by Hal Mahoney

In 1992 Bonsai Magazine printed an article by Hal Mohoney on what Hal named the CLAFT style. In 1996 they published another article by Hal giving more information on this style. Our Midge Goeth attended a recent workshop at the Sho Fu Bonsai Society given by Hal on the claft style. Being the good associate editor, she asked Hal if GLBS could reprint the information. Hal graciously consented. We have taken both of his articles and are reprinting them below. We have modifi ed the placement and naming of the figures since several of the figures in the second article were the same presented in the fi rst article. - ED

Claft Style Saikei - Part I

At a recent lecture/demonstration of the Long Island Bonsai Society, the topic was to be "clump style bonsai." The demonstration started out with a clump of Vaccinium North Sky (a variety of blueberry). Half way through the demonstration a discussion began concerning the naming of the specimen. What do you call a bonsai that starts out as a clump and winds up resembling a raft? What better name than CLAFT style bonsai!

Clump style bonsai are amongst the least understood styles of bonsai. As I think back to the many bonsai collections that I have seen, I cannot recall many clump style bonsai being in them. Perhaps a reason for their lack of popularity is due to the fact that often times there is but a thin line separating clump style bonsai from just plain bushes or shrubs. There are several things that can be done to make the difference obvious.

In clump style, there are from few to many trunks emanating from a single root system. Since there is but a single root system, the base of a clump style bonsai is often very narrow. The more branches that radiate out from the narrow root system, the more the plant looks like a bush instead of a bonsai. The fan-shaped plant that results is undesirable as a bonsai [Fig. 1]. With a little effort, the fan-shaped clump can be modi. ed so as to have a much wider base with many individual trees rising vertically from the root system.

This can be accomplished if the outermost branches on both the left and right are first wired, then bent horizontally to the ground [Fig. 2], and finally turned abruptly up-ward to resemble tree trunks [Fig. 3]. This procedure should be repeated several times on the left and right sides and to the rear [Fig. 4]. The left and right branches will add width to the base and the rear branches will provide the necessary depth to the emerging forest. Small branches growing toward the front of the specimen should be removed to allow the middle trees, which are usually the taller and thicker, to be the "near" trees of the forest.

Branches that have been wired down are often fiexible enough to become trees close to the center of the clump or far out toward the edge. They can be moved toward the front or toward the back. This movement capability allows you to place a tree almost anywhere it is needed.

Trunks that are wired down should have their undersides scored to the cambium and root hormone applied. Fine roots will develop in these areas, thus giving each tree its own root system.

The newly created forest should be trimmed to give us the triangle we are so accustomed to [Fig. 5].

Photos 1 and 2 are the before and after photos taken at the lecture/ demonstration. Photo 3 is the same forest, three months later, in full leaf.

Some plants just seem to beg for this kind of treatment. The technique has been used successfully on golden barberry, cotoneaster, quince, and Chinese juniper. It’s so easy to get a whole forest from a single “bush!”

Claft Style Revisited – Part II

In the November/December 1992 issue of Bonsai Clubs International’s BONSAI MAGAZINE, the details for Claft Style Bonsai were described in some detail. It is a style of bonsai that is a special combination of a Clump and a Raft; hence the name. The term is helpful in that it describes a very specific bonsai technique. It is a technique that can be used to change the narrow base line of an undesirable fanlike clump into a broad based forest planting.

In brief, an extender branch on the left, right, front or rear is wired, laid parallel to the soil surface with the tip turned up to form a tree at any desired point!!! Each branch in the clump can be turned up, far-out to form a distant small tree or in close to form a taller near-distant tree, or somewhere in between. (Figure 1-5)

In a similar manner, each extender branch can be brought to the front or to the rear and turned up to form a new tree in a new location. In fact, almost any branch can be turned up to form a new tree anywhere within a 180° (or more) radius. Just to illustrate this point, during a recent demonstration on Claft Style Bonsai, one such extender branch was moved, in good humor, in an almost complete 360°. By wiring all branches in a clump and “placing” them as illustrated above, a broad based forest is obtained.

Creating Depth in a Saikei

In constructing a saikei, the single most important factor to be considered is that of depth perspective. The composition must appear to represent a vista of many miles. All efforts should be guided toward attainment of this goal. Saikei, where depth perspective was not properly considered, fail to portray a scene realistically. There are several ways to achieve the perspective of depth.

Saikei usually incorporate the use of water and rocks to increase interest. This is done by including a stream, an inland sea or other body of water in the composition. Construction of an interesting stream bed offers an excellent opportunity to create that vista of great depth. Interesting rocks can be used to outline the stream bed. Use those same rocks to create depth in your composition. When placing the rocks, we must make sure the rocks converge in the distance (Fig. 3). We know through practical experience that a stream usually has parallel sides and that these sides seem to converge over a great distance. If we build these converging sides into our own saikei we achieve the feeling of great distance in just a few inches.

The rocks should be placed so that a curving stream is formed. When viewing the stream from the front, the stream should curve out of sight and so represent an endless stream traveling great distance (more depth).

As an outgrowth of work on rock penjing, where rocks are so often cemented together, I find it helpful if cement is also used to keep the stream bed of a saikei in place. Once the rocks are in position, use a chalk outline to record their exact positions (Fig. 4). This is necessary in order to insure that the rocks, once removed, are put back in their exact former position. A piece of waxed paper is placed over the chalk outline and the rocks returned to their original position. Each rock is, in turn, lifted; a cement base is laid down and the rock lowered to its original position (Fig. 5). All of the cementing is done on the sheet of waxed paper. The spaces between rocks are then filled with cement and feathered to blend in with the rocks. If necessary, coloring can be added to the cement so that it better matches the rock.

   

If a deep tray is used, a cement bridge can be constructed under the front lip of the tray to hold the entire stream bed together as a single unit.

For the sake of harmony, rocks used for the stream bed should all be of the same type and have the same textures, color, striations, orientation, etcetera. However, interesting variations can be obtained by using different size rocks. Large and small rocks can be used to represent near and far rocks further adding to the feeling of depth.

Claft Style Technique in a Saikei

The plant material used for this saikei is a common favorite: Juniper procumbens nana. The juniper is an excellent specimen to use for this project because it is easy to obtain and its young branches are very supple, making it well suited to the claft technique. Each branch can be wired and moved easily within a 180° (or more) arc.

In choosing the right junipers for the saikei there is a special growth habit to look for. These plants, especially the young one-gallon specimens, produces branches which seem to radiate out in all directions from a central point.

Using heavy gauge copper wire, all primary branches are wired. The smaller secondary branches are then wired with fine wire. Junipers of three different sizes...small, medium and large should be chosen for the project.

Each of the tree plants should, in turn, be wired as described above. Start with the largest plant and with the largest branch on that tree. Each wired branch is then moved about, as the claft technique allows, until its desired position is achieved. It would be wise to withhold water from the plant for a few days prior to these operations in order to make the branches more . exible. The branch is then carefully turned upright to form the largest tree in the saikei (Fig. 2 & 3). The next largest branch is then moved close to the number one tree and is bent carefully upward to form tree number two (Fig. 4). We then do the same for each branch, numbers three, four, five, etcetera, and repeat the process until all desired branches are wired to form new trees. The goal is to place each tree, from the largest to the smallest, in such a position so as to form a forest in the typically triangular shape. The group of trees is constructed so that the largest trees are located to the front and the smaller to the rear. This helps to provide proper depth perspective within the group. Remember!!! An important advantage of the claft technique is that the branches can be moved to wherever they are needed.

The same treatment is used on all three plants. The end result is that we wind up with three groups of plants of three different sizes: a large group, medium group and a small size group (Fig. 6).

The three groups of plants are arranged in a tray so as to take advantage of the size of each group in creating a three dimensional landscape with a near-distant group, a middle-distant group and a far-distant group.

Fig. 7 shows the largest, near-distant group in place. The middle-distant group is then placed further to the rear to create depth perspective. Notice the extended foreground of this group (Fig. 8). Finally the smallest group, representing only four trees, is placed far to the rear and represents the far distant perspective (Fig. 9). The original three junipers used resulted in a Forest/Saikei of 26 trees (Fig. 10).

The claft style represents a very exciting variation of the usual clump and raft styles. It is very adaptable to many different kinds of forest plantings.