The sublime windswept landscape planting is from Robert Steven’s now classic Vision of My Soul. The species of the trees is Dyospryros montana (Mountain persimmon is one of several English names).
A very quick search will reveal that there are precious few good windswept bonsai. At least on the web. I suspect there are several reasons for this. First, it’s time consuming to make a superb windswept like the one above. All those little branches need to be wired. Second, you have to understand how the wind works on trees. This requires some study and paying attention to detail. Not always a strong point with many of us. Third, there is a general misunderstanding about what windswept is. Many people believe semi-cascade and windswept are the same thing. They aren’t, but the belief that they are can prevent us from exploring what windswept really is.
To shed some light on the subject here’s some of what Robert Steven (who we recently referred to as Mr Windswept Bonsai) wrote in a previous post.
“Many people misunderstand that windswept style bonsai is simply formed by leaning the trunk and placing all the branches on one side. It is not that simple, windswept can be created in any style because in nature, wind can blow on any tree, including a tree leaning into the wind.
To create a good windswept bonsai, the key is properly developing the branching. The best branch structure is formed by the “clip-and-grow” technique, showing the flowing lines of the tiny twigs with very spare leaves. All the tips are flowing slightly upward in one direction as shown in the pictures below.
On the reverse side, we need to form some side branches with dramatic bending in the direction the wind blows, as shown on the above picture. The idea is to show that the wind causes the twigs to bend, but is not strong enough to bend the branches. The more we can play with this feature, the better the impact is.”
This is just a small sampling of what Robert has to say about windswept bonsai. Stay posted for more. Or you can take a look at Robert’s books (see below) and peruse the wealth of information by Robert on this blog.
A windswept conifer by Colin Lewis. Not as detailed as Robert’s bare branched windswept trees, but simple, clean and to the point.
Books by Robert Steven and Colin Lewis are available at Stone Lantern.
Gee…Hate to admit that I never had much awareness of giving bonsai that true reversal of direction that Robert Steven had accomplished so effectively with this Mountain persimmon. I have seen pictures of divi-divi trees along the shores of Aruba, growing practically horizontal from the constant tradewinds, a perfect example of trees adapting to one of the many forces of nature. I am now very much looking forward to reading Robert Steven’s Vision of My Soul.
Thanks Brian..and thanks to Wayne for posting.
You can see more of my Windswept bonsai in my FB’s Gallery : http://www.facebook.com/robertbonsai