'POTOLOGY' thoughts & guidelines for pot selection
Posted: June 14th, 2011, 5:43 pm
POTOLOGY #1
Thoughts and guidelines for pot selection
A poor or inappropriate container does not condemn a bonsai to mediocrity the way bad styling does but it will surely take the edge off all your hard work and make the tree look second rate.
Princess Beatrice’s Hat
Even if you didn’t see the Royal Wedding you saw and heard about Princess Beatrice’s Hat. The media was full of it, wide publicity for that Dr Who costume discard. It was inappropriate for the occasion in that all you heard or saw was The Hat. Little about PB herself or her dress.. just That Hat. So what does that have to do with bonsai you ask. Too many bonsai are potted in the equivalent of PBs hat, the pot is the eye catcher, not the tree. What tree could hope to seen if it was in this bright blue pot? Like PBs hat, a pot of this bright hue sweeps all before it and not even the best tree would be strong enough to be seen for its own qualities. The pot’s intense colour would take all the interest. Yet people use pots like this because ‘the colour is so pretty’.
At the 2003 Melbourne AABC Convention there was one tree on display that sticks in my mind long after the others have faded. It was a substantial, well styled, fig. It was in a large pot with t yellow band across the front with Chinese pictographs. The tree was on a large, rich honey coloured stand of substantial visual weight. Each item – tree/pot/stand was good but together they fought for individual attention, each being very dominant. And what won? The stand.
We work for months, years, decades to develop a tree that we call a bonsai. In ANY setting it is The Bonsai that should get top billing. It is The Bonsai that should get the eye first. When you look at a bonsai your eye/brain should register the three components – tree/pot/stand - as one unified unit and then see the tree. From there the pot and stand come into consideration but they must present a unified look with the tree always the dominant member. The tree is the star attraction, the pot and stand the supporting cast. All must work together to make the unified look but the tree always must have the subtle dominance. Otherwise what’s the point of all your styling work?
Some people play safe and put everything in a brown unglazed pot. How many of us have gone into a shop and tried on something to find it does nothing to enhance us. It is the same with bonsai. Some bonsai are very well served by the matt brown pots, others need something more to enliven them, to bring out their best points. After all, trees may grow in brown earth but they are accentuated by grass, moss, flowers, sky, river, rocks. So it is that the choice of pots can add additional interest to a tree without calling undue attention to the container itself.
DOMINATE ASPECTS in BONSAI are horticulture and aesthetics.
Horticulturally a bonsai needs a pot that is large enough to hold the tree stable; adequate drainage to promote good roots; enough soil to hold sufficient moisture between waterings. In this context shape and colour are immaterial.
Aesthetically a pot must be sympatico with the tree, must be in a style that suits the tree and the tree must be potted in the correct position for the tree’s style and characteristics and the pot’s shape. Any book on bonsai will give guidelines for planting most styles. I highly recommend BONSAI STYLES of the WORLD by Charles Ceronio. This book has the advantage of succinct text, great index, a chapter per style with illustrations of a variety of trees in that style and shapes of pots that suit the style. You can’t go wrong if one of your major reference books is ‘Bonsai Styles of the World’ An appreciation of pots comes as your trees improve. Standard low cost commercial containers are fine for beginners but the better the tree the better the pot should be.
The beautiful lines of brown matt Japanese pots are wonderful but the sad truth is that quality pots are hard to find on commercial shelves these days. The sharp, clear, highly defined detail of older pots has deteriorate to a slapdash making where features are indistinct, uneven, rough, not level or with an irregular surface. The variety of glazes that used to be available seems to be usurped by the single hue high gloss variety coming out of China. The avid bonsai enthusiast should always haunt private or club sales in the hopes of acquiring well made older pots. A pot enthusiast told me that a mark of a good pot is good feet and I have found this to be very true. Well defined, well shaped feet are normally only found on a quality pot. Feet on poorly made pots have little detail or definition.
QUALITIES of a BONSAI CONTAINER
Durability You can feel the difference between a commercial flower pot and a well made bonsai pot, the ceramic of a bonsai pot has a solidity that shows it will be far more resistant to chips and cracks.
Appropriate size/shape/colour for the particular bonsai
Adequate drainage one of more large holes to promote good drainage
Heat/cold protection a pot should offer some insulation for the roots tho few pots can successfully protect roots in temperatures above 30c - that’s our job.
Ability to make a good tree special without calling undue attention to itself. Melaleuca alternifolia 2007 classic matt pot 2011 Mudlark Studio Pottery pot with the pot colourations simulating water with the shadow of the tree across the surface. Perfect for this tree!!
There is an important guideline for the selection of pots where the depth of the pot should be equal to the width of the trunk. Note how effective this guideline is in the Melaleuca in the Mudlark pot.
Too often this is overlooked as enthusiasts over pot their trees. Whether it is the fact that the tree fits in the pot or they are afraid the tree will dry out or the tree is in training, the pot is often too large. Over potting is fine but if a tree is in an over large pot DON’T display it. On your bench at home it’s fine. But when an enthusiast puts a tree on display at a club or a show that tree should be displayed in a pot that is the correct size and shape. Anyone who exhibits is showing the public that this is the way bonsai is done and if the pot is not correct the public and especially newcomers are learning the wrong thing.
The bonsai pot influences the total look of the tree. It should emphasize and strengthen the tree’s character, not contradict it. The pot should help the tree’s presentation but never overshadow it. It is very important that the tree and the pot convey the same feeling.
I don’t like figs in angular pots. A fig is all soft curves and roundness. To my mind a fig embraces round or oval pots. Figs don’t grow in rugged areas. A stout pine with a jut here and an angle there is perfect for an angular pot as the pot will emphasise that tree’s preference for growing in harsh areas. A Port Jackson in a very nicely made commercial pot with the pot colour picking up the yellows in the trunk and leaves of the fig and the very soft sheen keeping the pot’s visual strength in balance with the tree.
When you start in bonsai a pot is a pot and getting the right size and style is hard enough. The better your trees become the more important the right pot is and the more justifiable the cost of handmade pots.
With commercial pots becoming more haphazardly made and with far more high gloss finishes, collecting handmade pots is a good step to improve your trees. It is a personal thing, granted, but to pot a bonsai in a pot that is highly glazed is detrimental to the majority of trees. If you love high glazed pots then start growing hyacinths or tulips where a flamboyant flower can dominate the glaze. If you have a profusely flowering azalea and like a highly glazed pot, go for a subdued colour so the tree and the flowers get the attention – not the pot.
Having said that, let me contradict it with ‘The Bunyip’. Along with long established rules towards correct pot selection there also comes Artistic Waywardness. As it is no longer a hard and fast rule that red wine is for red meat and white wine for light fleshed foods, so you can flaunt the guidelines if the tree and pot go together. The Bunyip is still two years away from public display but it didn’t like being a full cascade and I only had one semi cascade pot so I put the two together and the rich bluey-red high gloss MUDLARK pot has had good feedback. The fig is round, the pot is round. The rich green of the leaves compliments the richness of the pot. In due course the foliage will be compacted and thickened and will dominate the pot with the rich red contrasting with the duller fig trunk to create a pleasing togetherness. I have defied my own preferences and it works. The Port Jackson fig is unconventional and it works because enough components match to negate those that might not and the pot is a rich but not ‘in your face’ colour which modifies the impact of the high gloss.
There was a tree at the Canberra Bonsai Collection, a large, venerable olive of immense character. It was in the most beautiful high gloss embossed round Chinese pot. Both tree and pot were significant but the two didn’t go together. The pot would have been perfect for a large deciduous or flowering tree while the olive needed something rougher, harsher, better reflecting the domain it would best grow in. It doesn’t matter how beautiful each element is, if the two don’t go together they shouldn’t go together.
I won this white crazed pot on ausbonsai and I wasn’t rapt in the white but I don’t give MIRKWOOD pots away. I buried the pot in the garden for 3 months and in due course the ground exposure darkened one side and I put the Serissa in it. The crazed glaze gives a rocky nuance and highlights the rock the tree is growing on. When the tree is in full flower with a mass of double white flowers it is strong enough to hold its own against the pot and the two compliment each other.
If the bonsai pot must reflect the personality of the tree than one must watch out for the following mismatches: feminine tree in a masculine pot; curvy tree in a linear pot, busy tree in a busy pot, a tree overwhelmed by the colour or gloss of its pot. Overall, the two must tell the same story and share a compatibility with the tree always being the dominant character.
The same olive in a MUDLARK pot that gives an Outback feeling and a pot from Erin Bonsai, Bristol UK.
Both pots suit the olive, The Mudlark has a soft sheen and broken colouration and while the Erin has a higher glaze with sparkles the duller colours serve to give the olive a sense of rugged country while the oval shape in both pots emphasizes the curves of the tree’s trunk.
Thoughts and guidelines for pot selection
A poor or inappropriate container does not condemn a bonsai to mediocrity the way bad styling does but it will surely take the edge off all your hard work and make the tree look second rate.
Princess Beatrice’s Hat
Even if you didn’t see the Royal Wedding you saw and heard about Princess Beatrice’s Hat. The media was full of it, wide publicity for that Dr Who costume discard. It was inappropriate for the occasion in that all you heard or saw was The Hat. Little about PB herself or her dress.. just That Hat. So what does that have to do with bonsai you ask. Too many bonsai are potted in the equivalent of PBs hat, the pot is the eye catcher, not the tree. What tree could hope to seen if it was in this bright blue pot? Like PBs hat, a pot of this bright hue sweeps all before it and not even the best tree would be strong enough to be seen for its own qualities. The pot’s intense colour would take all the interest. Yet people use pots like this because ‘the colour is so pretty’.
At the 2003 Melbourne AABC Convention there was one tree on display that sticks in my mind long after the others have faded. It was a substantial, well styled, fig. It was in a large pot with t yellow band across the front with Chinese pictographs. The tree was on a large, rich honey coloured stand of substantial visual weight. Each item – tree/pot/stand was good but together they fought for individual attention, each being very dominant. And what won? The stand.
We work for months, years, decades to develop a tree that we call a bonsai. In ANY setting it is The Bonsai that should get top billing. It is The Bonsai that should get the eye first. When you look at a bonsai your eye/brain should register the three components – tree/pot/stand - as one unified unit and then see the tree. From there the pot and stand come into consideration but they must present a unified look with the tree always the dominant member. The tree is the star attraction, the pot and stand the supporting cast. All must work together to make the unified look but the tree always must have the subtle dominance. Otherwise what’s the point of all your styling work?
Some people play safe and put everything in a brown unglazed pot. How many of us have gone into a shop and tried on something to find it does nothing to enhance us. It is the same with bonsai. Some bonsai are very well served by the matt brown pots, others need something more to enliven them, to bring out their best points. After all, trees may grow in brown earth but they are accentuated by grass, moss, flowers, sky, river, rocks. So it is that the choice of pots can add additional interest to a tree without calling undue attention to the container itself.
DOMINATE ASPECTS in BONSAI are horticulture and aesthetics.
Horticulturally a bonsai needs a pot that is large enough to hold the tree stable; adequate drainage to promote good roots; enough soil to hold sufficient moisture between waterings. In this context shape and colour are immaterial.
Aesthetically a pot must be sympatico with the tree, must be in a style that suits the tree and the tree must be potted in the correct position for the tree’s style and characteristics and the pot’s shape. Any book on bonsai will give guidelines for planting most styles. I highly recommend BONSAI STYLES of the WORLD by Charles Ceronio. This book has the advantage of succinct text, great index, a chapter per style with illustrations of a variety of trees in that style and shapes of pots that suit the style. You can’t go wrong if one of your major reference books is ‘Bonsai Styles of the World’ An appreciation of pots comes as your trees improve. Standard low cost commercial containers are fine for beginners but the better the tree the better the pot should be.
The beautiful lines of brown matt Japanese pots are wonderful but the sad truth is that quality pots are hard to find on commercial shelves these days. The sharp, clear, highly defined detail of older pots has deteriorate to a slapdash making where features are indistinct, uneven, rough, not level or with an irregular surface. The variety of glazes that used to be available seems to be usurped by the single hue high gloss variety coming out of China. The avid bonsai enthusiast should always haunt private or club sales in the hopes of acquiring well made older pots. A pot enthusiast told me that a mark of a good pot is good feet and I have found this to be very true. Well defined, well shaped feet are normally only found on a quality pot. Feet on poorly made pots have little detail or definition.
QUALITIES of a BONSAI CONTAINER
Durability You can feel the difference between a commercial flower pot and a well made bonsai pot, the ceramic of a bonsai pot has a solidity that shows it will be far more resistant to chips and cracks.
Appropriate size/shape/colour for the particular bonsai
Adequate drainage one of more large holes to promote good drainage
Heat/cold protection a pot should offer some insulation for the roots tho few pots can successfully protect roots in temperatures above 30c - that’s our job.
Ability to make a good tree special without calling undue attention to itself. Melaleuca alternifolia 2007 classic matt pot 2011 Mudlark Studio Pottery pot with the pot colourations simulating water with the shadow of the tree across the surface. Perfect for this tree!!
There is an important guideline for the selection of pots where the depth of the pot should be equal to the width of the trunk. Note how effective this guideline is in the Melaleuca in the Mudlark pot.
Too often this is overlooked as enthusiasts over pot their trees. Whether it is the fact that the tree fits in the pot or they are afraid the tree will dry out or the tree is in training, the pot is often too large. Over potting is fine but if a tree is in an over large pot DON’T display it. On your bench at home it’s fine. But when an enthusiast puts a tree on display at a club or a show that tree should be displayed in a pot that is the correct size and shape. Anyone who exhibits is showing the public that this is the way bonsai is done and if the pot is not correct the public and especially newcomers are learning the wrong thing.
The bonsai pot influences the total look of the tree. It should emphasize and strengthen the tree’s character, not contradict it. The pot should help the tree’s presentation but never overshadow it. It is very important that the tree and the pot convey the same feeling.
I don’t like figs in angular pots. A fig is all soft curves and roundness. To my mind a fig embraces round or oval pots. Figs don’t grow in rugged areas. A stout pine with a jut here and an angle there is perfect for an angular pot as the pot will emphasise that tree’s preference for growing in harsh areas. A Port Jackson in a very nicely made commercial pot with the pot colour picking up the yellows in the trunk and leaves of the fig and the very soft sheen keeping the pot’s visual strength in balance with the tree.
When you start in bonsai a pot is a pot and getting the right size and style is hard enough. The better your trees become the more important the right pot is and the more justifiable the cost of handmade pots.
With commercial pots becoming more haphazardly made and with far more high gloss finishes, collecting handmade pots is a good step to improve your trees. It is a personal thing, granted, but to pot a bonsai in a pot that is highly glazed is detrimental to the majority of trees. If you love high glazed pots then start growing hyacinths or tulips where a flamboyant flower can dominate the glaze. If you have a profusely flowering azalea and like a highly glazed pot, go for a subdued colour so the tree and the flowers get the attention – not the pot.
Having said that, let me contradict it with ‘The Bunyip’. Along with long established rules towards correct pot selection there also comes Artistic Waywardness. As it is no longer a hard and fast rule that red wine is for red meat and white wine for light fleshed foods, so you can flaunt the guidelines if the tree and pot go together. The Bunyip is still two years away from public display but it didn’t like being a full cascade and I only had one semi cascade pot so I put the two together and the rich bluey-red high gloss MUDLARK pot has had good feedback. The fig is round, the pot is round. The rich green of the leaves compliments the richness of the pot. In due course the foliage will be compacted and thickened and will dominate the pot with the rich red contrasting with the duller fig trunk to create a pleasing togetherness. I have defied my own preferences and it works. The Port Jackson fig is unconventional and it works because enough components match to negate those that might not and the pot is a rich but not ‘in your face’ colour which modifies the impact of the high gloss.
There was a tree at the Canberra Bonsai Collection, a large, venerable olive of immense character. It was in the most beautiful high gloss embossed round Chinese pot. Both tree and pot were significant but the two didn’t go together. The pot would have been perfect for a large deciduous or flowering tree while the olive needed something rougher, harsher, better reflecting the domain it would best grow in. It doesn’t matter how beautiful each element is, if the two don’t go together they shouldn’t go together.
I won this white crazed pot on ausbonsai and I wasn’t rapt in the white but I don’t give MIRKWOOD pots away. I buried the pot in the garden for 3 months and in due course the ground exposure darkened one side and I put the Serissa in it. The crazed glaze gives a rocky nuance and highlights the rock the tree is growing on. When the tree is in full flower with a mass of double white flowers it is strong enough to hold its own against the pot and the two compliment each other.
If the bonsai pot must reflect the personality of the tree than one must watch out for the following mismatches: feminine tree in a masculine pot; curvy tree in a linear pot, busy tree in a busy pot, a tree overwhelmed by the colour or gloss of its pot. Overall, the two must tell the same story and share a compatibility with the tree always being the dominant character.
The same olive in a MUDLARK pot that gives an Outback feeling and a pot from Erin Bonsai, Bristol UK.
Both pots suit the olive, The Mudlark has a soft sheen and broken colouration and while the Erin has a higher glaze with sparkles the duller colours serve to give the olive a sense of rugged country while the oval shape in both pots emphasizes the curves of the tree’s trunk.
there is alot of time and effort has gone into this one. Thankyou very much, a great read and excellent examples. Most informative and entertaining! 
. The modern pots that you then show are streets ahead of many of the older pots, of whatever quality, at least as I see it.
Brilliant post Melaquin, very detailed writeup, thankyou for putting in so much effort, 
haha, you are very right, I am a recovering addict now myself. They are all so unique and beautiful, just as addictive as the trees I think, but shelf space and funds do run out! 