World Record

Boh Tai Yuan

So how many trees do you have?  Me?  I have slowly been collecting and have about 50 now...maybe a few more and most are not great quality.  It depends on how much space you have available and your access to trees.  Well, a Taiwanese man called Wantain Chen, has both space and access to trees largely because he is an extremely wealthy man.  This Saturday we were lucky enough to be given the chance to view his personal bonsai collection.  He is a private man and rarely opens his golden doors to the public.  A group of about 50 of us were allowed to walk through his garden thanks to the connections we have with Jack Lin, the current head of Taipei Bonsai here in Taiwan.  

Mr. Chen's collection was recently acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records and was awarded a certificate stating that he is now the owner of the world's largest bonsai collection.  Each of Mr. Chen's 1,458 trees are all very valuable and old!  The oldest is around 500 years and the youngest estimated at 80 years.  The combined age of all his trees are thought to be around 145,800 years.

Mr. Chen loves bonsai trees and was pained everytime he heard of a Taiwanese masterpiece being sold to a rich Chinese man.  A great deal of Taiwanese bonsai have been sold to Chinese buyers so Mr. Chen began buying and preserving the pride of Taiwanese bonsai to keep them here!

I felt like a kid again as these doors that seem never to open were opened.  The scene reminded my of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Mr. Chen was not on site but his personal assistants were scattered all over the garden.  Many looking like body guards.

Here is one.  

This is the view as you walk in through the gates - large trees, bonsai on stands, meticulously kept lawns, and rock ponds.

One of the many paths around his private garden.

We are in!  Jack laying down some ground rules.

The garden is quite large so easy movement is needed.  There were also golf carts parked around the garden.

In the background the hidden speakers were playing tranquil music.  

Great thought and planning has gone into this piece of land.

Cascade

Brilliant branch structure.

I set myself for taking a lot of photos.  Trees as far as the eye could see and all very valuable.  I can only imagine the combined cost of all these trees.  Each one can be bought for tens of thousands of dollars.

A large Chinese Elm tree.  The pond in the background had hundreds of fish swimming around.

Up into the apex of this elm.

Larger juniper trees were growing over man made waterfalls.  It really was like a King's courtyard.

Annie taking it easy.  Our baby was enjoying the rhythms of the water.

This was about the second tree I saw.  A beautiful old tree.

The bark texture of a larger tree.

Here is the owner of that branch.

A twin trunk bonsai.  It was extremely hard to take a photo and not have someone else in the background!

The little details were classy.

Magnificent trunk!

An overwhelming number of trees.

Annie casting her trained eye over this tree.

Just to prove that we were both here on the same day.

It's spring in Taiwan at the moment so it was a great time to view these trees.  Many new leaves were beginning to grow.

A single flower.  Nice.

I have no idea what this building was...maybe Mr.Chen's meeting rooms.  The bonsai on the balcony was fantastic.

Tied down in case of strong winds.

After a while all the trees began blurring into one.  I really had to concentrate and not rush.  I knew that I was never going to get this chance again.    

A close up.

An interesting style.

The next couple are of amazing junipers.  These junipers are ancient!  Their trunks are mostly the work of nature dishing out punishment decade after decade.  

Off to the other side of the garden was another pond and trickling waterfall.

A large juniper to the side of that.

Just to the left of this area was a workshop.

As we walk along there is plenty of shade to keep you cool.

Some trees have been planted in the ground.  Maybe to have them recover from an illness or just to grow them bigger.

Here you can see the cut paste after a few limbs were removed. A good study tree.

Maintaining these trees takes a small army of gardeners.  We saw them throughout the garden.  We noticed that many of them were Thai.

Blooming!

I decided to take a few snaps of the more interesting pots.  These pots alone would be very expensive!  I am not sure but my guess is that they would probably be antique pots, made from famous Chinese and Japanese potters.

An unusual one.

The decorative pots were mostly matched with flowering or deciduous trees.

And on we keep going!

The weather was perfect too.

There is a golf range to the left.  We did see one golf ball lying in the middle of a pathway.  Fore.

Jack talking to a local reporter from the television station.

Nice movement!

Some other pots I liked.

Broom style elm tree.  The pot was different.

The broom.

I'm not sure if Mr.Chen has much time to enjoy his garden.  He is the owner of a computer and technology company in Taiwan

We almost come full circle.  I put down my camera and decide to look more carefully at the trees.

The sun is going down and we are extending our welcome.  The guards begin looking agitated.

I take a few more photos as we are ushered towards the front gates.

This juniper is happily growing in the ground right beside the guard house.

Boh Tai Yuan translates into PEACEFUL JUNIPER GARDEN.

Seven is considered a lucky number in Taiwan.  Seven, seven doubles your luck.

And get out!  In the nicest possible tone.

It was an amazing garden - over whelming - surreal and awesome.  We didn't see Mr. Chen anywhere but I imagined him looking out through some window on the property and hopefully getting some satisfaction of 50 of us loving his trees.  Hopefully!  

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Growing Bonsai Stock

30 months!

Two and a half years ago I bought about 60 small juniper seedlings...

This is them stuck in the ground.

Today, with the help of Annie, Jack and Linda, we managed to dig out half of our bonsai stock.  I call this DAY ONE.  The plan is for me to return this week, maybe under the watchful eye of a friend, Dave, and complete DAY TWO.

I went and bought a shovel the day before and also threw into my bag a strong pair of scissors (bonsai clippers).  Annie's company managed to supply us with some polyester bags which we planned to place the trees into.  Armed with a  few basic tools and a coffee we were off up the hill.

We began by digging a trench around the tree.  We cut at an angle, in towards the trunk.  We took our time and then used the shovel to lift the tree out one by one.  Digging in this way will cut the larger roots growing too far laterally but keeps the root ball in tack.

My nice new shiny shovel.

And pop it up!

Here is our first one.  It's like fishing!

Keep going...40 more!

The idea is to take each tree out, cut the thicker roots and then put them back into the ground for another year.  This way more finer roots will grow around the root ball which will be more suitable for the tree to then be planted into a pot.  We also take the time to cut any branches that are too long - hopefully this will encourage back budding, creating more side branches.

Inspecting the roots.

If you remember last summer I tore some strips off the trunk of the tree's trunk.  I did this to add age into the tree.  It has now healed and looks more interesting.  The illusion of old.

Another one!  We cut the thicker roots, but keep the finer ones.  The goal is a compact root ball.

This is our bigger tree.  Again cutting the thicker roots.

A nice thick trunk.  We decide to put this guy in a polyester bag and place back into the ground.  The bag is made from long fibers and is ideal for water drainage and will keep the roots from growing too long, away from the trunk.  The bag is quite strong and will only break down after about 5 years.  

We wanted to put all our trees in these bags but we found that the trees were too small to do this.  The advantage of putting trees in bags like this is that you can remove the tree at pretty much any time over the year.  You dig out the tree which is still in the bag, lift it up and carry it away!  I like it.

Digging a hole and placing the tree back into the ground.

Giving it a slight stomping.

It wasn't long before some locals came by and stopped for a chat.

This guy lent us his picking tool .  He has planted and cared for trees his whole life.  

Digging a trench around a section of land.  This will catch water when it rains and continue to soak through to the roots of each tree.  I will definitely need some moisturiser for my soft hands after this is done.  Did I just say that!

We decide to take some cuttings from these trees and repeat the cycle.  Here Jack is looking for the best cutting.  The top part has the most amount of energy due to it being exposed to the sun.  We take the top section of each tree and end up with hundreds of potential bonsai trees.

Hopefully, these little guys take and grow roots over this spring.  This is the beginning of their bonsai life.  I can only hope that one day, long after I am gone, that a few of these cuttings turn out to be beautiful bonsai trees in someone's collection. 

Planting these cuttings on a slight angle will give some movement to the truck.

And the cuttings are in!

Spring is the best time to do this type of work.

It is very important to water right away.  This will settle the cutting in the ground and everyone begins to feel more connected and comfortable.

Ok, back to the bigger trees.  We now start to put them all back in. We cut some roots and branches before replanted them.

Compress slightly.

Someone is having a good time!

Another visitor.

Here we have half of the trees back into the ground and have given them a good watering.

We need them to thicken up even more.  Remember that the trunk is the king to any good bonsai.

Thanks for cooperating in our minor surgery and now it is time to re adjust. 

 Wait...what do we see here!

An old tree growing off to the side, covered in weeds.  We find this tree on the land that we have permission to use as we wish.  I decided to dig it out.  It has a fantastic trunk.

It also has some reverse taper but the good outweighs the bad.

Back at home after a huge lunch of chicken, fried rice, tofu and fish soup.  I took a few trees with me that we dug up and add them to my small roof top collection.

This is the tree that I dug out of the ground.  I remove a few roots and dead branches and repot in a free draining soil mix.

A great old trunk.  I have no idea how old this tree is but my guess is probably 30 or 40 years.

Another one that we dug up this morning.  I will let it settle and then try and refine some of the branches to create a more pleasing tree.

At this point I just want it to recover.

Two more junipers.  I was tired, sunburnt and just wanted these trees in a pot.  I didn't give much thought to aesthetics here.

Another one.  I found it a real challenge wiring these trees securely into their pots.  

I managed the best I could though.  This was the last one I did as the sun went down.

Half down and half to go.  I will post the other half later this week.  Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Please visit my online pottery shop at AllinoneCeramics for handmade ceramic pieces.