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- From: bartlone@last.med.ge.com (Mike Bartolone 5-4266)
- Newsgroups: rec.arts.bonsai,alt.bonsai,news.answers,rec.answers,alt.answers
- Subject: The rec.arts.bonsai/alt.bonsai FAQ: Part1
- Supersedes: <bonsai-faq/part1_737179207@GZA.COM>
- Followup-To: rec.arts.bonsai,alt.bonsai
- Date: 11 Jun 1993 00:00:31 -0400
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- Lines: 234
- Sender: faqserv@GZA.COM
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Expires: 25 Jul 1993 04:00:08 GMT
- Message-ID: <bonsai-faq/part1_739771208@GZA.COM>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: pad-thai.aktis.com
- X-Last-Updated: 1993/05/24
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.arts.bonsai:549 alt.bonsai:1096 news.answers:9285 rec.answers:1156 alt.answers:402
-
- Version: 1.5
- X-Last-Updated: 1993/05/24
- Archive-name: bonsai-faq/part1
-
- This is part 1 of 5 of the rec.arts.bonsai/alt.bonsai FAQ
-
- I'll try to update the FAQ either weekly or as often as required
- based on the info submitted. (In other words..I'll do it more
- often if required and less often if nothing has changed). The
- FAQ will be posted bi-weekly, or when it get updated whichever
- comes first.
-
- If there are errors or typos in this text, or if your name has
- been left off of the contributor list, please just drop me a
- note. I'm very much capable of making mistakes...I do promise to
- do my best to correct all errors found before the next release
- of the FAQ.
-
- The bonsai Dictionary is still under construction. I have some
- of the most frequently used Japanese terms (according to my
- limited sources), and I have the Latin botanical terms (again
- within the limits of my knowledge/sources...) If you have
- additions or corrections, please e-mail them to me at the
- address below.
-
- THIS FAQ IS NOW AVAILABLE VIA ANONYMOUS FTP!
-
- This FAQ, and many other FAQ's are available via anonymous ftp
- from rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers.
- The archive name for this FAQ appears in the Archive-name: line
- in the auxiliary header found in each of the 5 sections of the
- FAQ. This FAQ is known as bonsai-faq/part1. (Each part has
- a separate name..ie part2, part3 etc..)
-
- A mail server also exists for accessing the FAQ archives. Send
- a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the command
- 'help' in the body of your message.
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++
- +The Bonsai Mailing List+
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- For those of you who for one reason or another can not currently
- get a feed for rec.arts.bonsai, there may be another way to get
- in on the discussion there. Subscribe to the bonsai mailing list!
- Subscription is easy. Send e-mail to: LISTSERV@cms.cc.wayne.edu.
- In the body of the letter, have the line:
-
- SUB BONSAI <Enter your name>
-
- The mailing list software will extract your mailing address from
- the message header, so you don't need to put that in your command.
- The messages in the mailing list are automatically posted to
- rec.arts.bonsai, and all of rec.arts.bonsai is automatically
- mailed to the subscribers of the mailing list! For a list of
- commands, send the command: help to the LISTSERV address.
- If you have trouble, you can contact either me (Mike), or
- Dan Cwiertniewicz <dan@FOGHORN.PASS.WAYNE.EDU> for help.
-
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- + FTP site for bonsai GIF files! +
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- An anonymous FTP server for Bonsai GIFS (and other types of pictures)
- is available at bonsai.pass.wayne.edu. Login as anonymous and use
- guest as a password. You can put images in the /uploads directory,
- and get images from the /pub/GIFS directory. This allows the person
- responsible for the site a chance to check the files before anyone
- can get them, thus avoiding having the site terminated due to
- inappropriate material.
-
- +++++++++++++++++++ CALL FOR TRANSLATORS ++++++++++++++++++++++
- If you like Bonsai, and you can translate this FAQ into another
- language, please do so...You can either e-mail me the
- translation, or post it directly yourself..I'll add it to the
- FAQ as TRANSLATIONS come in (if they come in...)
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Mike Bartolone
- bartlone@gemed.ge.com
- or
- cs688.freenet-in-a.cwru.edu
- (first rec.arts.bonsai/alt.bonsai FAQ compiler)
-
- The rec.arts.bonsai/alt.bonsai FAQ has now been broken down into
- smaller pieces to make mailer mangling less likely.
-
-
- part 1 Section 1 -- Introduction and Table of contents
- Section 2 -- What is Bonsai?
- Section 3 -- Dictionary of Japanese bonsai terms
-
- part 2 Section 4 -- Dictionary of selected Latin botanical
- terms.
-
- part 3 Section 5 -- Frequently Asked Questions!
- Section 6 -- Soil
-
- part 4 Section 7 -- Clubs, Associations
- Section 8 -- Reading material (Books and Magazines)
-
- part 5 Section 9 -- Suppliers and Nurseries
- Section 10 -- Junipers (Their own section!)
- Section 11 -- Indoor bonsai
- Section C -- Contributors...
-
-
- Section 2 What is Bonsai?
-
- This was at one time, the most commonly ask of all FAQ's, but,
- since the Karate Kid was first shown, the frequency with which
- this question gets asked has decreased a little bit..Bonsai is
- literally a plant, (usually a tree or shrub) grown in a tray,
- or dish. The first plants grown in pots were in Egypt about
- 4000 years ago, mostly for practical reasons, mobility, and
- convenience. The Greeks, Babylonians, Persians, and Hindus
- copied the technique. The Chinese were the first to plant
- trees in pots for aesthetic purposes about 200 AD. It then
- moved to Japan with the monks that also brought Buddhism in
- the 6th and 7th centuries. This data is supported in essence
- by a scroll from Japan's Kamakura period (1192-1333), in a
- scroll describing life in the Heian period (794-1191).*
- Bonsai as we now know it was perfected in Japan.
- The original bonsai trees were usually collected, dwarfed
- by nature. Today, however, it is probably better to allow such
- specimens to stay where they are. In many locations collecting
- them in the wild is against the law. In others the chance of
- finding a suitable specimen is almost zero.
- Over the years, techniques have evolved which allow the
- grower to change the height and direction of growth, and in
- some cases to dwarf the foliage as well as the plant. Today,
- bonsai is an art form, a living sculpture. There are certain
- classic or traditional forms that can be found and followed,
- but the basic rule of thumb for personal bonsai is 'If you
- like the way it looks, it's a good bonsai'.
-
- *(From The Masters Book of Bonsai)
-
- Section 3 -- Dictionary of Japanese bonsai terms
-
- Bonsai styles ---
-
- chokkan Formal Upright
- The chokkan bonsai typically has a single, upright
- trunk that tapers toward the top, branches are
- symmetrically balanced and well spaced.
-
- moyogi Informal Upright
- Moyogi bonsai have a single trunk like the chokkan,
- but the trunk is usually curved. The trunk generally
- tapers toward the top like the formal upright.
-
- kabudachi (multiple trunks)
- sokan Twin Trunk
- sankan Triple Trunk
- gokan 5 trunk
- Two (or 3 or 5) trunks growing from the same root.
- Usually one trunk is the largest and is referred to
- as the parent. Good conformation is based on the
- aesthetic balance of the smaller 'children' to the
- parent in trunk thickness.
-
- shakan Slanting
- A single trunk, similar to the formal and informal
- upright, but cultivated with the trunk growing at
- an angle other than 90 degrees to the ground.
- Branches are again balanced and well spaced.
-
- netsuranari sinuous
- sinuous bonsai have multiple trees growing from a
- single sinuous root. 5 needle pine are most commonly
- used for this style.
-
- neagari exposed root
- Roots growing up out of the ground, suspending the
- trunk in the air characterize this rare style of
- bonsai.
-
- ikada raft
- Similar in effect to netsuranari, but typically with
- one straight horizontal root joining the trees.
- This is usually accomplished by burying a larger
- tree horizontally and then training each branch as a
- separate tree.
-
- fukinagashi Windswept
- Similar to the slanting style, but all of the
- branches are swept in one direction as though it
- were growing in a place with a strong constant
- prevailing wind.
-
- kengai cascade
- An unusual form where the trunk and branches arch
- and 'cascade' over the edge of the pot. Usually
- planted in a deep pot to give balance to its
- unusual form.
-
- bunjingi literati
- upright or informally upright trunk bare of branches
- except at the top, characterized by a tasteful
- simple elegance.
-
- hokidachi broom
- broom style trees have an upright trunk, with
- branches evenly fanned out. It resembles an old
- fashioned broom standing on its handle.
-
- yose-ue Group
- A group planting of distinct separate trees,
- representing a grove, or forest.
-
- ishitsuki rock-grown
- There are two basic types of rock grown bonsai,
- root grasping the rock, where the roots do enter
- the soil the rock is protruding from, and on, or
- in the rock, where the tree is planted in a pocket
- of earth attached to the rock, or in a hollow in
- the rock.
-
- Growing techniques
-
- misho grown from seed
- yamadori collecting plants from nature
- sashiki grown from cuttings
- tsugiki grafting
- toriki layering and dividing
-
- Other Japanese bonsai terms --
-
- nebari the rootball of a bonsai
-
-
- End of Section 3 -- Dictionary of Japanese bonsai terms.
- End of Part 1 of 5 of the rec.arts.bonsai/alt.bonsai FAQ.
- Continued in part 2
-