Bonsai lovers helping preserve ‘dying’ trees

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan — One way to save endangered plant species from extinction is by growing a miniature of these plants using the bonsai method.

"We have plants that are 100 to 150 years old," said Dr. Elmer Villareal, president of the Bulacan Bonsai Society (BULBS).

Villareal said some tree species are threatened with extinction and bonsai enthusiasts are actually preserving these plants by stunting their growth.

He said that tree species like the Langui-langui, juniper and bantigue are now nearly extinct and that bonsai enthusiasts have preserved them — particularly hardwoods that have decreased in number because they are cut down when new houses and other structures are built on the land where these trees grow.

Bonsai-making is the ancient Japanese art of keeping plants alive in miniature form and Bulakeños established their own group of bonsai artists – mostly men.

"It’s a good hobby, it keeps us engaged and away from vice," BULBS vice president Santiago Azores told The STAR.

For others, bonsai making is addictive and some BULBS members said that, when they wake up early in the morning, they cannot wait for the sun to rise so they can start working on their bonsai.

Villareal said there are four classification of bonsai: Mame (pronounced ma-mey), which are six inches or less tall; small bonsai, which are six to 12 inches tall; medium bonsai, 13 to 24 inches tall and large ones that are 24 inches and taller.

Bonsai style classifications include: upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade, driftwood, literati and broom.

There are also bonsai classifications based on the number of trunks: twin trunks, triple trunks, forest and raft.

All these classifications will be on exhibit at the Guiguinto Garden Center until Tuesday, as the town celebrates its 8th Halamanan Festival coinciding with the 92nd founding anniversary of the town.

When asked for the price of each bonsai, Domingo Navares, another BULBS official said that pricing depends on how long an enthusiast took care of the bonsai in question.

As this developed, Rene Robles, the chairman of the Guiguinto Garden Center Cooperative, said dish gardening is gaining popularity in Bulacan.

Dish gardening is the landscaping of assorted ornamental plants into a dish or dishes.

Robles said dish gardening is easy, but those who are interested in this gardening method must have a good understanding of plants: "You can’t just put anything in the dish."

Dubbed "mini-landscapes," dish gardens are also on exhibit at the Guiguiunto garden center located at the Tabang clover leaf here.