The gnarled tree trunks appear aged but most have grown only a few years. Many limbs look windswept, weathered by frequent storms, but only some have experienced the rigors of nature. All are the creations of bonsai masters bringing a nearly 1,000-year-old art form to modern gardens.
Bonsai culture employs the tools of horticulture to create the illusion of age and mass.
Bonsai enthusiasts use their most creative talents to grow a cascading form simulating trees stressed by a mountainous existence, a forest dense with foliage but offering room to roam, or one upright formal tree as it might stand tall in the home landscape.
The culture of bonsai-like trees originated in China before the 11th century. Early scrolls pictured trees in shallow boxes as part of temple landscapes. Mounds of earth were used to depict sacred sites, like Horai-san, Taoist mountain of eternal youth. Bonsai were shown growing on the slopes of the the miniature scenes.
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the Japanese adopted the art of training the small trees and are credited with perfecting the art form enjoyed today.
They were first to use the term ''bonsai,'' meaning tray planting, but not until the mid-1800s. Bonsai began arriving in the United States soon after the first western world exhibit was held in London in 1909.
The term bonsai usually brings to mind the famous 50- or 100-year-old trees, which are quite expensive. Equally impressive, though, are trees only a few years old created to give the illusion of age. Some begin with aged stumps or stressed plants collected from the wild.
Ads that suggest bonsai grow from seed or can be purchased as small seedlings are misleading. All could be the beginnings of a bonsai but it's the training that creates the miniature plants, said Orlandoan Tom Waldo, past president of the Central Florida Bonsai Club.
Waldo, who is an assistant manager with Southern Bell Telephone Co., inspects his collection of more than 30 bonsai trees each day, grooming and directing the growth of them.
He became interested in the hobby more than six years ago when he discovered plants being sold as bonsai at a flea market. The idea intrigued him. Waldo enrolled in a community college course and quickly learned that bonsai culture is an art that requires patience, time and new skills to duplicate in a few years what nature performs over decades.
Plants for beginners can be propagated from seeds, cuttings or collected specimens, but some of the best bonsai start as a container-grown plant purchased at the nursery. Popular tree and shrub varieties for these first bonsai creations include the elm, maple, fig, buttonwood, holly malpighia, juniper and pine.
Three- to four-foot trees can be reduced to 12- to 18-inch bonsai beginnings using what appears to be severe pruning techniques. Two- to three- gallon root systems are just as drastically reduced to fit tiny containers.
Trunk size determines the height of the container, Waldo said. The trunk diameter near the ground and pot depth should eventually be the same.
''If the first thing you see is the pot, it's the wrong size container. The plant should blend with the pot.'' Some root systems are immediately shaved down to the permanent container size. Others are gradually eased into their tiny homes over several years.
The hobby of bonsai culture can be self-taught from books or studied under masters. Most beginners start with an upright formal tree, Waldo said. All other forms, such as the creation of a cascade or forest, are just variations. Training begins by thinning the branches to transform a bushy seedling into an open, more aged-looking tree. The element of time, requiring years in nature, is added by wiring side shoots to give the weighted, heavy limb appearance.
Don't forget the symmetry of the tree, stress of a continual northwest breeze or effects of a lightning strike skinning the very top growth, Waldo said.
Bonsai are grown in a very porous medium. Waldo suggests hobbyists begin with an equal parts mixture of turface (a ground-baked clay), peat moss and coarse sharp sand. Other growers may add chicken grit and oyster shells just to improve drainage, he said.
Transfer the bonsai to this mix when the training begins. Just trim the roots leaving some old soil. Waldo believes this soil may contain symbiotic organisms needed for the roots to grow and properly absorb nutrients.
The plants will need repotting as part of the training. Evergreen junipers may be repotted every four to five years but vigorous deciduous trees are transplanted yearly. Repotting is performed during the dormant season and consists of trimming some of the roots and replanting in the same container. The process stimulates development of a small compact root system and contributes to the miniaturization of the entire plant.