Natural Bonsai

Whilst I admire the skills and creations of those who practice the Japanese art of growing a bonsai, a part of me feels disturbed by the procedure of purposefully stunting the growth and potential of what could be a magnificent tree with many uses.

Two years ago, my husband and I collected seeds from 6 different species of Acacia.  We went through the process of germinating and planting specimens, watching them develop and noting the different growth patterns.

From the onset, we noticed that one of our Acacia sieberiana (Paperbark) saplings was a little different.  He battled to burst forth from the hard casing protecting the seed and, in the process of shedding off the covering somehow got damaged.

We fed and nurtured all the plants with the same treatment.  Whilst all the others grew straight stems at phenomenal a rate, this little one grew very slowly with a twisted trunk.  Despite being weak and warped, he continued growing and developing himself.

Where similar plants grown for commercial purposes would have long ago been discarded, we kept this treasure and now have ourselves a natural bonsai without going through the practice of wiring his trunk to give it an artistically misshapen appearance.

The other plants are now towering young trees up to 3 metres tall and I hope they will grow into
magnificent specimens fulfilling many purposes like providing a home to wildlife, enhancing the air and providing shade.  Incidentally, my garden is far too small to grow a full size Acacia sieberiana , so, whilst I cannot benefit from sitting under the shade of my bonsai, I have the privilege of using him as the centre piece on my patio table.  I still have my view on the practice of creating bonsai, but I can now appreciate one of the advantages of owning one.  Most importantly, I played a part in creating him and did not give up on the joy of watching him reach for the sun.

Benefits of Mulch



Gazania without mulch 



When we moved into our property, the verge had five clumps of Gazania krebsiana (Gazania) growing at intervals along the wall.  Not wanting to invest too much on this area, I simply added some compost and mulch and instructed the gardener not to touch the area.  He was previously “turning the soil” with a garden fork to aerate it, but not adding any much needed organic material to it.  This was causing the soil to dry out much quickly, and disturbing the falling seeds from the gazanias, preventing them from germinating.





Gazania with mulch



The mulch used is a mixture of dried grass cuttings and dead leaves.  It’s been about 3 months since the gazanias received this new treatment and I now have new seedlings sprouting in the bed, so by January, the entire area should be carpeted in a mass of dark green leaves and beautiful flowers.  For more on Gazania krebsiana, a separate blog will follow soon.



  











Gazania  seedlings



In the meantime, here’s more on mulch...



Mulch is a layer of material – usually organic – which either forms naturally or is applied to the surface of the soil.  Establishing my new garden has involved applying a mulch to mimic a forest floor.  Mulch improves plant growth by:

• conserving moisture in the soil by reducing evaporation;
• providing additional nutrients from easily decomposed organic material;
• modifying soil temperatures (either keeping the soil cool and moist in hot periods or by allowing the soil to warm up more quickly in cooler periods);
• discouraging weed growth;
• preventing topsoil erosion.



Organic mulch can include:-


• Straw
• Leaves
• Grass cuttings
• Nut shells
• Fruit pips
• Rotted compost
• Peat

Mulch should be applied after the ground has been weeded, but before plant growth is well advanced.  The ground should be well soaked before mulching.  Mulch should be spread in a 5-8cm layer over and around the roots of plants.  A well mulched flowerbed should not require heavy watering unless there has been a long spell of dry weather.

Pebbles can be used as an inorganic mulch but I try to avoid this unless it specific to the garden design as it can be quite tedious to maintain.

Winter's tale



Wondering why I’ve been so quite?  It’s been winter and there was very little that I could do in the garden during the month of July.  This is generally a very quiet month for most South African gardeners where the bulk of the maintenance would be applying mulch and compost.  With my garden being so new, with mulch applied during the planting phase, there were no maintenance jobs required.  My only concerns were whether we would get frost and how my plants would handle the conditions.  So far, all my plants are surviving their first winter.  Only a few Chlorophytum comosum (Hen-and-Chickens) lost some leaves to frost but they have already recovered.  I just have a few more weeks to go through until I can say with certainty that the worst is over.



Felicia amelloides



However, I’m already seeing the first signs of spring:



·       Dimorphotheca jucunda (Trailing mauve daisy) have just begun flowering



·       Arctotis stoechadifolia (Trailing arctotis) has numerous buds

·       Felicia amelloides (Kingfisher Daisy) is flowering continuously.