About me
I first became interested in miniature trees at the age of 13 or 14, after watching a TV report just a few minutes long. It seemed quite strange and fascinating to me that you could grow an ordinary tree in a small pot so that it stood just a few centimeters tall, looked naturally beautiful and, strangest of all, bore ordinary fruit. After graduating from university, I decided to study bonsai seriously. Unfortunately, in Georgia I could find neither books nor anyone who could give me even a little information about how to grow a bonsai. It was only in 1990, after buying a book by an Indian author translated into Russian, that I started working on bonsai. I began by making bonsai from mulberry trees I had planted myself. I had just four plants on my balcony. Later, after a long search, I managed to buy a few more books, but information was still scarce, since in 1990s Georgia hardly anyone had time for bonsai.
Years later, the internet gave me far more opportunities to get to know the work and methods of experienced specialists. Especially important were the countless photos published on websites. Naturally, having access to information gave me more opportunities to improve the quality of my bonsai and to increase their number. When I could no longer fit the trees on my balcony, I moved to the roof of my building, a multistory apartment block, and set the bonsai out on large shelves.
Growing bonsai takes no special education. Anyone with the desire, a little imagination and patience can start working once they have some basic information. But if a bonsai lover wants to grow a miniature tree of truly unique beauty, they need to study styling techniques thoroughly, learn from the experience of other specialists, look carefully at pictures of bonsai masterpieces and at beautiful trees growing in nature, and, most importantly, devote a great deal of time to working on creating a bonsai.
Bonsai lovers can be roughly divided into two groups: those who want to buy a “ready-made” bonsai and those who want to grow a bonsai themselves. This website will be useful to both. Even a bonsai lover who, for one reason or another, cannot work on creating a bonsai needs to understand well what a bonsai is and learn how to care for it. Otherwise, within a few months the bonsai will lose its beauty or die.
The tradition of creating miniature trees, born in China centuries ago, is now popular all over the world. In Georgia, few people know much about bonsai, and what they do know is often far from the truth. The aim of this website is to help people in Georgia get to know bonsai better and to make it more popular. After thirty-two years of work, I felt entitled to share my own experience with anyone interested. Of course, getting to know the theory alone is not enough to learn bonsai. Without dedicated work it is impossible to achieve serious results. Growing bonsai is not as difficult as it may seem to a beginning enthusiast. All it takes is dedication, attentiveness and, above all, a great deal of patience, because a beautiful bonsai can only be achieved after several years of work.
