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The
literal meaning of bonsai is 'plant in a tray'. While the tree
itself contributes to one half of the composition, the pot completes
the overall image. The 'bonsai' in its literal sense is judged
by the visual impact of both the tree and the pot.
Unfortunately, choosing and locating the correct, or the best,
pot to plant your tree into is not easy. While a well-chosen pot
will enhance a bonsai and strengthen a design, a poorly chosen
or unsuitable design will actually lessen the impact of the tree.
Ultimately, until the 'right' pot is found the tree will never
reach its full potential as a bonsai.
A
pot can be expensive investment for your tree; buying an unsuitable
pot for your tree can mean having to find a more suitable pot
in the future. Finding the right pot, first time, is not only
satisfying but saves money and helps avoid ending up with a pile
of pots that don't quite seem to suit any of your trees!
This article is written to help the enthusiast understand how
to go about choosing the correct pot for their tree. My express
thanks go to Vic Harris of Erin
Pottery for his help in writing this guide and for providing
images of some his pots to illustrate this article.
Choosing
the right pot for your tree
Choosing
the best pot for a particular tree is not easy. As well as the
more mundane factory-made Chinese and Korean pots there are a
number of bonsai potters and potteries throughout the world that
are able to offer individual and diverse pot designs and glazes
to the enthusiast. There are so many available colours, sizes
and designs that it can become very difficult to identify exactly
which one(s) are best for your tree.
Pot choice is also subjective, ultimately some of the final decision
will be made according to your own personal tastes. Some enthusiasts
prefer more conservative pot shapes, textures and glazes, other
enthusiasts prefer to make more unusual 'individual' choices.
In an effort to help choose the correct 'type' of pot for your
tree I have asked Vic Harris to help me draw up some basic guidelines
when choosing a new pot for your tree.
To arrive at a good decision, it is useful to break down the choices
into 4 parts. Pot dimension, pot shape, pot colour and Texture
Choice
1: Pot Dimensions
The
first thing to consider is the size of the pot that you will need.
The correct pot dimensions can be achieved using some basic rules
according to the dimensions of the tree itself.
The
general rule of thumb is that the pots depth should be
equal to the diameter of the trunk just above soil level.
For oval or rectangular pots, the length of the pot should be
2/3 the height of the tree.
For round pots, the diameter of the pot should be 1/3 the height
of the tree.
For trees with especially wide canopies a wider pot can be necessary
and this can be compensated by using a slightly shallower pot.
As equally, a tree with a very thick trunk (in comparison with
the height of the tree) may suit a slightly deeper but narrower
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It
should be remembered that these guidelines are based on aesthetics
only. For horticultural reasons, some tree species require larger
or smaller pots. Species with very fast growing roots such as
Trident Maples often require deeper pots whilst flowering and
fruiting species such as Crab Apples require more root run and
therefore deeper pots.
Choice
2: Pot Shape
The
style of pot that you choose will need to harmonize with the tree.
You need to take a look at your tree and evaluate its characteristics.
Try to decide whether your tree is masculine or feminine. Many
trees are a combination of both although usually one is dominant
than the other. This is very subjective; for some people a tree
may be masculine, for others, it might be feminine. Ultimately
as the owner of the tree it is for you to decide. It should be
noted though that a firmly masculine tree will never look right
in a very feminine oval pot; in turn a feminine tree will always
look awkward in a masculine pot.
What
makes a tree feminine or masculine?
A
masculine tree gives an impression of strength, it might have
a heavily tapered trunk, have craggy, mature bark, strong angular
branching, it may have deadwood. It may have a straight, powerful
trunk or a dense canopy.
A feminine tree will have a more delicate appearance, a smooth
trunkline, smooth bark, sinuous movement in its trunk and branches.
A light canopy and slow taper.
Some tree species are predisposed to being considered feminine
or masculine; Pines or angular Hawthorns are often considered
masculine whereas delicate Japanese Maples will be considered
as naturally feminine.
However, a strong, heavily tapered Japanese Maple with delicate
leaves and branching could be considered to be a feminine species
with masculine features, whilst a tall Hawthorn with craggy, rough
bark, gentle curves and very gradual taper could be considered
a masculine species with a feminine characteristics. With trees
such as these it is necessary to identify which is the strongest
feature and reflect it. Is it the craggy, fissured bark of the
hawthorn or the gentle curves of the trunk that have the strongest
visual impact? Is it the delicate branching of the Maple or the
powerful tapered trunk that attracts your eye most?
Fortunately, it is possible to find pot designs that can reflect
both femininity and masculinity.
Pots
are considered feminine or masculine. Deep pots with strong angular
features are considered masculine whilst more feminine pots are
shallower with softer lines.
For instance, strong chunky, deep rectangles with sharp corners
are very masculine pots, as are square pots. These are suited
to thick heavy trunked masculine trees, especially conifers.
For thick-trunked deciduous trees, the corners of the rectangle
can be rounded thus reducing the masculinity of the pot a little.
Working down through the scale of masculinity, deep chunky ovals
come next and then we have drums/round pots that are androgynous
i.e. are suitable for a masculine or feminine tree.
After this we move into the feminine pots which are shallow delicate
ovals and very shallow round literati pots.
Pot
Shape Basic Guidelines
Rectangular
pots
are suitable for coniferous species and big deciduous trees
with very pronounced taper, wide base, heavy buttressed
nebari. These are used for masculine trees to add a feeling
of strength in the tree
Oval pots Suitable for reflecting
the femininity of deciduous trees, clump style bonsai, groves
and forests. The less taper the tree has the more feminine
it tends to become, sinuous curves can also dampen the masculinity
of a tree.
Round. Suitable for coniferous
or deciduous feminine trees, particularly (but not exclusively)
for literati/bunjin trees. Tall straight or sinuously curved
trees with very little taper are the most feminine and the
pots that tend to suit these trees are very shallow rounds.
Pot
Lip or Rim
A
lip on the upper rim gives additional strength to a masculine
tree.
A straight rim is softer for more androgynous trees
A bowl/convex side is more suited to feminine trees
Pot
Corners
Sharp,
right-angled corners are masculine and suitable for masculine
trees
Indented corners on a rectangular pot soften the masculinity
of a pot.
Rounded corners softens the pot further, beginning to resemble
a oval pot and more suitable for masculine deciduous trees
Feet of pot
The
main purpose of feet on a bonsai pot is to allow for good
drainage and airflow, but feet can also be used to change
the pots appearance.
Feet can be subtle and decorative or strong and robust.
These qualities can be used to influence the over all feel
of the pot, big chunky feet can add strength to the design
and understated delicate feet will have the opposite effect.
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Choice
3: Pot Colour
Once
you have decided on the shape of the pot, next you need to think
of the colour and texture.
Every tree is unique, although it is possible to generalize about
a particular species, each individual tree will have something
to pick up on as no two trees are exactly the same and there are
always small variations that can be brought out in the pot colour
and texture.
The
colour of the pot can be used to pick up on a feature of the tree
and therefore helps the tree and pot colour 'work' well together.
The colour in the tree that is complimented can be that of the
bark, for instance an unglazed red/brown pot picking up the bark
of a Juniper. It can compliment the colour of the leaves through
the summer or the autumn colour. On fruiting or flowering trees,
the colour of the pot can be used to compliment the colour of
the flowers or the berries.
Pot
Examples
A masculine pot with sharp corners, an outward square lip
and strong feet.This
pot would suit thick trunked junipers/pines the blue green
glaze harmonizing with the blue green foliage and the dark
brown/rusty red of the textured lower portion of the pot
picking up on the trunk coloration.
Slightly less masculine pot ,Soft cornered rectangle, no
lip , inconspicuous feet, this pot with its gray glaze
would suit a heavy trunk oak or hornbeam.
This pot although an oval still has some masculine qualities,
it is deep and has a strong outward square lip , with its
dark green glaze a heavy trunk red maple would suit this
pot, the dark green contrasting well with the red leaves
in a similar way to blue, or a thick trunk Chinese elm,
here the dark green would blend with the dark green of the
leaves.
Next we have a drum, suitable for masculine or feminine
trees, but with this glaze, it would be most suitable for
deciduous species like acers, gingko.
Here we have a feminine oval with gentle outward flare and
soft rounded lip with a cream glaze, any of the lighter
colored more delicate trunk deciduous trees,with smooth
bark would look good in this pot, acers, beech, ash.
Lastly, we have a shallow round literati style pot, although
this a feminine style, often the trees used for this style
have masculine features i.e. rough bark and this is taken
into account by adding a rough texture to the pot. This
pot would suit literati style junipers and pines with the
rusty red unglazed finish.
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Examples
of tree and pot colour combinations
Derek's
Juniper, picks up on the bark with a very close match of
colours
Richard's
pine, the dark green of the pot highlights the lighter green
of the needles, this illustrates a contrasting tone.
Harry's
hawthorn, the off white glaze picks up on the bark coloration.
Harry's
Parthenocissus, the pastel green of the pot contrasts nicely
with the more vibrant green of the foliage.
Harry's
cascade elm. Here the glaze picks up on the bark of the
tree.
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Although
you generally want the colour and texture of a pot to match some
characteristic of the tree, sometimes contrasts can work very
well, for example, the red leaves of a red-leaved trees work well
with a blue pot.
The
colour can also be used to accentuate the energy of the tree.
Warm colours such as browns, reds, oranges and yellows provide
a feeling of warmth and stability to the tree whereas cold colours
such as blues and greens can balance and refresh the overall composition.
Warm and cold colours can be used to contrast with a bonsai. Warm
colours can be used for tiny (mame-sized) bonsai to exaggerate
their colour whereas cool colours can be used to tone down bright-leaved
species.
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Basic
Guide to Tree/ Pot colour combinations
This is a very basic guide designed to be a
starting point or general guide to colours that can be suitable
for any given tree and of course the final choice can be altered
to suit the individual characteristics of any given tree.
Light
browns/Oatmeals-
Acer, Elm, Beech,Oak,Larch,Hawthorn,Ash ,gingko
Off whites/Grey's-
Hawthorn,Oak,Acer,Ash
Light
greens
Acer, ash ,beech
Dark
greens
Acer, Azaleas, Chinese elm, cotoneaster
Medium
Browns-
Elm,Birch ,Mountain Ash, Acer
Dark Browns/Red Browns/Unglazed Reds/Browns
Pine,Juniper,Cotoneaster,Larch and other conifers,Azaleas
Light
blue
Azaleas, Malus and other flowering species
Matt Blues-
Acer,Juniper,Pine,Azaleas
Matt Blue/Greens-
Pine,Junipers,Acer, Azaleas (this combination
will also suit just about any tree as they are the colours
that you see most trees framed by when in their natural state
)
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Choice
4: Pot Texture
Textures
in a pot are again used to compliment a tree. Smooth clay finishes
are suitable for more feminine trees whereas heavily textured
pots bring out the masculinity and wildness in a tree.
Texture
examples
This
pot is very textured, it has a very coarse, gritty feel
to it and would be suitable for most pines.
This pot has a smooth glaze but lots of texture added to
the lower portion of the pot, this is an interesting way
of adding texture to a pot and mirrors the composition of
the tree itself, with the glaze complementing the foliage
and the unglazed portion picking up on the trunk and this
pot would suit cascade style junipers or pines
This pot has texture within the glaze itself, the texture
is not coarse or rough as with the examples above, here
it is much more subtle, the sort of softer textures found
in some deciduous trees, again here the dark blue/purple
glaze would suit a tree with dark red foliage Acers, copper
beech or maybe an azalea with red flowers, all of these
trees can develop subtle texture as they mature.
This pot is very smooth and has quite gentle feminine feel
to it and would suit Acers, beech or ash
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Conclusion
As
can be seen in this article, choosing the correct pot is not simple
but it can be learnt. Ultimately, a combination of personal tastes,
knowledge and experience makes the process much easier.
When buying pots for your bonsai try to make sure you know the
pot measurements needed for a tree. It is no good buying a suitable
pot only to find it is too big or small for your tree.
Have a good idea of the shape that will suit the masculinity or
femininity of your tree.
Have a good idea of the colours and textures that will suit your
tree.
Don't
be embarrassed to ask the advice of the bonsai nursery or the
potter you are buying from, an experienced potter or bonsai nursery
will always be able to give you a choice of suitable pots to choose
from. However, always try to have a picture of your tree to hand
as this makes the nursery or potter's job much, much easier!
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