Dr Nayak styles the bonsai without wiring.

These bonsai belong to Dr Ganesh Nayak, Cardiac Surgeon, Bengaluru. I had a chance to visit his exotic bonsai garden today.

SOKAN STYLE OR TWIN TRUNK BONSAI

Sokan style, or twin-trunk Bonsai has two trunks rising from the root system, or nebari. The trunks may split immediately above the roots, or rise as one from the soil and then split after a few inches.

The perfect and most sought-after Sokan Bonsai has one trunk taller and thicker than the other, with both trunks being visible when viewed from the front of the pot/tree. The branch positions, working around both trunks, should be as follows: left, right and back. There should not be any branches pointing from one trunk to the other.

Many Bonsai enthusiasts love the Sokan style as it gives the grower a chance to work with two trees, sometimes making a great piece from two trees that wouldn’t otherwise have made great Bonsai on their own terms.

You could imagine this style of Bonsai to be like creating a ‘marriage’. The larger tree is the male, carefully and lovingly protecting his wife from the harsh elements by shading her and gently arching over her. Ultimately the apex of both trees will meet to form one – and when creating correctly, this can be an absolutely stunning composition.

Care must be taken when creating Sokan style Bonsai, especially where the back branches and the roots are concerned. There will be an empty void between the two trunks that will require filling with suitable back branches, if not the grower will have created an empty void that will detract from the composition.

Another feature that may happen if the tree is left to grow unchecked is a reverse taper rising from the nebari (root system). This can easily happen due to the twin trunk effect, so the roots will need due care and attention to ensure they remain exposed and the taper is clearly evident at the tree’s base

Some of the bonsai by Bodhi Bonsai Association Chennai... 

Bodhi meeting June 9th 2018

The monthly meeting of Bodhi for the month of June was held today, 9th June 2018, at the Defence Colony club, Nandambakkam. It was hosted by our members from Defence colony, who did a fabulous job by putting together a very nice program for the meeting and with wonderful arrangements. The meeting was well attended and I think all the members found the distance they had travelled well worth the time and effort!
The mame display gave the members a chance to show off their miniature creations.
The meeting started at 2.30 p.m. with the styling of members’ plants. This was followed by a talk and demonstration by Jayanti on how to create pads in our bonsai trees. She also gave some valuable tips on feeding the plants. Next, Hareish shared some useful information on the growth, care and blooming of jasmine plants. After this, there were a few more plants of members to be styled. And the meeting wound up with an excellent high tea and sale of plants and bonsai materials. All in all, an extremely satisfying afternoon!

Mame Making

Mame or miniature bonsai could well have more of a place in small houses or flats than the larger forms, as they may be only two to eight or so inches high. On the whole, however, they do not survive to such great ages, mainly because the containers have to be so small, possibly only a little over an inch deep. The containers, as for the larger bonsai, must have a drainage hole and can be of any shape to suit the particular mame bonsai in question.  The soil mixture, and methods of watering and feeding, are also the same as described earlier. For obvious reasons, however, they will need watering more frequently, especially in hot, dry weather.

Mame specimens can very often be ready for display in a shorter time than the larger forms, and this in itself is a considerable advantage.

The simpler styles should be chosen for mame bonsai, because their size does not make it possible to train them into the more complicated shapes such as Winding or Clasped to the stone. The Upright, Oblique and Cascading styles all make attractive mame bonsai and a group planting can be most effective.

The easiest way to raise mame bonsai quickly from seed, the best method being to sow the seed direct in the final container. A pinch of seed is sown, as described in “How to Grow Your Own Bonsai Tree” and then thinned out as desired when germination is complete. For a single specimen all the extra seedlings are removed, but for a group planting, two, three or five are left to grow on. In order to avoid too much disturbance in the very small containers when thinning these seedlings, it is best to nip off the surplus seedlings with sharp scissors close to the soil surface. The strongest seedlings should be pinched early in the first season to encourage the growth of side shoots, and if a ‘clean’ stem is wanted, the lowest of these side shoots must be removed.

Leaf pinching is particularly valuable as far as mame bonsai are concerned,  as it not only corrects any over crowding and helps to check growth, but also causes smaller leaves to be formed in place of the removed leaves.

BODHI BONSAI - MONTHLY MEETING

Kindly read the date of the monthly meeting as
Saturday, June 9, 2018.

BODHI BONSAI - MONTHLY MEETING

Date: Saturday, June 8, 2018

Venue:  Defence Colony Club,
Near Military Hospital, Nandambakkam,
CHENNAI 600032

Time: 2 30 - 5 pm.

Programme

Padding creation demo &
Maintenance of Bonsai on terrace - Jayanti Prakash

Talk on growing 'Madurai Malli' - Harish

Hands on workshop on
Styling, Wiring,Repotting etc - Members

There will be a display of Mame Bonsai

Sale of Pre Bonsai plants

GUESTS ARE WELCOME
Guests charge: Rs 200/- per head