any unwanted branches that cross unattractively or perhaps go off in
the wrong direction. Then, you decide whether more branches should be
pruned away--to reveal the basic form of the tree in general or the
trunk in particular; to lighten the over-all effect; to help create
the desired symmetrical or asymmetrical shape. If the plant has been
root-pruned, the top should be pruned proportionally. Top growth and
roots should always be kept in balance. Growing tips are pinched or cut
back to encourage the development of side shoots, or merely to keep the
plant in dwarf proportions.
From here on, pruning depends on the plant and the planned design.
Slow-growing types may need trimming only once a year; others need
constant attention. Any undesirable or excess growth is best removed
while the plant is still young so the operation won’t leave an
unsightly scar. Needles that are too long can be cut down to proper
size from time to time. Leaves that are too large and heavy can be
severely thinned. Because fruit that is too plentiful can weaken a
dwarfed tree severely, some of it should be removed.
At repotting time you may find a few roots immediately under the soil
surface that have enlarged to such a good size they can be exposed
above the soil. If possible, spread them out slightly so they form a
swelling base for the trunk. This is fun, but takes a bit of doing.
You don’t want to end up with something that resembles an unanchored
telegraph pole with leaves at the top.
Stems, branches, and trunks are trained by wiring them and then bending
them along the lines you desire. Wiring is best done in the spring. New
growth is just starting and the older woody parts are more supple and
pliant. If the soil is left dry a few days before wiring, the wood will
be even easier to work with. You can use ordinary galvanized wire. If
you happen to have only copper wire, try annealing it. Hold it in a
fire and then plunge it into cold water. The weight and strength of the
wire will depend on the size of the trunk or branch with which you are
working. Be careful not to get a wire that is so stiff you can’t bend
it easily.
As to the actual process, first fasten one end of the wire. Perhaps
you wrap it around the trunk, or better still, stick it deeply into
the soil. Next coil it rather loosely around the branch that is being
trained and fasten it again at the end. Now, using both hands, bend
the wired branch in the direction you want it to go. Be firm, but be
gentle and cautious. Ease up if the branch shows signs of breaking or
being injured. Don’t hurry the job. If necessary, only bend it a little
the first time. Bend it a little more the next week, and the weeks
after that. If you are tempted to rush, stop and think of the bonsai
creations you have seen on display at flowers shows. Usually you will
have seen a card that says the creation is fifty or more years old.
Be especially careful with old hardened growth or plants with tender
bark that is easily bruised or broken. Most important, once you start
to bend a branch, don’t change your mind and try to bend it back the
original way. It will almost surely die. Plan before you act.
Depending on the type and age of the plant, wires may be left in place
for six months, a year, or even more. However, watch carefully for
signs that the plant is being choked or disfigured due to heavy growth.
There are also some easy ways to train parts of plants without wiring
them. Branches can be pulled down to a horizontal line by looping soft
cord around them and hitching it to the container. They can be made
to hang down, or weep, by hanging weights at the tips. If you want to
straighten a trunk, tie it with something strong, like raffia, to a
straight bamboo stake. To narrow a wide fork between two branches, pull
them together with raffia. To widen a fork, prop it apart with a light
wooden wedge.
_Location_
Whether you have a collection of bonsai growing on tables or benches,
or perhaps just a few plants, in summer give them outdoor growing
quarters where there is a free circulation of air. Full sunlight
is good except during the hottest weeks or months. Be careful to
protect them against hot, drying winds and burning sun, which they
cannot stand. Being in small containers, excessive heat or dryness is
dangerous. We had some old bamboo shades that once enclosed our porch
which were good protection. We also had some lath screens which came
in handy. Lacking either, hang up old sheets or sections of burlap. You
can help by keeping it moist with the garden hose.
_Watering_
Many factors determine how often your plants should be watered--age,
type, size, how recently they were repotted, size of root system, and
the usual climatic conditions such as temperature and humidity. About
the only concrete thing I can say is that your plants will resent
neglect, and will show it. Newly potted plants should be kept moist
constantly until they begin to make new growth or show other signs
that they have recovered from pruning and transplanting. For plants
that are established, the ideal is limited moisture in the soil. Don’t
keep it so wet that rank growth is encouraged. And please beware of
rot. That is one of the most evil of evils when you are too generous
with the watering can. At the other extreme, the soil shouldn’t be so
dry that the plant wilts beyond recovery. You, as a grower, will have
to determine this for yourself. I do it by feeling the soil in the
container. If it feels moist to the fingers, no water is needed. Let it
feel dry and it probably needs a drink. When you do water, be thorough.
Make sure the soil is so completely moistened that the excess water
runs out the drainage hole in the bottom of the container.
_Fertilizing_
There is a definite, delicate balance between too much and too little
fertilizer for a bonsai plant. Too much food and it grows too large and
is loaded with large foliage, flowers, and fruit. If you feed it too
sparingly, it will suffer from malnutrition. I most certainly wish I
could give you an exact rule to use. I fear no one can. Requirements
differ for different plants. All I can offer is a few basic principles.
The rest is up to you.
For the first few months after you have repotted a plant in fresh
soil, withhold all fertilizer. Don’t fertilize a plant that is weak or
sick or approaching dormancy, and don’t fertilize when the soil in the
pot is dry. Be alert to fading leaf color, reluctant growth, and all
similar signs that a plant is suffering for want of nutrients. These
signs may be most apparent during the spring season of most active
growth.
Organic fertilizers such as bone meal, liquid manure, or fish emulsion
are usually recommended, and should be used sparingly in weak
solutions. The purpose of this feeding is to keep the plant healthy but
still small, and not to encourage larger growth.
_Insects and Disease_
My bonsai plants are much too precious to take chances with any sort
of infection or insect infestation. As a preventative, I use an
all-purpose aerosol bomb regularly, according to directions on the
label. Constantly I keep a sharp eye for any signs of trouble. Thank
goodness, up to now I have had no serious threats, but should they
come along, there is a remedy I have used on other plants. I would dip
them, container and all, in an appropriate solution, thus making sure
it would penetrate every crevice and cover every surface. For outdoor
bonsai and the problems most likely to beset plants while in their
summer quarters, I have elsewhere discussed insects and diseases of
trees and shrubs. Those general principles also apply to bonsai.
_Winter Care_
In areas where freezing temperatures are the rule or, as here in
Connecticut, where temperatures are much lower, dwarfed potted trees
and shrubs should spend the winter where the soil in the small
containers will not freeze. We have a tight cold frame where we plunge
the pots into the soil, then cover everything with straw and salt hay.
Those who happen to have an unheated porch, one that is glassed in, but
where the temperature does not go below freezing, have a good winter
quarters. But, be careful, don’t let the soil in the containers dry out
completely. Keep a watchful eye.
After that warning, may I offer another. Please don’t coddle plants by
keeping them warm in the house or greenhouse. A cool period of complete
rest is often very beneficial, or even a touch of frost.
_CHAPTER 10_
MINIATURE GARDENS
IN THE LANDSCAPE
A picturesque surprise on a gently sloping, sunny bank could be a
wind-blown mugho pine beside an outcropping rock that’s lightly draped
by a sprawling cotoneaster, with colorful sempervivums clustered at
the base. Or in the light shade at the base of a clump of white-barked
birches, there could be a group of dwarf rhododendrons displayed
against dark, humus-rich soil or a pine-needle mulch. On a patio or
terrace, it could be a contemporary grouping of low, fluffy juniper,
perennial lavender, and water-polished rocks.
These are miniature gardens--not complete landscaping plans for small
properties, but appealing plantings that often pop up in unexpected
places and bring beauty into otherwise unusable or undecorated areas.
They’re gardens because, by definition, they are groups of plants
that achieve an effect a single plant could not create alone. They’re
miniature gardens because they occupy small space, and because most
of their plants are of miniature proportions. Properly designed and
executed, they’re equally effective in large grounds or small, with
contemporary suburban homes, in informal settings, and even on estates
with traditionally formal landscapes.
There’s a special enchantment in these miniature gardens. The eye is
attracted by their modesty and restraint, and by the utterly natural
way they seem to suit the scene. Each plant is seen intimately, in
close-up; its character is revealed in each small detail. And in these
gardens the creator can express his individuality so easily; seldom
does a design even resemble the one next door.
[Illustration:
Miniature white poppies featured in a tiny garden beside an
outcropping of rock]
Part of the appeal, of course, lies in the charm of miniature
plants--tiny annuals and perennials, small or slow-growing evergreen
and deciduous trees and shrubs, available in amazingly wide variety
if you take the trouble to find them. There are also frequent
opportunities to use inert objects with special effect. Small
gardens can be designed as settings for works of art or products of
the hand-craftsman--ceramic bowls and urns, authentic wrought-iron
grilles, wood carvings, statuary, sundials, pools, even fountains
and waterfalls. Or a garden may be designed with a background of
well-placed rock, a tree stump, or a piece of driftwood. A bench, arch,
gate, antique hitching post, or well-house may inspire a miniature
planting. Inanimate ground covers such as gravel are often a definite
part of the design.
In some ways miniature gardens are easier to design than, for example,
standard items such as flower beds and foundation plantings. It’s
easier to achieve originality. Mistakes are usually small and easily
corrected. On the other hand, really good design is more critical than
in large plantings where space can swallow errors and provide lucky
effects. In miniature, even a minor defect shows up immediately, and
may be a major calamity.
DESIGNING MINIATURE GARDENS
The first and basic requisite is an idea the garden is to express,
a theme for the picture it is to create. The objective may be to
embellish some neglected nook, disguise an unattractive corner, feature
an unusual plant or art object, soften the lines of a small pool and
blend it with its surroundings. Once the goal is set, it is pursued
without deviation. For example, a featured plant is kept dominant--not
necessarily in size, but always in visual importance--and everything
else is subordinate. A pool planting does not become so elaborate that
the beauty of mirrored reflections or rippling water is lost.
In both conception and execution the design for a miniature garden
should be in harmony with its surroundings. Nearby buildings may call
for certain harmonious lines and proportions. Land contours, and
constructions such as walls and steps, may dictate size and shape. The
architecture of a house and its landscape has a style that should not
be violated.
Our Connecticut landscape demands informal or naturalistic design in
no uncertain terms. Straight lines and formal geometric shapes would
be not only out of place, but practically impossible to achieve. The
land’s slopes and rises call for beds with flowering curves. Points
of interest such as massive lichen-trimmed boulders, gnarled old
trees, or a winding stream are sublimely situated by nature’s unerring
instinct for what looks right. We’ve merely cleaned them up and made
the most of them.
For not-too-modern houses built on regularly shaped, level lots, some
sort of formal design is easier to achieve and much more suitable. In
the traditional style, elements of equal size and weight balance each
other. There is strict adherence to a predetermined pattern. Identical
beds may make a formal dooryard garden, for example; matching groups of
plants may ornament opposite sides of a gateway.
For houses of contemporary architectural style there are gardens
of contemporary design, often featuring paved areas and patterns
with distinct angles and curves. Plantings are based on the tone,
texture, and form of the plants themselves. The object of interest is
off-center, balanced by a larger area of subdued importance.
Miniature gardens should be not only in harmony with the style of the
surroundings, but also in proper proportion. A birdbath with miniature
roses planted underneath can look lost in the center of a spacious
lawn, but could be in correct scale for a niche or arch in a brick wall.
Simplicity is extremely important. The smaller the space, the faster
it will take on a spotty, cluttered look when crammed with too many
different plants. The smaller the space and the plants, the more
care and thought should be given to combining various types, forms,
textures, and colors for best effect.
In addition to aesthetic principles, there are practical aspects to
designing miniature gardens. Any site should be checked for cultural
and environmental conditions that favor healthy plant growth. Is a wall
so high it throws too much shade for sun-loving plants? Is an area too
exposed in winter for questionably hardy plants? Is the spot so low
that water collects and stands in the soil, making it suitable only for
bog plants?
Think of the work of maintenance, too. Use ground covers instead
of lawn in areas so small you can’t move a mower around. Avoid
fast-growing plants that need constant trimming and pruning. Don’t use
plants that require a lot of protective spraying or dusting unless you
have time to keep up with the job. A healthy dwarf barberry is more
attractive than a neglected, sickly rose.
MINIATURE BEDS, BORDERS, AND ISLANDS
There are a number of ways to use small-scale versions of the
familiar mixed-flower border. Annuals and perennials can be selected
for continuity or succession of bloom, and arranged so that colors
harmonize, textures contrast, and carefully placed taller spikes or
spires provide accent and relieve monotony. In the background there may
be dwarf evergreens or flowering shrubs, a low fence or wall, the side
of a tool house or other small building.
Use miniature flower borders to add interest to tiresome areas such as
long, narrow strips between the house and boundary line of the lot, or
along a service walk. Use them at the edge or in corners of small lawn
areas--never scattered through it--or at the base of low foundation
plantings. Use them as visual space dividers between driveway and front
yard or entrance to the house.
Miniature beds are also effective at one side of a breezeway, at the
edge of a terrace or patio, or beside the back door. If they are raised
slightly, perhaps the height of just one brick, the small plants are
nearer to eye-level and their full beauty is more clearly revealed.
I’ve also seen a tiny cutting garden, by the back fence, that was as
colorful and pretty as any border.
Whenever there are walks, there are spots for miniature beds--in the
diamond-shaped points where two walks join; as little islands along the
curves; in the angles where corners turn. Or use small formal beds for
dooryard plantings.
The intimate dooryard garden, by the way, is enjoying a revival.
Instead of advice to keep flowering plants away from the front of the
house, we’re encouraged to plant little gardens that can be seen from
the picture window and also will make the house more attractive to
passers-by. These don’t replace foundation plantings and front-yard
landscaping, but supplement them in a small way. And the small gardens
help relieve the monotonous sameness of many modern house fronts.
All kinds of corners are obvious sites for ornamental treatment with
tiny gardens--architectural corners between front entrance and house
wall, between one wing of the house and another; the back corner of
a lot where, perhaps, a small tree is a focal point or background or
where, if you’re fortunate, a small stream winds its way across your
property.
On almost any grounds there are natural nooks that seem to be made for
miniature gardens up and down the sides of informal steps, at the top
or base of low walls, in a patch of soil at the foot of a high-branched
tree.
Landscape or architectural focal points can often be enhanced by little
gardens--gates, bay windows, sundials, the mailbox, a birdbath, or a
well. Little pocket-handkerchief gardens are built right into patios
and terraces. Little creepers planted in crevices between paving stones
make a miniature garden of their own.
_CHAPTER 11_
MINIATURE ROCK AND
WALL GARDENS
Anyone who can live and garden in a place like our part of Connecticut
without going overboard for rocks and rock-loving plants has more
self-control than I. My bewitchment began one Sunday afternoon when,
the weekend’s weeding done, I strolled up toward the small wild-flower
plantings in “the point.” Just beyond the garage, before the trees
began to cut off the sun, I stopped to glare at an ugly, erupting mound
of soil and stones that had frustrated our every attempt to make this
area more attractive.
I was pondering the monstrosity, when I noticed an intriguing detail. A
partly submerged rock poking its head out of one side of the mound had
the same color and patina as a snub-nosed piece sticking out the other
side; and the lines of stratification were on the same slant. Could
these be opposite ends of one continuous rock formation?
Five wheelbarrow-loads of rocky debris later, we had uncovered a
beautiful boulder, perfectly placed so that its lines led gracefully
into twin trunks of a wind-blown birch. It was a boulder with ancient
age and character, artistically chiseled by the elements. And it said
“rock garden” as plainly as any landscape plan.
This five-foot-long discovery may not be miniature; and the
naturalistic kind of planting it inspired is neither practical nor
suitable for many home grounds. But it was my introduction to rock
plants, and to how effectively rocks and plants combine; and it led
me to create and watch for rock gardens that _are_ miniature,
practical, and suitable for all kinds of grounds. Sometimes I think
these are the most enchanting little gardens of all.
If they are to look like anything better than a pile of stones,
miniature rock and wall gardens are not composed of miniature rocks.
They simply contain fewer, perhaps somewhat smaller, rocks than average
gardens; and they occupy far less space. These small plant-and-rock
compositions brighten nooks and corners where other plantings would
seem out of place.
By their nature, most rockery plants are miniature in height, foliage,
and flower. Alone or combined with miniature bulbs, the smaller
perennials and annuals, and the tiniest shrubs and trees, they invite
close-up enjoyment of their daintiness in these small plantings. Rocks
and rock-loving plants have a perfectly natural way of blending and
contrasting, each bringing out the best qualities in the other.
Although they’re of different design and construction, rock gardens
and dry walls are usually planted with the same or similar plants, and
given similar care. Paths, pavements, and garden steps are close kin.
But pools and water plants, even though they are often included in rock
gardens, are a separate subject, and are covered in Chapter 12.
ROCK-AND WALL-GARDEN DESIGN
“Cemetery,” “penitentiary rock pile,” “collection of geological
specimens”--these and other unflattering phrases have been used
to describe what a rock garden should not be. This eliminates the
artificial rock-studded circle in the center of a lawn, rocky slopes
with nothing to back them up, isolated paths and steps that have
nowhere to go, stone-stuffed piles of loam with no conceivable excuse
for being where they are.
What a rock garden should be, is an integral part of the landscape,
completely at home and in harmony with its surroundings, and having a
sound reason for its existence. Except for a few functional affairs
such as walls that retain terraces and steps that climb banks, their
purpose is mainly ornamental. Neither rocks nor plants are featured at
the expense of the other. Both work together to create the picture--the
plants to add brightness, vitality, and life; the rocks to help provide
favorable growing conditions and a naturally suitable background for
their display.
Designs for these gardens can be, as for others in the landscape,
formal or informal. The fixed geometry of walks, walls, and raised
beds in formal pattern are seen less frequently. But this is a type of
rock garden that might be placed advantageously in even the flattest,
barest suburban lot where naturalistic plantings and rocks look out of
place. If you long for a rock garden, try something like this in either
classic or contemporary style.
Informal rock gardens must, above all else, look convincingly natural,
as if the glaciers might have placed them. This is equally important
to a cluster of bulbs at the base of a single, half-sunken boulder;
the arrangement of rocks and plants on a small slope; or the series of
rocks that line a winding path. Builders of ambitious rock gardens are
often advised to study the nearby countryside and use it as a guide.
_Designs for Naturally Uneven, Rocky Land_
This type of terrain makes a natural setting for rock and wall gardens
of all sizes, shapes, and contours. Generally, the design is informal
and naturalistic. I don’t know whether it’s really easier to work
out such designs in miniature, or whether I merely think it’s easier
because that’s the kind of land I have to work with. So far, we’ve
never disagreed with Nature about the placement of a rock outcropping,
for example. The few we’ve uncovered and cleaned up have almost told us
what and how to plant.
A small existing slope or bank is a perfect site for a composition of
rocks and rockery plants, or, if you prefer, a retaining wall between
the two levels with plants grouped at the bottom or top, or planted
horizontally in the cracks. Or consider a series of ledges that create
small, irregular terraces.
A slope or grade may be the perfect place for informal stone steps,
with, of course, a path leading up to them and away. Colonies of
small plants look well on either side, with, perhaps, very miniature
evergreens at both sides at the top. Cracks in the steps and a walk can
be planted with small carpeters.
If you possess a small stream, gulch, or ravine, by all means consider
a little rock garden along either side. If you’re fond of a gnarled
old stump, see what a few rocks and plants might do at its foot. Where
your driveway curves, try a small rock garden. Before you fill in and
flatten out a small depression, or level off a small knoll, find out
how it would look as a small “island” rock garden.
Corners like those formed by an old-fashioned “stoop” of a country
cottage sometimes make effective frames for miniature rock gardens. But
in general, informal designs usually fit best out in the grounds, away
from angular architectural lines.
[Illustration:
Raised flower bed copied from an old English garden]