A Perfect Harmony of Driftwood with Bonsai Trees:  A Lovely Work of Art 

                By: Atish Dipankar Sarker, CoE

                Edited by: Virginia G. Mata, MA

Driftwood is a common sight in the forest, woodland, prairie and mountains but mostly along the seashore. They vary in sizes, shapes and hardness. To an ordinary person, they are meaningless; they are results of gusty winds, storms and eventually are carried by strong river currents to the open sea - their destination. To an artist or nature lover, they’re drifted by the dancing ocean waves and finally the big waves rushed them to the shore. The white sand dotted with these dead parts of trees is a wonderful interesting scenic attraction to see, paint and talk about: To a bonsai expert, the feeling of interest and attraction grows more intense. He knows these are good materials together with the Philippine Bantigue. These trees thrive in the crevices of rocks in the cliffs along the seacoasts; hence they didn’t grow tall like the other trees. They are found in coastal provinces far off Northern Luzon. Letting these “pygmy/dwarf” trees grow with driftwood with an artistic touch will create a new sensational breakthrough in bonsai industry – A Lovely Work of Art. Moreover, the simple driftwood, together with the bonsai tree will be transformed into a more fascinating and splendid bonsai collection.

Having learned about the affectivity and the beauty of Mr. Harry Harrington, an American bonsai expert,   method in combining driftwood and bonsai for his new “creation”, I deem it wise to adopt it in my hobby and industry. I followed his procedure and steps using Shari and Jin, Japanese words for dead parts of the trunk and branch with few modifications. (This is due to differences in the bonsai trees we grow, his are winter trees e.g. Pines and Juniper, and mine are Philippine/tropical trees e.g. Bantigue and Kamuning.

Creating Shari and Jin on Bantigue