The majority of the dwarfed potted trees or bonsai generally seen are developed from ordinary nursery stock or from somewhat dwarfed trees found in a natural habitat. This is where you begin bonsai gardening.

In late winter or early spring, possibly while drinking tea, you begin to fancy the shape of the tree when finished. The man experienced in training with wire changes ordinary little trees into different forms almost instantly, sometimes to a shape seen in naturally dwarfed trees. The wiring specialist's way is about like this: in the autumn the tree should have been potted so that the trunk is inclined to slant.

Then in spring, to shorten the trunk in height and lower the branches, a wire is fastened to the trunk near the surface of the soil in the pot, and again attached higher up so the trunk can be pulled downward, away from the direction of the slant. It should be fastened at the desired bend with the wire.

After the operation the little tree will have been considerably lowered, and then another wire is fastened at the forked part, the end of the wire coiling around the trunk; carefully wind the wire toward the tip, having an inch or more in intervals of the spiral. The branch is then ready to be shaped and fixed to the desired form. The second upper branch is treated in the same way, then the third, and so on.

After one or two years, in many cases, the trunk and branches should be settled in the desired positions, so the winding wires are no longer needed, and may be taken off. From year to year the tree is improved in form and foliage as the result of careful pinching of certain tip buds, shortening or removing undesired strong shoots, repeating the pinching often in a season according to the kind of tree and further winding the wire to change the form or improve it.

Gradually the artificial look lightens and the "made-up" tree becomes the natural-looking tree. The course of bonsai gardening which takes years is very fascinating to fanciers, novices and experts alike. It is not unusual in a day's stroll in the villages or towns in Japan, wherever you may be, to come across people who train dwarf trees-they are a set of cheerful boasters.

Ordinary stock of pines, daphnes, azaleas, maples and such ornamentals, when only one or two feet high, are often bent almost upside down, by wire-winding the trunk. Heavy copper wire is used, branches are wound with lighter wire and bent so as to achieve the desired form. Whenever wiring is practiced, soil in the pot should be drier than usual so trunks and branches are easily worked. Copper wire of heavy gauge should be heated to red-heat, then cooled slowly before using. This makes it easier to bend. But beware. Once bent, it hardens again quickly.

Some fanciers do not like to use wire, but the operation is not so shocking as vivisection and not as unnatural as "miniature" gardens sold in America- even though the trees have been completely "revolutionized." After a course of bonsai gardening, the trees grow naturally and look natural; the chief difference is that they grow less rapidly than the ordinary nursery stock. But normal, healthy foliage is produced in tidier textures.