|
"The habit of clipping and shearing trees and
shrubs is a common one in Japan, but it is seldom done in a manner inconsistent with the general
character of the particular trees thus dressed." What the
gardener aims at, is to accentuate, not controvert, the design which
nature had in forming a particular tree.
The Pine, for example, "goes through a thorough surgical treatment in the
nursery, with the idea of producing a shape of acknowledged beauty, as
displayed in some of the finest natural trees. Its branches are
bent, broken and bandaged, and bound with cords and splints, until it
grows into the fancy shape desired." This shape is rarely at
variance with forms that can be found in nature; yet dwarf trees are
sometimes trained into curious, non-natural forms, the branches of the
favorite Pine are occasionally cut into the form of balls and trained
to grow in a pendant way, suggestive of a cascade, and now and then one
may even see a shrub cut into the shape of a junk under full
sail. But fantasies like these, we gather, are executed on a
small scale and not placed where they would disfigure a landscape
effect... 1
|