Is it right to stunt the growth of a tree? Many people think that it is wrong to create a reduce the size of a tree by placing it in a pot. My answer to this is of course it’s not wrong to do this! Bonsai are one of the most loved plants you can get. Many of the trees that we own would not have even grown in nature as they were grown especially for this purpose from seeds. I even think of a bonsai owner as being someone who is doing something good for the environment by making it just a little bit greener.
Do you disagree? Please comment.
I agree – i think they are lovely! And besides we only chop them down in the forest, so they may be small but they are still alive.
This question comes up from time to time and is typical of the political correctness thinking popular in some circles. Let me ask a similar question; Is it correct to mow your lawn to keep it short? Is it correct to harvest corn, soy beans, rice, potatoes and fruit? Shouldn’t all of these things be able to live their lives unmolested by human activity? The real issue is not so much as to what is being done, nature dwarfs trees all of the time. The trees are adapted to deal with the issues of environment. The real issue is the condemnation of human activity.
I think Mr. Wood is missing out on the importance of an enlightened decision in order to balance, rather than to simply conform or condemn. What I mean is, Adam atleast has good reasoning when he states “Many of the trees that we own would not have even grown in nature as they were grown especially for this purpose from seeds…” but it is highly unreasonable to play the logic game, as Mr. Wood deems necessary, in pursuing a hopeful outcome to a moral debate. And it is this kind of intellectual dabbling which creates the need to approach the faint nudges of ethical nuances and to allow it to ‘grow’ on us. For then it seeks to fashion a jelly-like wobble and sway – turning to the dismay of that artful moulder.
Where stunting growth or progress to a ‘favourable’ outcome, is as big a moral question as it is an artistic expression, the real question to be asked is, are ‘small trees’ really beautiful or are they simply just unique? No doubt, it is intriguing and sometimes even inspiring to witness an out-of-the-natural object but does it bring about the same love which we hold specially for Nature and the familiarity of being at home with it? As far as it is permissible and inexhaustible, we may groom and modify our environment, so much so that we may even justify the experimentation by promising a renewal and replacement but does that really come down to numbers or the excess of it? Inspite of there being a million hair on the scalp why is it that the sight of only a strand of grey, is enough to cause some worry? Soon we search for the cause and put an end to it just for the benefit of a blessed youthful appearance. Could not we similarly put an end to a cause having some ‘unknown’ effect upon Nature by allowing it to be blessed by its own mysterious unfoldings?
The real issue is the condemnation of human activity.
I agree with mr. n its just against the laws of nature to do so. And if you bonsai lovers love trees so much dont you realise that they too are alive and while making bonsai you torture them in so many innumerable ways…… by depriving them of nutrients, wiring, pruning the buds…..