KOCHI: Incredibly beautiful and healthy-looking bonsai trees of 30 to 45 years welcome us as we enter actor Kavithalaya Krishnan’s garden at Adyar, in Chennai.
Kavithalaya has over 80 films and over 60 tele-serials to his credit and his name is synonymous with the production banner Kavithalaya. Grown in ceramic trays of different shapes and sizes, the bonsai stole Krishnan’s heart when he was 10-years-old.
“An uncle of mine was in the Foreign Service and served in Japan. My aunt showed me a ceramic tray and said it was a bonsai tray. I couldn’t stop gushing over them,” he narrates, “I couldn’t afford gardening books back then. So, I used to go to Landmark (bookstore) read around fifteen pages at a time, go home jot it down and put them to practice,” he recollects.
With over 15 bonsai in his possession, he shares that he had more but they were given away as gifts. “But, I am very choosy about who I give it to. Maintenance and care for a bonsai is very crucial,” he says.
Bonsai need minimum sunlight and needs to be watered according to the type of soil – wet, dry or moist. So, one must decide about the placement of the bonsai (indoor or outdoor) before selecting the tree species. “There are many type of bonsai and each has to be groomed in a specific way. I have many fruit bonsai including mangoes, peepal and banyan. The mango bonsai I have here has started flowering, I can’t wait for the fruit!” he exclaims.
An ardent nature enthusiast, Krishnan is inclined towards collecting his own bonsai species rather than buying the readymade ones. “If you check in crevices of old temple walls, wells and bridges, bonsai material can be found growing wild. I have collected some from the Adyar Bridge, moved them and replanted in trays,” he shares.
While, he opines that growing a bonsai isn’t astrophysics, he also states that a knack for gardening a bonsai comes only with practice. “I suggest beginners start with a simple bonsai, like a ficus bonsai,” he shares. Talking about two important styling techniques – pruning and wiring – he shares that both are important to shape the bonsai to make it resemble a miniature tree.