R ich Softye is into miniatures.
No, we’re not talking about the little dollhouses with tiny pieces of furniture.
We’re talking bonsai, the ancient, intricate art of horticultural sculpture.
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Photo GalleryHow do you sculpt a tree, exactly?
You keep it in a small pot. You prune its roots. You feed it fertilizer. You water it. You shape it with wires and deliberate thinning cuts. Then, always, you wait.
You wait and you baby and you nurture until, years later, you have a tree so strikingly beautiful and simultaneously small you can’t help but be transported to a windswept cliff or a peaceful grove.
Softye and his helpful wife, Eileen, have achieved that and more through 12 years of dedication at their Snohomish home, where the backyard is gallery of about 30 bonsai, perched on 4-foot pedestals.
Softye purchased about half the trees from experienced growers, including official bonsai masters, while the other half he created from seedlings and, in some cases, already large trees.
His favorite tree by far is a crepe myrtle, grown from seed by Ikuna Sawada, a bonsai master in Eastern Washington. Though the specimen is barely 18 inches tall, it is Softye’s oldest at 33 years old, all part of his fascination with bonsai.
“Someone has kept that alive that many years in that little tiny pot,” said Softye, who has been the deciduous tree’s caretaker for the past six years. “It fits into the palm of your hand. It’s a living sculpture.”
Trees in his collection go far beyond the common spruce and juniper bonsai sold at typical nurseries.
Here you’ll find elm, hornbeam, larch, cypress, redwood, azalea, cedar, hemlock, boxwood, cotoneaster, maple, ginkgo, wisteria, and, yes, even pistachio nut.
Right now, his maples and crepe myrtles are the stars with their fall color, but, come spring, Softye will be favoring his wistera. It requires nearly constant pruning and watering, but there’s a huge payoff in its glorious cascade of light purple blossoms.
He’ll invariably bring it inside for parties to fill their home with a beautiful scent.
“Everyone who wants to get into bonsai, I recommend they get a wisteria,” Softye said. “You can get an added feature from it.”
Wisteria is also good for helping beginners learn bonsai techniques.
“You can wire it early on. You can trim it back tremendously. It grows rapidly,” he said. “You can get some instant satisfaction.”
Softye breaks his bonsai into two distinct categories – those grown in a bonsai style when young and those severely cut back when larger.
You can usually tell them apart by their root structure and trunk size.
Trees grown from bonsai when young often feature elaborately flared and exposed root spreads that transition gracefully from trunk to soil in a radial pattern.
Such root displays are highly prized, but they take years to develop.
“The best root spread comes from a young sapling that you purposely spread the roots annually when replanting,” Softye said. “It’s a gradual look of what you’d see in nature.”
All that requires patience, which Softye has in large supply, of course.
Trees, however, can also be turned into bonsai later in life, a technique Softye recommends for beginners who want to experiment and save money when starting out.
Roughly half of his collection features bonsai that were started as adolescent trees. His now 2-foot-tall redwood was originally a 14-foot tree at a local nursery.
Before putting it in his car, much to the surprise of the nursery staff, he promptly sawed off the top 12 feet. He left the root ball intact in its 5-gallon pot for the season and gradually pruned the roots and taproot over the next two seasons.
Today its pot is 4 inches deep and 12 inches wide. He’s trimmed the tree’s delicate branches so that their shiny green needles reach gracefully from a thick, weathered trunk with stubby roots.
It doesn’t have the quaint, fairy tale look of his painstakingly groomed, beautifully rooted maples, but it’s stunning all the same.
“It’s that whole illusion of age that you try to create with bonsai,” he said. “I wanted to make it look like a giant.”
Eileen Softye said bonsai was a natural hobby for her husband, who has become an accomplished woodcarver over the years.
His detailed carvings of eagle crests and other home accents have helped him develop an eye for structure and form, both important in bonsai.
“I’ve always liked the sculpture and the horticulture aspect,” Softye said. “It’s a great hobby. Every tree is a sculpture.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@ heraldnet.com.
Do not try to grow bonsai indoors, unless specifically recommended by an experienced bonsai artist. Indoor bonsai are typically tropical plants. Most trees used for bonsai like to live outside with the humidity, rain, wind and temperature fluctuations of the outdoors. “They have to have cool and warmth,” said Rich Softye, who has grown bonsai for more than 12 years in Snohomish. “They have to experience the cycle of the seasons.”
Fall is a good time to shop for bonsai trees, especially deciduous varieties because it is easier to see branch structure and shape as well as hints of fall color.
Roots matter: When buying bonsai, look for a visually pleasing branch arrangement and roots that radiate outward from the truck on the soil’s surface. “Roots are a very big part of it because what you’re looking for is the anchoring of that tree to the earth,” Softye said.
Look for trees with smaller leaves or needles, such as elm, hornbeam, larch and trident maples. Their miniature characteristics will help in creating the illusion of age on a smaller tree.
You can also buy regular nursery stock and experiment. Buying a substantial-sized juniper that you cut back to shape may be the same price as a potted smaller plant labeled “bonsai.”
Remove hard-packed pebbles: If your bonsai tree’s soil is covered in rocks, remove them when you get it home from the nursery. Roots need access to oxygen, water and air and tightly packed rocks can inhibit that process. Such pebbles are typically used to hold soil in place during shipping.
Every tree has to have a viewing angle. Pruning and shaping techniques should be used to accent that viewpoint.
Watering and fertilizing are an essential part of bonsai care. Like any plant in a pot, they depend solely on you for nutrients. In dry weather, the same is true for water.
Make sure there is sufficient drainage through the bottom of the pot. Invest in a bonsai soil mix if you are unsure how to create a mix with good drainage. Most bonsai die because of too much water or too little water. Test for moisture by inserting a dry wooden skewer into the soil. Leave it in for 30 seconds. If it comes out dry, water. If it is wet, wait another day or two before watering.
Parallel pruning: When you prune roots on your bonsai, it’s a good idea to remove an equal amount leaves and branches. With fewer roots, it will be harder for the plant to support the same amount of tree.
Cold is an enemy in winter. Pots can become miniature freezers when temperatures dip. Be sure to put tender plants in greenhouses or under cover when temperatures threaten to freeze. If you leave them outside, cover the trunk and pot with leaves.
Most wires, which conduct cold, should be removed in winter to avoid damaging the bark. It is best to use aluminum or copper wires.
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