bonsai

Bonsai intent and stage

Record stated intent, observable development work and the basis for assigning a cultivation stage.

1. What evidence supports treating this material as bonsai, pre-bonsai or a candidate rather than simply a potted plant? definition
2. Who assigned its current development stage, and which observations or training records support that assignment? provenance

Plant members and origins

Record botanical identifications, individual plants and known graft or shared-root relationships without assuming every trunk is a separate tree.

1. Which living individuals, trunks and grafted components belong to this composition, and which relationships remain uncertain? boundary
2. What records or examinations support each botanical identification and the known origin of the material? provenance

Phenology and exposure

Record seasonal observations alongside light, temperature and wind exposure relevant to this specimen.

1. What bud, shoot, foliage or dormancy observations establish the specimen's current seasonal state? measurement
2. Which placement or protection changes are supported by its identification, current exposure and observed response? action

Growth and decline pattern

Record the location and progression of growth, dieback, damage and suspected pest or disease signs.

1. Which crown regions or individual trees show changed growth, foliage condition or dieback relative to dated observations? measurement
2. What additional observation or specialist assessment is needed before attributing those changes to a cause or selecting treatment? action

Root-zone water behaviour

Record moisture observations, water penetration and drainage, including how and where each was assessed.

1. How does moisture vary through the accessible root zone, and what method and timing were used to assess it? measurement
2. What observed drying, water penetration or drainage behaviour justifies changing watering practice or investigating the substrate? action

Repotting need and readiness

Record inspected root condition, anchorage, previous root work and the evidence for intervention timing.

1. What was directly observed about root distribution, condition and anchorage, and what remains hidden or inferred? measurement
2. What evidence supports repotting now, and how would the proposed root work and container change account for species, season and recovery state? action

Front, silhouette and relationships

Record the intended front, trunk movement, canopy outline and relationships among trees, container and visible roots.

1. Which front, silhouette and trunk relationships define the current design, and which remain provisional? definition
2. Which features are deliberate choices that should be preserved even if a general styling convention would suggest changing them? boundary

Retained and transitional structures

Record permanent candidates, temporary growth, unresolved alternatives and living structures requiring protection.

1. Which branches or leaders are retained design elements, temporary development growth or unresolved alternatives? definition
2. Before removing or reshaping a structure, which future design options and living tissues must be accounted for? action

Wire and support condition

Record wire, guy lines and supports, their intended effect, contact condition and inspection needs.

1. Where are shaping devices attached, what movement do they impose, and what contact damage or instability is visible? measurement
2. What observed change should trigger adjustment or removal, and how can that action protect the affected branch or trunk? action

Work history and next action

Record the timing, extent and purpose of pruning, root work and other substantial interventions, together with follow-up observations.

1. What substantial work was performed, on which parts, and what records establish its date and extent? provenance
2. What specimen-specific recovery evidence supports the next proposed intervention or requires it to be deferred? action

Kinds and varieties

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Shohaku (松柏) bonsai: pines, junipers and other conifers shown for needles, bark and deadwood
• Hamono / zōki (葉物・雑木) bonsai: deciduous foliage trees shown for ramification and seasonal leaf
• Hanamono (花物) bonsai: trees shown primarily in flower (ume, satsuki azalea, cherry)
• Mimono (実物) bonsai: trees shown primarily in fruit (crabapple, persimmon, pyracantha)
• Kusamono (草物): potted herbaceous plants displayed as companions or as a class of their own
• Shohin and mame: small-format trees, typically about 5-25 cm, judged as a separate exhibition class
• Yose-ue: multi-tree forest plantings in one container
• Indoor tropical bonsai: Ficus and other subtropical woody plants sold and kept indoors, a Western commercial class rather than a classical Japanese one

1. Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Identifiers and schemes

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Wikidata - Q64365 - Item for the Japanese art and the trained miniature tree; not a botanical taxon.
• Japanese name - 盆栽 (bonsai) - The characters are the same as Chinese pénzāi; in Japanese use they name the Japanese tree-in-pot tradition, not every potted dwarf plant.

1. Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Standards and regulation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Nippon Bonsai Association (日本盆栽協会) - Kokufu-ten invitational exhibition practice and the de facto quality canon for Japanese display trees.
• All Japan Shohin Bonsai Association (全日本小品盆栽協会) - size and display conventions for shohin-class trees.
• World Bonsai Friendship Federation - recurring world convention and exhibition framework for national organisations outside Japan.
• National plant-protection organisations acting under the FAO International Plant Protection Convention - phytosanitary certification of live trees in pots when they move in international trade.

1. Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Real-world use

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Contemplative single-tree display in a tokonoma or on a stand, often with a kusamono accent and a suiseki or scroll.
• Juried exhibitions (Kokufu-ten in Tokyo; museum collections at Omiya and the U.S. National Arboretum).
• Amateur and professional nursery culture: seedlings, cuttings, collected yamadori and imported stock trained over years.
• Garden-centre 'indoor bonsai' (often Ficus or juniper in a ceramic pot) sold as house plants, which is the form most non-specialists meet.
• Diplomatic and commemorative gifts of named old trees; not grown for food or medicine.

1. Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Typical measurements

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Display height of the tree - Hobby and exhibition trees commonly 15-90; named size classes run from about 3-8 (keshitsubo/mame) through 13-25 (shohin) up to about 150-200 (omono/imperial) - cm
• Years as a trained bonsai - Hobby trees often 10-80; documented masterpieces 500-800 - year
• Hands to lift (traditional size shorthand) - 1 (mame/shohin) to 6-8 (hachi-uye/imperial) - person-hands

1. Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Failure modes and hazards

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Temperate outdoor species kept as indoor houseplants weaken and die; classical bonsai is outdoor culture.
• Rapid drought: the shallow pot holds little water relative to leaf area.
• Root rot and anaerobic media from overwatering or blocked drainage.
• Training wire biting through cambium and girdling a branch or trunk.
• Scale, spider mite and fungal outbreaks in a dense, confined canopy.
• Frost kill of containerized roots, which lack the insulation of ground soil.
• Yamadori collecting that depletes wild old trees and can be illegal on protected land.
• Loss of taper, nebari or proportion from heavy topping or nursery 'instant bonsai' cuts.

1. Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Regional variation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Japan: tree-centred composition in a plain shallow pot; figurines and landscape props are generally omitted.
• China (penjing / pénzāi): often a tray landscape with rocks, water suggestion and sometimes figurines; same characters, different aesthetic brief.
• Korea (bunjae, 분재): cognate pot-tree tradition with its own exhibition practice.
• Vietnam (hòn non bộ): miniature living mountains with rock, water and plants, not a single-tree portrait.
• Europe and North America: the loanword is applied to almost any diminutive potted tree, including tropical indoor stock that would not pass a Japanese show.

1. Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Penjing - Chinese tray-landscape art; if rocks, water and figurines carry the scene as much as the tree, it is penjing. Japanese bonsai isolates the tree and usually drops the landscape props.
• Genetic dwarf or cultivar miniature - A dwarf cultivar stays small by genotype even in open ground. Bonsai is ordinary stock held small by pot, prune and root work; plant it out and it resumes near-normal size.
• Topiary - Topiary clips a plant into a geometric or ornamental outline. Bonsai aims at the illusion of an old tree in nature, including trunk taper, nebari and branch hierarchy.
• Saikei - A living tray landscape of several plants and soil/rock, judged as a scene. A bonsai is judged as one (or a designed group of) tree(s).
• Ordinary potted tree or houseplant - Container culture alone is not bonsai. The test is whether the plant is in a display pot and trained to Japanese proportion and style canons.
• Hòn non bộ - Vietnamese miniature mountain-and-water landscape; water and rock massing are essential. Bonsai does not require water.
• Ikebana - Cut-stem arrangement, not a living rooted tree kept for decades.
• Bonkei - Dry tray landscape, typically without living trees.

1. Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of bonsai this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance