Cutiepie Bonsai and Penjing

Welcome to Cutiepie Bonsai & Penjing!

I have decided to move my blog home to Tumblr. To get readers, I needed to join one of these hellsites and Tumblr seemed the least hellish of them all. At least it's not owned by Meta, Google, or Apple! Here I am going to keep a chronicle of my gardening activity, primarily focusing on the bonsai and penjings I grow on my back porch.

How did you get started with this?

A long time ago, as a child, I remember being in a nursery and seeing bonsai for the first time. I thought they had to be toys and did not realize at the time that they were real, living trees.

For the longest time, I thought this to be the domain of highly trained, patient, green thumbed legends and all else who dare try and grow bonsai would be doomed to failure. One day last year, while at a nursery again I saw bonsai. This time I also saw penjing for the first time! I loved the concept of a small, contained garden.

I watched a few videos on YouTube and decided to try making my own. I started with my Pacific Northwest penjing, and then had to build more and more! Today I consider myself lucky to have found my life's artwork.

What are Penjings? How are they different from Bonsai?

I replanted my banyan tree into a proper bonsai style pot, completely solo, aside from a few minis, rocks, and other bits of decor. I'm really enjoying the new look, and reduced footprint on one of my indoor plant tables.

Aaahh!!! Real Monsteras

So what happened to the pot this tree used to be in? I was gifted four monstera plants, and I decided I would pot them all as a group into the large pot the banyan tree used to inhabit. The deep in the center pot made packing enough dirt to stand my tall climbing pole a bit easier.

I may later remove the bamboo pole and cover it with moss to give the plants something they can actually grow onto. I'm hoping these plants will grow and give my second indoor table a jungle-like appearance!

Originally Posted March 3rd, 2024

Today I wanted to dive into the history of both bonsai and penjing, and find out exactly what are the differences between them. Miniature trees and landscapes are found in many cultures and go by many other names, such as Hòn non bộ in Vietnam. In the United States, bonsai has become a “loanword”; a word from a foreign language that becomes part of English, where it refers to most any form of miniature tree or landscaping.

Properly, bonsai should refer to a tree in a shallow container, that is pruned and trained to an artful degree. Bonsai is derived from penjing, a much older form of miniature landscaping that includes rocks, water, miniature figures, and typically shows a more wild natural scene. Penjing comes in three different varieties. From Wikipedia:

Shumu penjing (樹木盆景): Tree penjing that focuses on the depiction of one or more trees and optionally other plants in a container, with the composition’s dominant elements shaped by the creator through trimming, pruning, and wiring.

Shanshui penjing (山水盆景): Landscape penjing that depicts a miniature landscape by carefully selecting and shaping rocks, which are usually placed in a container in contact with water. Small live plants are placed within the composition to complete the depiction.

Shuihan penjing (水旱盆景): A water and land penjing style that effectively combines the first two, including miniature trees and optionally miniature figures and structures to portray a landscape in detail.

Penjing dates back to the 3rd and 4th century, with legends of a powerful being who was able to shrink entire landscapes down and store them in small pots. However, written documents describing penjings did not appear until the 7th century during the time of the Tang dynasty. In Japan, bonsai dates back to a 1195 scroll entitled Saigyo Monogatari Emaki which depicts a dwarf potted tree. In 1309, the scroll Kasuga Gongen Genki E shows dwarf trees in shallow pots, much like modern bonsai.

Originally January 28th, 2024

This looks like a proper bonsai! I’m quite happy with this project I put together while bored during the week of ice. I had this ficus growing in a pot without giving it much attention for a couple months now. I had planned on putting it in my waterfall penjing, but thought it was too big in comparison to the mountain I was able to make out of the red lava stone. I had received a Christmas gift of a pretty pot, and being faced with being indoors for a whole week with nothing else to do, I decided to put together a proper indoor bonsai. Small tree in a small pot! I also wanted to get started with wire training, and after a couple of failures, I have my first success with this ficus.

When I first started trying to wire train my trees, I thought I could get by without getting the more expensive bonsai wire. I thought regular old hobby store aluminum wire would do just fine. But after damaging the root of my Korean Fir, breaking the top off a Japanese maple (and thus learning that they graft the tops onto other trees!), and nearly killing a baby tree I grew from seed, I broke down and bought proper wire. What a difference! This wire is much easier to bend and is far easier to work with. It feels as though it could do less damage to a tree as it seems to have some sort of coating around it.

Potting

I folded a small piece of this wire into a U-shape and used it to secure a circle of screen at the bottom of the pot. I ran another piece of wire through the screen in the opposite direction, perpendicular to the first wire, that would be used to secure the ficus to the pot. Already, I can tell that this wire is far superior to work with.

The rest of the potting process was pretty simple. I layered in a small amount of bonsai soil, placed the tree, and tied it down with my wire. More bonsai soil was added and packed around the roots of the tree to help it stand securely. The wire was twisted down to hold the tree in place, and bent beneath the surface of the soil to hide it. I topped it off with blue gravel and a small piece of moss.

Wiring

I think in some areas of the main trunk, I did not get enough of the wire wrapped around so it would not stay as bent as much as I would like. I was also cautious, with my past experiences of killing trees attempting this, so I tried to go light with the wire and the bending. I did not try to “bend it until the sound is about to come out” as a bonsai video I saw instructed. If I felt or saw any amount of damage, I backed off so the tree could heal. I really like this ficus, and I don’t want to lose it!

I tried to make sure there was a branch twisting off in each direction. I wanted the tree to appear to shoot off in every direction with twisting branches! These wires will stay twisted around the trunk and branches for four weeks before I remove them and reapply the wires to continue training as necessary.

With the wire training also came quite a bit of trimming. There were simply too many branches and leaves in certain areas that made the ficus look too cluttered. I trimmed several leaves and about 4 or 5 stems. The ficus really needed the haircut! I’ve read that you can remove up to a third of the trees root or branch volume without killing it. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this ficus will survive and I can root a few more of these little trees for a larger indoor penjing project further down the road.

Originally posted January 7th, 2024

It’s incredible what you can do with a sudden burst of inspiration! This past Thursday, I came home from work, took a step out onto the porch to view my garden, and saw the broken pieces of concrete that used to be in the bottom of a pot in which I grew cannabis. I also saw the old milk crate, some other pieces of stone, a container of soil, when suddenly I got hit with creative energies from the cosmic beyond. I turned some curved pieces of concrete on their side, and noticed it looked sort of like a pathway, sort of like a sidewalk in the city or around a park coming together with a lovely little circle in the center. I got right to work designing a new penjing!

Not thinking this is where the day would end, I was amped up with energy to use my creative potential. I lined the entire bottom of the green crate with a large piece of window screen to keep in as much dirt as I could. The screen is held down into place by the weight of the concrete. I’m unsure what these curved pieces once belonged to, but now they make the winding paths of Urbanite Penjing Park. I packed in the soil to keep it from spilling out the holes in the side, and then I covered each of the outside holes with grassy moss to help keep everything inside. Everything was seeming to stay in place. We’ll see if it survives the rain!

A few rocks of concrete would make a mountain for the display. Initially I stacked one rock on the other, but decided to take it down to the one piece. I added moss on the rock to give it a finished look. I also laid moss carefully along the edges of the “sidewalk” and throughout the whole project. Other smaller rocks make a small monument in one of the park sections.

I decided that I would only put items into this penjing that I can acquire for free. I found one plant in the display growing in the sidewalk near a convenience store around the corner from me. Some Japanese Maple seeds were planted in the center of the three smooth stones. Other areas for plants have been marked by small beds of gravel. I’m hoping to find a few ferns in my travels to add to the exhibit!

If I could start over, one thing I would do is place a piece of wood down under the crate to help move the display around. It feels too flimsy to do so at the moment.

Originally posted December 10, 2023

I bought a Sherwood Mugo Pine, a compact pine, initially for a project to honor the Great Mother. It was going to represent the pine that grew from the blood of Attis, and an almond tree would represent the one that grew from the blood of the intersex god Agdistis, who became Great Mother. This project, however, has been placed on hold for the time being, mostly because I wanted a different pine and have had tremendous difficulty acquiring an almond tree.

Gathering Supplies

I was given a wonderful rock from my adorable roommate during a trip she took to the coast. A flat, smooth stone with little pockets where the water eroded some of it away, some even going all the way through the rock, which I instantly thought about using as anchor points for a tree. There are little shells hidden inside some of the smaller pockets, which made me think I wanted to do a scene with this rock, as if it were by the sea, with some flat green lands just beyond this imaginary coast. The pine I had previously purchased, a Mugo Pine, looked like it could be a tree from an alien world, so I wanted to complement that with other plants that seemed like they could be from an alien world.

Once again, the discount shelf at my local pottery store proved invaluable. I snagged another planter, much like the one from my first project, for only $2! I grabbed a bag full of river stores while I was there to help decorate. I lined the bottom of the planter with a bit of window screen and secured it to the planter with bent wire. Only one wire would hold down a tree to the planter, and another wire would go through some holes that were eroded into the rock. 

Construction

I laid down a thin base layer of bonsai soil, and started working on the trees. I use chopsticks to loosen the soil around the root ball after I remove the tree from its original container, and also to help separate the roots from each other. I also spray the root ball down heavily with water to wash away rocks, bark, and dirt. When I am down to just the tree and its roots, I place the tree into the pot, wrap the wire over the tree, and twist to secure the trees.

With the trees tied down, I covered the roots in as little bonsai soil as I could possibly get away with. A few roots would poke through the surface, and I placed some of the smooth stones under them to help blend them into the landscape. I supplemented this project with four other plants: alpine water fern, a green creeping jenny, and two succulents of which I unfortunately forgot the name.

Originally posted November 26, 2023

Roaming my neighborhood to look for the rocks and moss was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the first penjing project I made, so this time I wanted to step up my game and do a proper fall foraging! I took a stroll around my neighborhood, armed with a plastic bin and a putty knife, with the goal of finding maple seeds, chestnuts, pine cones, and lots of moss. With the coming cold temperatures, this would likely be one of the last chances I will get this year to enjoy a long, languid foraging walk.

Near my home, there is a graveyard that is also a park and arboretum. It’s a beautiful place, full of trees everywhere you look, where many prominent people from my city’s past lay buried, not to mention some victims of its shameful racist past. I’ve considered having my ashes entombed in the ossuary here as well, when my time comes. Until then, though, I have a lot of projects I want to accomplish! 

While this would be a completely improper place to collect moss, I knew that I would be able to find many lovely seeds here, and I was not disappointed! I found plenty of chestnuts, pinecones, and other what I believe to be seeds in the park. What can I say, I’m new at this?! On my walk back home, I came across several Japanese maples where I found handfuls of seeds from several varieties. People in the Pacific Northwest seem to love these trees, probably because they seem to do so well in our climate. Likewise, moss is never hard to find in our climate. Dark and damp days lead to moss growing in every area not directly exposed to the sun. I scooped up several piles and put them in the bin with my seed haul.

Returning home with my prize led me to the question of “what do I do now?” Can I go right ahead and plant them in my pots and put them under a grow light? I knew that I should be patient and look for answers. After a bit of research, I found out about stratifying seeds. This is a process where seeds are artificially exposed to winter-like conditions to break their embryonic dormancy phase. This is required for the seeds of some trees in order to grow. Trees themselves also require a dormancy period during the winter so they can gather energy to grow in the spring, which could be a possible problem for me next year as I keep my penjing projects indoors this year. 

To simulate the conditions of winter, I put the seeds into sealable plastic bags with top soil. I cut a few air holes in the bags, and placed them in my refrigerator. There they will stay for around 90 days, at which time I will soak them overnight before planting and placing them under my grow lights. I didn’t have any way to keep all of the seeds sorted while I was gathering them, so I will just plant all of them and see what grows from them! I intend to enjoy the process.

I’ve been rooting several clones (and two walnut seeds!) under the lights this past season. I hope by the time the 90 days are over, they can return outside. I’ve been wanting to give them some time inside where they can be safe from squirrels and other varmints! I will then grow these seeds inside as well, to keep them safe from the same.

Originally posted November 19th, 2023

My journey into this living art form began when I was at my local nursery and saw a display. A wide and shallow bowl contained a small scene; a miniature landscape, with rocks making stairs that lead down a path into the distant trees. A large rock gave the appearance of a mountain in the distance. The small trees reminded me of bonsai, which had been in my limited experience the only word I knew for these diminutive trees. I knew then that I wanted to try making one for myself.

I remember seeing these little trees in the nurseries I was taken to when I was a child. I remember being captivated with them, at first not believing that they are in fact real, living trees. The cutesy, curvy, and curly shape of the branches, and the perfectly manicured leaves had an aesthetic that appealed to me.

Penjings, however, differ from bonsai in a few key ways. Bonsai is more minimal in appearance, typically features just one tree, usually of a Japanese variety, and does so as to show what is in my opinion a perfect specimen. Beautiful and expertly trimmed, bonsai represent the very best of what a tree can be, in a miniature capacity.

A penjing, on the other hand, is a display of one or many trees as well as other plants to create a miniature landscape, and like nature, often contains a few imperfections. Entire landscapes are sculpted, which can include tall mountains, rivers, and islands. Some penjings even feature waterfalls!

Making My Own

When I decided to make one of my own, I thought that I would do something that would grow well in the pacific northwest: native pacific northwest varieties! I settled on two western red cedars and a solitary incense cedar as the two tree types. Yellow monkey flowers and Alaskan fern would round things out with a couple of non-tree plants. Miniature walls and crows would end up finishing the look.

I snagged a saucer from a local pottery store’s discount rack. It had a small crack that is hardly noticeable once I put a few coats of black spray paint on it. There were four holes already drilled into the saucer that I could run wire through in order to tie down my trees, as well as provide the landscape with proper drainage. I covered the holes with a small piece of window screen so that the bonsai soil would be retained during watering.

I wanted one tree to be placed on more of a ‘hill’ than the other two, so I made a mound and surrounded it with rocks. Finding the rocks was actually one of the most enjoyable parts of this whole process. I went on many walks throughout my neighborhood and nearby parks looking for suitable rocks to place in my penjing. With the trees tied down, I covered the roots with bonsai soil, then topped the whole thing off with moss I collected from around my backyard. Water was liberally applied from a spray bottle both before and after the moss was layered on.

When everything was in the ground, so to speak, I decorated the landscape with some small wall miniatures I had found, as well as four crows that my dear sister Lydia bought for me on my birthday. Miniatures and figurines are another aspect that differentiate penjing from bonsai.All in all, the time spent during the building phase of the penjing took but a fraction of the time it took to gather the trees and planters. Everything didn’t even happen all at once; I planted the trees and the yellow monkey flower, then weeks later added the crows. I just finished adding the fern this past week. Throughout the whole process I have had to make minor repairs here and there, and I think I will start wire training the trees next.

I decided that the old "waterfall" penjing (which no longer has a waterfall) could move into a more cute container than a grey plastic tray. The dwarf pomegranate tree had died as well, so it no longer needed such a large display.

I had been given this bamboo serving tray, which I drilled some holes into the bottom of, both for draining water and for tree tie downs, and covered them with screen.

The moss was drying up and looking terrible in the third penjing I made. I used some large pieces of mulch bark to dress underneath each tree, filled in the sunken areas with fresh soil, and layers in freshly harvested moss. I also decided that the project had too many stones overall and removed a few of them. The penjing is currently sitting in the morning rain, and hopefully the moss will take root in its new home.