Saikei- A Living Landscape On Your Table!

We have all heard about bonsai. It is the cultivation of plants that resemble miniatures of trees. There are even different styles to them. Did you know that there is also an art called Saikei which is similar to bonsai? Saikei is the creation of miniature landscapes. Saikai literally means "planted landscape".

History
Saikei is a young form of art. It does not have any deep-rooted traditions. But it is very much related to various other forms of cultivation arts that are followed in Asia. Saikei was founded in Japan by Toshio Kawamoto after world war II. His father was a bonsai artist. After his father's death, he took care of their family's bonsai nursery and published two successful seminal books on the practices and techniques of saikei.

After the war, this new technique proved to be very much useful even for the families which were economically constrained.

Design

Than bonsai, saikei uses more artistic techniques. It provides a stronger priority to the structure of the landscape. It is moreover easy to plant even for beginners. Trees can be single or in groups and can be planted as per the idea of the respective person. They can even be placed on mountains or near rocks. There are no particular rules for that. Rocks are the basic necessity of saikei as they are the skeleton of the structure. They play the role of mountains or any raised surface.

Practice

A saikei can contain numerous varieties of plants and thus, may need a particular environment to grow. They may also require a particular type of soil and amount of watering. The saikei plants are easy to assemble and to water. The saikei container is very friendly as it provides easy access to watering and pruning if required.

Like bonsai, there is no particular rule for designing the container with plants. And that is the best part.

The saikei is designed as an easier practice than bonsai. So, it is easy even for beginners who would love to take up grow dwarf-plants as a hobby!