The bonsai tree display in your garden centre may well prove intriguing but attempting this time-honoured art for yourself is nothing short of a labour of love; the devotion of a lifetime some would say. Expensive, spindly twigs in trays are a million miles away from the pure Japanese art form where the gardener is almost a keeper of the spirit of the tree, dedicated to bringing out its very essence and life force in full and healthy miniature form. You can select virtually any species for your bonsai tree (bonsai being from the Japanese for bon which means basin or bowl and sai which means to plant) from beautiful English yews and elms through to Taxus Baccata, Mobius and Japanese Maples – each of which will develop and grow in miniature while still displaying its original intention as long as you take responsibility for every judicious prune you make. It`s honourable to remember that you are changing the bonsai tree in its original will to head up to the sun and sky with your will to have it flourish in glorious miniature. It`s a particular art but when you see the results of experts like Graham Potter and his wife Catherine at Kaizen Bonsai, you can see why this would evoke a sense of mastery which can be profoundly satisfying and truly beautiful to exponents of the bonsai tree art. To find out more about bonsai tree planting and cultivation, to uncover the wisdom, the art and the technicalities, the internet provides an invaluable treasure trove of information. In fact, now with modern technology, you can virtually meet experts who will gladly teach you, pass on their hard-earned skills and provide everything you need to get you started or indeed to help you grow your collection. It`s not only the bonsai tree which is smaller with every clip, so too is our world when every expert is a mere click away!

Before they became a long standing hobby, the first Bonsai Trees I ever saw made me feel an incredible range of emotions. At first, I was incredulous; I just couldn`t believe they were real because one, in particular, a straight, rather spiky pine in a very tired looking, unprepossessing brown dish looked just like the model shrubs my brother had by his model railway! I touched the Bonsai Trees gently and caught their natural fragrance and something touched a nerve back in me because surely, following a child`s reasoning, these were supposed to be flourishing proudly in woodlands not in tiny restrictive trays with no earth to ground them and barely the root space needed to feed and water them. I was told that was entirely the point because otherwise they wouldn`t be miniatures and I honestly felt sad because this didn`t feel like it honoured nature to me at all. (I should point out that my love of nature and gardening started at the age of four with my first home-seeded trays of sparkly mesembryanthemums.) But, despite these rising first feelings, there was something so exquisitely beautiful about the Bonsai Trees that I was held captive and spell bound, staring at them and wondering at their beauty. They seemed so perfect in shape and form, so lush and healthy, I don`t know, it was like a rush of excitement that I just had to understand this art more. And so began my lifelong fascination for Bonsai Trees and for attaining the gentle wisdom associated with the Japanese art of cultivating them.

The word Bonsai comes from the Japanese for `tray planting` and is an ancient and revered art of cultivating trees and shrubs to create a work of art where the original life force and very essence of the species is encouraged to shine out its beauty in breath-taking miniature. Leading exponent of the art, Graham Potter at Kaizen Bonsai has created an entire website devoted to the cultivation techniques and products and he believes that Bonsai is all about harmony and equilibrium which is self evident when you visit. You`ll see examples of his work on display, including English yews, knotty pines, junipers, English elms and Japanese maples, each a breath-taking masterpiece showing his devotion to what he calls `Kaizen`. This is another Japanese concept of continual, ongoing improvement leading to success with a particular goal, often against seemingly unassailable odds. By his own brave admission, he has struggled with Bonsai himself over the years but it`s his wisdom and perseverance that make his results today all the more admirable. The art requires patience and knowledge, sympathy and even mastery of nature to a degree and Kaizen Bonsai provides all the essential tools, equipment, information and back-up to help you achieve majestic miniatures of your own. Once this art has caught your attention, expect it to become a heart-felt passion because, as you might expect, it requires so much more of your creativity to nurture nature into full glory but on a small scale. As fairies are considered angels of the smaller nature, perhaps Bonsai is for gardeners and artists who also delight in the smaller nature of life.