Thought Provoking Questions From High School Students

zube

Charles, if controlling the destiny of a plant made me feel powerful, I would enjoy mowing my lawn.
zube

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Sorry doesn't put thumbs back on the hand, Marge.
H. Simpson

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RedPine

I think the art is more an example of the power nature has over us.

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PatArizona

G'day all...

Interesting question...and discussion.

SAUCE said: "...A sense of fulfillment? Most certainly…".

I'm with Sauce...I say, domination? Control? No.


Joanie said: "...I do feel the need to control the tree's environment and growth..." and "...closer to nurturing…".


To me, I feel that it is more like "providing". "Nurturing" I think fits here.


Domination? Control? No.


With brief case and ladder in tow, "...I'm taking my cas to a higher court...".


Pat

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BONSAI isn't about surviving in a storm, rather, how to dance in the rain.
THE ONLY WAY: Always remember, and don't ever forget, that whatever you read here is not cast in concrete... the intent of any advice is to help. In no way should you feel that I’m saying that my way is the only way…heaven forbid! I've seen far too much of the "my way or the highway" attitude in bonsai as well as in other areas of life.

kestutisg

First of all, if you define "control" as the power to decide whether the tree dies or lives, everyone has control over his/her trees. Are we therefore "control freaks"? I don't think so. If you define "control" as the power to define EVERYTHING that the tree is, certainly we have far from total control there

For me working on bonsai fulfills two needs - first, creating something tangible and beautiful. Ever since being a kid I liked handy works, be that making something out of wood or connecting electronic schemes, and now I'm working in a services environment so I feel the need to also create something tangible.

Second, its sort of a training for a future where I'll have babies & stuff - you know, learning not only to care about oneself but also about someone else every day I have read many times people referring to bonsai as their babies and I think it's very much true. Coming back to the "control" thing - you can also not control your children completely, but you can sure influence them

Best wishes

Kestutis

Craig Cowing

I think fulfillment and control are two unrelated things here. In this context, "control" has a negative connotation, as in "you're controlling the tree the way Chinese women had their feet bound."

I would say that the practice of bonsai is a mirror of caring for nature. Let's face it--although it isn't absolute, we have a great deal of control over nature in the sense that we can control whether a pristine area is despoiled or not. In very real terms there aren't too many places left on earth where human intervention hasn't altered them, and human intervention is not needed to preserve and protect them. For better or worse, the earth is becoming a big project in management. Unless there is intervention, resources will be taken and fragile systems will be damaged with impunity. Caring for bonsai can help a person understand how a tree grows and lives. It can engender in a person a greater respect for trees and other living things.

In this context, bonsai can become a vehicle for thinking about caring for the earth. Some people have images of bonsai enthusiasts with wicked expressions on their faces, torturing trees with delight.

Anita and I had a conversation with someone during the WBFF convention in DC at the National Arboretum. We were standing in the courtyard and looking at a tree, and a guy was, with great authority, telling his 15 +/- year old daughter and her friend how the Japanese control and torture their trees to get them to look like that. Anita and I both spoke up at once and said no, it isn't torture. We explained that the methods used in bonsai were developed to mimic the forces of nature at work on the tree. Although I think the guy felt a bit embarassed about being corrected in front of his daughter, he had it coming.

Well, that's off the track. Maybe not.

Craig Cowing

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I'm not finished yet, neither are my trees.

robert1955

Zube, I do some of my best thinking mowing my lawn, I love to mow my yard. My 2 boys never have mowed my lawn.



Peace

Bob

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The older you get, the older old is.

zube

Bob, you need some steeper ground, more big trees, and another 90 inches of rain a year.
Take care,
zube

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Sorry doesn't put thumbs back on the hand, Marge.
H. Simpson

horton366

You actually get to the stage where you feel you have control? I'm so new at this that I feel I'm struggling just to keep my trees alive. They're all quietly hibernating right now, but this is my first winter & I'm just hoping that some of them have survived. We've had a wierd winter up here in Ontario with unusually high temperatures during much of January. I just hope my trees haven't been drawn out of dormancy.

Ron

Vance Wood

The original question: Do you get a feeling of control? What's wrong with a straight forward NO! I think what this kid was getting at was a sense of god like power.

If anything the tree controls you, if you want to keep it alive. It makes demands on your time, your resources and your attention.

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The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa