Orbit

Ok, there is a tree near my house that looks like a bonsai, however it's full sized and growing naturally in the soil. I remember seeing this tree as a child, with no real knowledge of bonsai training, and immediately thinking it looked like a bonsai. Other people in my family, who have no real knowledge of bonsai techniques, have also commented that this tree looks like a bonsai. This got me wondering, why does this tree look like a bonsai any more than any other tree? Surely if the aim of bonsai is, as simply stated by some, "to grow miniature trees in the form of full sized mature trees", then all trees should look like bonsai. We have rules in bonsai that dictate what should and shouldn't be done. Some of these rules are based on replicating a full size tree in miniature, such as defoliating some of the leaves in order to make the tree not have too many leaves for it's size, given that it is a lot smaller than a wild tree would be. Other rules however, seem to have different origins. The other origins that spring to mind are cultural and spiritural. Most of us practice, or at least attempt to practice, the rules of bonsai design. But do many of us in the west really understand the reasons for doing so? Why is it bad bonsai practice to have branches which cross (except in literati style)? I see plenty of beautiful trees in the wild which have crossing branches. Why is it bad bonsai practice to have moss growing on the trunk of your tree? Again, I see plenty of beautiful trees in the wild that have moss on their trunks. Is it purely an aesthetics issue? Or is there a cultural and spirituaral origin behind these concepts? Are there many people breaking these rules, and creating trees that still look natural, some would say, more natural? Anyway, I've rambled on enough I think. Thoughts?

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