Small pleasures for orchard manager | Rural

Clearing a strawberry bed would hardly seem an activity to inspire creativity but it was just such a mundane task which introduced Nick Irwin to the world of bonsai.

"I'd always been quite interested in bonsai, even as a child. I liked their appearance although I'd never tried growing them," said the orchard manager of Katikati.

The day he tidied up the strawberry bed, Mr Irwin threw a piece of apparently dead conifer over the fence, only to discover sometime later, it was growing.

"It was an interesting shape and I decided I could do something with it, so trimmed it up and planted it in a pot as a bonsai."

His lack of knowledge about how to grow and care for bonsai, however, eventually cost the plant its life. "I didn't know how to look after it, but I did get 12 months' pleasure from a plant that had basically been thrown away."

That plant tweaked Mr Irwin's interest and he began to find out all he could about bonsai, and later also studied for certificates in horticulture, to grow full-sized plants - mainly kiwifruit.

"I grew and gave away lots of bonsai as presents." Spurred on by the appreciation of those who received the gifts, Mr Irwin has started a small business called Custom Bonsai, selling plants and giving lessons in how to grow them.

"I don't follow strict Japanese methods of bonsai. I have adapted what works to create the appearance I like."

The tiny, ancient-looking trees he grows often begin life as plants bought from nurseries, destined to become full-sized trees.

Thanks to his eye for form and nine years' of study, Mr Irwin can quite quickly transform a bushy plant into a structured form.

His favourite plants to work with are Procumbens nana juniper because of their form and the small size of their needles.

These are among the trees he shapes to complement the containers they grow in, from shallow rectangular pottery dishes to a teapot.

In the classes he holds at Turama Ahi Pottery north of Katikati, Mr Irwin sets a bonsai at eye level on a revolving pedestal and instructs students on how to carefully clip and train a tree to achieve the desired appearance. Unlike pruning a large tree (or a kiwifruit vine), each clip is carefully contemplated often for several minutes and questions such as "does it separate the foliage from the layer above or below, and does it add balance to the tree?" will be considered. Mr Irwin enjoys combining trees with pottery and believes that the two complement each other. If required, wire is used to help train the tree to the desired shape and growing it in a small container helps ensure restricted growth.

Not all Mr Irwin's bonsai are tiny and delicate. The Ficus he has growing in a large bowl is around 550mm in height and makes a dramatic statement with its bulbous exposed roots and dark green leaves.

A wide variety of trees and woody shrubs from flowering cherry to fruit trees can be grown as bonsai but dwarf specimens and plants with already small leaves or needles are often those which bring the most success.

The word bonsai in Japanese comes from bon, a tray or low-sided pot, and sai, a planting. The Japanese art form, which dates back for more than a thousand years, is best known in the West but the practice is also found in Chinese and Vietnamese cultures.