is that a recognised spelling? It was on this forum that I learned pottery shards should really be called sherds.
    Rutland, England
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I understand it can be spelt both ways.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I only know Bonzai as a font … 
    https://fontzone.net/font-details/bonzai available free to designers. 

    When words from another language family are ‘westernised’  there are initially often various spellings based on phonetics … and then one spelling emerges to take pre-eminence over the others … however some folk like to stick to their own chosen spelling, forgetting that the primary purpose of language is to communicate with other folk in a way that can be understood clearly. It can lead to confusion. 🫤

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited April 2023
    Ben, re Bonsai.  I didn't stop to think.  I think perhaps the Z has more of the feel of a Japanese character. 

    I usually use "s" in preference to "z".  I spell -ise with an "s" , eg.  fertilise, as the suffix comes to us from the French not from the Greek.

    My online OED couldn't find it with a "z", not even as an alternative.

    If you had told me within 60 minutes, I might have been able to correct it.  I was thinking of writin about rose "hips". vs "heps".  But perhaps I will do more research.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Bonzai is linked to long life so perhaps that is why.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited April 2023
    From a understanding point of view only, I think the z is excusable.

    I used to be a good speller at school.  I could spot a spellin mistake (there's one)  just from the shape of the word.  And then spend a little more time to spot the exact mistake.  A time in multilingual Belgium and that skill is lost.  I now I have difficulty with: Zwitserland/Switzerland; adres, adresse, address ...

    A year or so back I watched a series on Sky Arts about writing evolution.  Very interesting, I would recommend those with just a touch of academic in them to look out for the inevitable repeat.

    Apparently Chinese/Japanese characters are more difficult to teach initially, but once learnt, recognising by shape has about the same ease Chinese vs  phonetic language.  


     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Sign In or Register to comment.