And Now, A Word On Nebari

Carl_Bergstrom

* Grin *

Now there's something else I think we can both agree on!

-OMC

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TreeBay

I think the exaggerated nebari is just that - an exaggeration for artistic effect. Bonsai aren't scale replicas of trees, if they were, the leaves would be so small it would be difficult to see them.

I have a 15 foot japanese maple in the yard here with leaves that are about 1.5 inches across. To scale that down to a one foot tall tree, the leaves would be smaller than 1/8 inch! My bonsai maples have leaves at least 5 times that big.

So we come to roots, and it doesn't seem to me unreasonable that to depict a tree growing in nature, one might (and perhaps should) exaggerate the proportions of the rootage to some extent. How much, is a matter of taste and skill, because as OMC pointed out, radial root systems are not easy to develop.

Similarly the bunjin style is an exaggeration of the height and delicacy of a tree, and the formal upright and broom styles, an exaggeration of perfection one rarely sees in "natural" trees.

Somewhere between the freeform Chinese style and the (possibly overrefined?) Japanese styles, there is a lot of room for expression. Find your place, and put a stake in the ground, but leave some room for growth either way.

Regards,

Matt

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ripsgreentree

For myself I am pro nebari, I think that it should start with seedlings and cuttings even root cuttings and airlayerings and then be continusly develiped for the life of your tree. If you do this there is a good chance that you will eventually end up with something that looks alot like the maple that was posted earlyer in this thread.
If you learn to create and keep alive a thick fibrous root structure, you will be able to keep your trees in much shallower pots. Masive amounts of rootlets encourages many buds, plus strength and vigor. (I am beganing to sound like a superthrive comertial) This will also result in good nebari.
I go to great lengths to incourage rootlets on all of my trees.

Glenn Van Winkle

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ripsgreentree

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Tony

I admit it.......... IT WAS ME!............ Im the one who missed the field trip to the modern art museum. I wasn't very interested in stuff like that in elementary school and played hooky.


I think the term ,extreme exaggeration, sums up this style of nebari quite well. And that's what I like about it. It's true that the multi trunk trident needs the large base to balance the top but this could be accomplished with individual nebari radiating from the base. The fused nebari are not necessary for balance. As pointed out by others, exaggeration is common in bonsai. I wonder though if some of these extreme exaggerations should be placed in the penjin category. I don't know much about penjin but from what I've read it sounds that most anything goes. Where's the crossover point between bonsai and penjing?

Tony

TreeBay

I think it is strongly in the branch arrangement. The Japanese bonsai seem to require a left...right...back... branch arrangement that creates a strongly three dimensional tree. I think the chinese styles are a lot more dependent on line than form.

But that isn't a line in the sand, which is I think what you wanted?

Regards,

Matt

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TreeBay

I haven't really heard the term "root flare" used very often, but I don't believe that the term nebari makes any distinction as to how the character of the roots was developed, whether by rooting hormone, natural development, painstaking cultivation or whatever.

So I don't think I would make any distinction between, root flare, root bole, nebari, rootbase, rootage, root buttress, etc.

Regards,

Matt

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