
Calmly composing trees and rocks, the art of ‘penjing’ is becoming more and more popular
BUTTERWORTH: ‘Penjing’, which is the art of combining small trees and stones, which is popular in Japan and China, is becoming more and more popular with the people of this country.
The art is different from the bonsai tree because it does not involve the soil element, instead the sapling is tied to the stone with wire according to the desired shape.
Azmi Yaakob, 52, from Bagan Jermal, near here, is one of the fans of penjing art and is willing to spend three hours a day to design saplings according to his own taste.
“Our society may be familiar with bonsai trees but the art of penjing is still new in this country even though it has been practiced for a long time in Japan and China.
“It’s a combination of trees and rocks that make large trees into shrubs and look attractive in addition to using very little land,” he said.
Among the trees that are suitable for penjing art are asam, jawi, bebuas, juniper and blue bell . There are even efforts to produce penjing art using semalu trees.
Currently, Azmi has planted about 2,000 trees around his food stall to become a mini garden.
The trees are sold at prices ranging from RM30 to RM400 per tree depending on the type and design.
“The art of penjing requires a lot of perseverance and patience. It is not easy to get an interesting design, especially for trees that are usually large like the asam tree,” he said.
source – Zulfa Mohamad