ARTISTREES

Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years, and has its own aesthetics and terminology... The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower). By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food, for medicine, or for creating landscapes. Instead, bonsai practice focuses on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container.