Adding a little summer feeling to the bonsai collection. Kokodama moss balls are neat and light in their expression. Using simple and young material like seedlings, ferns, perennials, or even annuals if you like.

Kokodama

The Kokodama is literally a clump of soil wrapped in mosses, with small plants growing in there. Instead of a ceramic pot, the Kokodama is the pot. This gives it a freshness and a forest summer feeling when the mosses are the base. You can do a lot of different small growing expressions with the Kokodama.

I made the one shown here at a Facebook live earlier with Bonsai Empire, and I will make a more detailed explanation in an upcoming Kisetsu-en Online Bonsai video tutorial with examples of different types of Kokodama plantings you can do.

It is summer fun and a relaxed way of expressing seasonal changes. The plant material is Viburnum seedlings found in the garden, a small piece of a fern also picked up in the garden.

As a loose presentation is added a simple watercolor painting showing the summer leaves at a Birch tree. Also from the garden. How local can it be? 😀  Made by my wife who is a respected artist. Just placed at the side. As simple as that.

Bonsai?

is Kokodama bonsai? It is in the content of showing the beauty of nature and express a piece of this in a simplified form. It doesn’t show the age as appreciated in the bonsai art, but as a complementary piece, it adds some of the same feelings. Just with young material, and maybe easier to compare with Kusamono; plants exhibited as the main objects with a scroll not including a bonsai. Where Shitakusa is grasses and plants having their main role as a supporting element for a bonsai on display.

Displaying

The Kokodama at the pictures are placed on a stone and then placed on a flat bamboo table. The bamboo expresses a summer feeling and is newer used during the wintertime. Therefore it is a good choice for a summer presentation.

I bring it to my living room and enjoy it for a day. The next day it is back on the bonsai benches and kept well watered.