Special Techniques of Bonsai: Jin and Shari (Videos)

Special Techniques of Bonsai (Part 2): Jin or Shari (Deadwood)

Jin and Shari or Deadwood as it is called in the western countries, adds not only an effective feature to a design but in the case of many old Pine and Juniper, a very realistic one as well. Jins on trees in nature are normally created when branches are broken by strong winds, by the weight of snow or by lightening strikes.

If you have branches that you are not going to require for your final styling you can use them to create jin. The use of jin on a bonsai implies to the viewer an increased age and shows the struggle of the tree to survive.

Shari is made to add age to a tree, or to disguise a bad scar or defect on the trunk. There must be a good reason to have shari. It should not be made just to have a shari. In nature shari are made by storms, rockslides and insect infestations, not to mention lightning and a dozen other things.

If two dead branches occur, one above the other, a shari can be made connecting them. This can have a very natural look and give age and beauty to an otherwise plain tree. Also, occasionally a tree has a large twisted branch with a jin at the tip; a small shari can be made further back on the branch to give it a more aged look.
Shari should be made in the direction of growth of the trunk or branch. Small shari can usually be done in one treatment. Larger shari should be done over a longer period of time because too much removal of bark and live tissue can seriously weaken or kill a tree. If a shari is made small at first, then enlarged, it will give the tree time to adjust to the change. When the wood that is exposed dries out completely it can then be widened. The process can progress over a few years if you desire the majority of the trunk to be deadwood. Man-made shari will look better if they do not go straight up and down the trunk. Natural shari can be in any shape but can be modified with care to effect improvement.

Unfortunately, its design can be difficult. A successful jin must look natural, it must look as though it has been created by nature in order to compliment and not detract from the tree. A common way of creating a jin is by carving using power and hand tool. It takes a great deal of skill, particularly if the wood is featureless. Deadwood features are created by tearing away at the wood to mimic the action of a broken branch pulling away strips of the grain to create a natural effect. These techniques can also be applied when creating jin from branches down to 1/2" in thickness; they are however intended only for species that have fibrous wood. This includes nearly all coniferous species but only some deciduous species.

The purpose of jinning a trunk is to create an effect of an old, dead stump that will compliment the main trunk of the bonsai. 

Jin can be made at any time of the year but if you are doing large branches it is best to wait until the tree is dormant and the sap is not flowing.

When creating dead wood on branches, select branches that are heavy enough to produce good jin. Remember that when the bark and soft tissue are removed what remains is much smaller than the branch you started with. If you want to jin a branch in the future that is not yet large enough, wire it, shape it, and let the wire cut in so that the twist effect will show when the bark is later removed.

When jin are made here and there on a tree it is best to make them small, unless a very large branch is jinned. If the tree is mostly jin, then mixed small and large jin looks good.

The first step is to remove the bark from the portion of wood that is to be jinned. Any remaining soft tissue is also removed. At this point only the part of the stump that is above the soil level will be worked on; further work will be carried out as the stump is revealed after repotting in the future.

The first slithers are pulled away from the stump; the top of the wood is either notched to segment it or crushed with pliers. Each segment is then pulled down and away from the stump with jin pliers or ordinary pliers. When pulling away strips of wood, it is important the live section at the sides or the base are not damaged. Strips rarely stop abruptly above the live wood and often need removing near the base with a knife or similar.

The pulling down of the segments of wood continues on the first half of the stump.

The second half of the stump is then pulled away; it is starting to reveal more of a natural shape. Unfortunately, the current shape resembles a catapult and it is decided to reduce the second half of the stump further.

After reducing the second half of the stump; now the jin is really starting to take shape. Increasingly smaller strips of the grain are now pulled the length of the stump, creating more texture to the wood.As the wood is fibrous, small burrs and pulls are evident. These are best dealt with by gently burning the surface of the wood.

The stump is gently scorched with a naked flame to burn off all the fibres. It is very important at this point to protect the rest of the tree, in particular the foliage, from not only the flame but also the heat that it generates. In this case, a piece of hardboard was used to completely cover the tree from the flame. It is also important that the jin itself is only slightly scorched to remove the fibres otherwise it is possible for the jin itself to set alight!Any blackening of the wood is easily removed by the process of smoothing off and lime-sulphuring. In this picture, the jin has been lightly carved with a small gouge to accentuate its lines and it has been gently sanded down with sandpaper to smooth out any tool marks. Sharp edges are also rounded off to replicate the effect that the action of the weather would have on deadwood in nature.



Once the jin is made, scrape it clean, sand it with emery cloth, (cloth backed sandpaper used by plumbers, available at most hardware stores) wire it and put movement in it if it has none. The jin can now be treated with lime sulfur.
to whiten it and to stop it from rotting in the future. In the future, black ink will be added to the lime sulphur when painting the recesses to add a greater illusion of depth. 

The following morning the lime-sulphur has nearly dried and the work is complete. Once treated, wait until the wood is dry (months later) and then treat with wood hardener.

After the jin is dry and shaped by wire it can be worked on again. Soak the jin with water and remove the softer wood in one direction with a wire brush. This gives the jin an aged look with the grain showing. Then treat it with lime sulfur and wood hardener if you hadn’t previously.
Lime Sulfur should be applied once per year to help preserve wood for the long term. If it appears too white tint the lime mix with sumii ink to the degree of grayness you desire. However, trees with naturally black dead wood, such as olive, should not be made white.
 The effect of the lime sulfur will decrease over the course of a few months so that the jin looks more natural

In the future, when the tree itself has been styled, the jin will be further refined to ensure it compliments other areas of deadwood on the bonsai as a whole. For the time being, it will now be left to dry and weather naturally.

Shari is made by cutting into the hard wood. Since it cannot be wired it should be carefully shaped with a small gouge. Do not use an electric tool except for rough cutting. The marks from electric tools do not look natural, so always finish with hand tools. Treat the shari with lime sulfur and a wood hardener after it has dried as you would with jin.
A nice effect can be achieved with old shari that have a significant rollover. Rollover occurs when the cambium grows rounded at the edge of a shari to heal it. Kill the live section back further to create a double rollover on the trunk.

Thanks to my friend Thanun Patipantada for the pictures.

Fernes, Mosses and Liverworts (Ground cover for bonsai)

The ground cover of your bonsai is one of the important aesthetic elements that will improve the overall visual composition of your bonsai, as well as assist in providing soil chemical stability and retaining temperature and moisture for the bonsai tree’s surface roots. A good choice of ground cover vegetation coupled with other landscaping accessories will complement your bonsai tree greatly. (It is also one of the assessment factors in bonsai competitions.)

There are functions for everything in bonsai, and mosses and lichens, used as ground covers, are no exception. They, of course, look great, covering the soil surface with 'green velvet' and helping to retain water while holding the soil in the container. For people buying bonsai, the presence of moss is always a good sign. There are a great number of types of mosses and lichens and these can be mixed to provide a very effective result overall. When not used for 'conservation' purposes, they should be planted sparingly so that their effect is natural, and they do not prevent water from reaching the soil.

There is a particular method of mossing a potted bonsai that will produce a smooth mat of deep green, with none of the lumpy growth that can be typical of piecing bits of moss together. With a sharp knife, slice the moss from its growing place, taking as little soil as possible. Put this moss in a container lined with paper, and moisten it lightly (it should be moist, not wet). Remove most of the remaining soil from the moss using sharp scissors, pulling each little tuft away from the larger piece.

Prepare the surface soil in the bonsai pot by scratching it to roughen it up. With long handed tweezers, start inserting each tuft of moss close to, but not against, the trunk. Work out and away from the trunk until you have the look you want, then brush off most of the tufts. Sprinkle dry soil over the moss and press it down with a flat spatula or small trowel (even your hand if you are careful). Mist gently two or three times and the soil will settle down between the tufts.

As an alternative to collecting moss and going through this somewhat time consuming process, you can use dried moss. Gather it, then place it in the shade for a few days until it is completely dry. Put it through a fine strainer - a sieve will do - to crumble it. Mix the particles with some soil and spread it over the bonsai soil in the pot, making a thin, even layer. Press it down with a flat spatula or small trowel and gently mist continually until the soft green moss begins to grow. Some people just scrape soil off the bottom of the moss and put this on the soil of the bonsai, but takes a much longer time to root and is a delight for small birds when looking for worms if left exposed. Along with the growth of a healthy crop of moss often comes the appearance of a silver fungus around the soil line at the trunk of the tree. This is a sign of a healthily growing bonsai. The fungus develops as the moss takes hold, and it cannot be artificially implanted. In the heat of summer, moss may turn brown. It means the bonsai is getting the water it needs. As soon as cooler temperatures and higher humidity return, so will the 'green velvet'.

  

Ferns, Mosses and Liverworts are flowerless plants, reproducing by small, dust-like spores that are dispersed by the wind.  They are most abundant in damp habitats and most climates, as their thin leaves are easily damaged by desiccation.  Also, unlike flowering plants that produce pollen, fertilization is brought about by a male sperm, which needs a film of water in which to swim to the egg.

Moses and liverworts belong to a group of plants known as the Bryophyta . Their spores develop in a capsule, usually situated at the top of a stalk, or seta.  Mosses differ from liverworts in the structure of the spore capsule and the arrangement of their leaves.  About 65 different mosses and liverworts have been found growing on the bark of oaks, but very few ferns habitually grow on the trees themselves.

Ferns like bright diffused light and moist soil. Prune dead fronds from the plant immediately and keep humidity near the plant high for best results.

 

 

Polypodium vulgare: Ferns are common in oakwoods but the Common Polypody is the only species that regularly grows on trees themselves.  The spores develop in the microscopic sacs called sporangia, which are arranged in orange-brown clusters, called Sori, on the undersides of the fronds.

Lophocolea bidentata/heterophylla: The bidentata is a common leafy liverwort, found on decaying logs and among mosses on woodland banks. The heterophylla grows on the lower parts of trunks and branches, and its upper leaves are unlobed, unlike the bidentata.

Isothecium myosuroides:  This is a very common moss throughout Britain and central Europe, typically growing on the lower parts of tree trunks, on falled logs, and also on shaded rocks adn boulders.  It is a pleurocarpous moss, with spore capsules growing from the sides rather than the ends of the branches, and has a characteristic olive-green sheen.

Amblystegium serpens:  This is one of the smallest European species of pleurocarpous moss, with tiny leaves, and it is common on fallen logs and the lower branches of trees throughout Britain and central Europe. It produces capsules almost all year round.

Dicranoweisia cirrata:  This is the most common of the acrocarpous mosses, (mosses that have capsules at the tips of erect shoots), of tree trunks and lower branches.  It is usually fertile and is found throughout Europe, specially in areas with low levels of atmospheric pollution.

Ulota crispa:  This occurs in small, yellow-green tufts on twigs and small branches of hazel and elder, as well as young oaks.  Widespread throughout Europe, it is less common in the Midlands and southeast regions of Britain. 

Mnimum hornum: This is one of the most common European woodland mosses.  It grows on tree trunks, decaying logs, stream banks, and woodland floors, especially on acid soil throughout Britain and central Europe. It forms extensive dark-green patches.

Eurhynchium praelongun: A delicate species of pleurocarpous moss common in central Europe, it favours decaying stumps and logs.  It has fine, feathery branches and small leaves, and regular branching of shoots is characteristic.

Frullania dilatata:  A small, leafy liverwort, it can frequently be found growing on the lower branches and trunks of oaks and other trees.  The reddish-brown colour is characteristic of the Frullania species.  It is widespread in Britain and Europe, except in polluted areas and the extreme north.

Dicranum scoparium:  This is a common moss on fallen logs, woodland banks and the trunks and lower branches of trees.  It grows in bright green patches and the tips of its erect shoots all curve over in the same direction.

Hypnum cupressiforme:  A very common moss throughout Europe, this grows in mats on banks, trees and decaying logs, Similar to isothecium myosuroides, it grows higher up on trees and has more curves leaves.

Brachythecium rutabulum:  This is a robust species of pleurocarpous moss wit a characteristic yellow-green, glossy tinge to the branch tips.  It is common on tree trunks and decaying logs, especially where the soil is fertile.  It is abundant throughout central Europe.

There exists a multitude of suitable ground cover plants for growing bonsai, and those above are only a fraction of the plentiful choices available. It must be remembered that the ground cover should never be totally shaded and covered up with growth, as the soil needs the warmth from the sun to provide conducive conditions for root growth.

Thanks Richard Lewington.

Morikami Japanese Garden, Boca Raton, FL. USA (Part 2)

Morikami Japanese Garden, Boca Raton, FL. USA (Part 1)

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