Kusamono in Winter

The delights of this joyous complementary art form to Bonsai cultivation and appreciation.

During the summer season it is important to keep most of your Kusamono tucked away in a shady space. The minute amounts of soil are no match for the summer heat, unless a highly drought tolerant species. As Autumn arrives we may take our Kusamono out again into the light for appreciation. It is in the winter season that we get to see the closing of the growing year and the sense of release as the Kusamono shrivel and take on forms of rest and release.

The winter time will see these accent plants either die away or take on a solum appearance, rejecting unwanted leaves and superfluous material in ready for the next season. This period is of great interest and beauty to the Kusamono keeper as it reflects the attitudes of the season.

The Winter season is a time of slower pace and appreciation rather than the grind of maintaining a Bonsai collection. A delight of this appreciation is the variability and changeability of our herbaceous partners, the Kusamono that harbour the spaces between our trees.