Editing Bonsai (section)

==Display==
[[File:Atlas Cedar, GSBF-CN 120, September 12, 2008.jpg|thumb|left|Bonsai displayed on an outdoor bench. Note the automated watering apparatus.]]
[[File:Bonsai display with Seiju elm, miniature hosta and hanging scroll, 12 July 2009.jpg|thumb|A [[Seiju elm]] bonsai on display with a [[shitakusa]] of miniature [[hosta]] and a hanging scroll]]
A bonsai display presents one or more bonsai specimens in a way that allows a viewer to see all the important features of the bonsai from the most advantageous position. That position emphasizes the bonsai's defined "front", which is designed into all bonsai. It places the bonsai at a height that allows the viewer to imagine the bonsai as a full-size tree seen from a distance, siting the bonsai neither so low that the viewer appears to be hovering in the sky above it nor so high that the viewer appears to be looking up at the tree from beneath the ground. Noted bonsai writer Peter Adams recommends that bonsai be shown as if "in an art gallery: at the right height; in isolation; against a plain background, devoid of all redundancies such as labels and vulgar little accessories."<ref name="the_art_of_bonsai">{{cite book | author= Adams, Peter D. | title=The Art of Bonsai | publisher=Ward Lock Ltd. | year=1981 | page=134 | isbn=978-0-8317-0947-1}}</ref>

For outdoor displays, there are few aesthetic rules. Many outdoor displays are semi-permanent, with the bonsai trees in place for weeks or months at a time. To avoid damaging the trees, therefore, an outdoor display must not impede the amount of sunlight needed for the trees on display, must support watering, and may also have to block excessive wind or precipitation.<ref name="growing_bonsai_a_practical_encyclopedia">{{cite book | author=Norman, Ken | title=Growing Bonsai: A Practical Encyclopedia | publisher=Lorenz Books | year=2005 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/growingbonsaipra0000norm/page/176 176–177] | isbn=978-0-7548-1572-3 | url=https://archive.org/details/growingbonsaipra0000norm/page/176 }}</ref> As a result of these practical constraints, outdoor displays are often rustic in style, with simple wood or stone components. A common design is the bench, sometimes with sections at different heights to suit different sizes of bonsai, along which bonsai are placed in a line. Where space allows, outdoor bonsai specimens are spaced far enough apart that the viewer can concentrate on one at a time. When the trees are too close to each other, aesthetic discord between adjacent trees of different sizes or styles can confuse the viewer, a problem addressed by exhibition displays.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Exhibition displays allow many bonsai to be displayed in a temporary exhibition format, typically indoors, as would be seen in a bonsai design competition. To allow many trees to be located close together, exhibition displays often use a sequence of small [[Alcove (architecture)|alcoves]], each containing a single bonsai. The walls or dividers between the alcoves make it easier to view only one bonsai at a time. The back of the alcove is a neutral color and pattern to avoid distracting the viewer's eye. The bonsai pot is almost always placed on a formal stand, of a size and design selected to complement the bonsai and its pot.<ref>Adams, Peter D. ''The Art of Bonsai''. Color plates facing pp. 89, 134.</ref>

Indoors, a formal bonsai display is arranged to represent a landscape, and traditionally consists of the featured bonsai tree in an appropriate pot atop a wooden stand, along with a [[shitakusa]] (companion plant) representing the foreground, and a hanging scroll representing the background.  These three elements are chosen to complement each other and evoke a particular season, and are composed asymmetrically to mimic nature.<ref>Andy Rutledge, "[http://www.artofbonsai.org/feature_articles/display101.php Bonsai Display 101] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128174322/http://www.artofbonsai.org/feature_articles/display101.php |date=2017-11-28 }}", ''The Art of Bonsai Project''.  Accessed 18 July 2009.</ref> When displayed inside a traditional Japanese home, a formal bonsai display will often be placed within the home's [[tokonoma]] or formal display alcove. An indoor display is usually very temporary, lasting a day or two, as most bonsai are intolerant of indoor conditions and lose vigor rapidly within the house.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
[[File:Bonsai pot seal.jpg|thumb|Seal of the Yamaaki kiln stamped on the underside of a bonsai pot. Yamaaki was a bonsai pot manufacturer founded in the 1920s in [[Tokoname]], [[Japan]].]]

===Containers===
[[File:Assorted bonsai pots.jpg|thumb|Assorted bonsai pots]]
A variety of informal containers may house the bonsai during its development, and even trees that have been formally planted in a bonsai pot may be returned to growing boxes from time to time. A large growing box can house several bonsai and provide a great volume of soil per tree to encourage root growth. A training box will have a single specimen, and a smaller volume of soil that helps condition the bonsai to the eventual size and shape of the formal bonsai container. There are no aesthetic guidelines for these development containers, and they may be of any material, size, and shape that suit the grower.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Completed trees are grown in formal bonsai containers. These containers are usually ceramic pots, which come in a variety of shapes and colors and may be glazed or unglazed. Unlike many common plant containers, bonsai pots have drainage holes at the bottom surface to complement fast-draining bonsai soil, allowing excess water to escape the pot. Growers cover the holes with a screening to prevent soil from falling out and to hinder pests from entering the pots from below. Pots usually have vertical sides, so that the tree's root mass can easily be removed for inspection, pruning, and replanting, although this is a practical consideration and other container shapes are acceptable.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

There are alternatives to the conventional ceramic pot. Multi-tree bonsai may be created atop a fairly flat slab of rock, with the soil mounded above the rock surface and the trees planted within the raised soil. In recent times, bonsai creators have also begun to fabricate rock-like slabs from raw materials including [[concrete]]<ref name="The Art of Bonsai Design">{{cite book | author= Lewis, Colin | title=The Art of Bonsai Design | publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.: New York | year=2001| isbn=0-8069-7137-1 | pages=44–51}}</ref> and [[glass-reinforced plastic]].<ref>Adams, Peter D. ''The Art of Bonsai''. Color plates following p. 88; p. 134.</ref> Such constructed surfaces can be made much lighter than solid rock, can include depressions or pockets for additional soil, and can be designed for drainage of water, all characteristics difficult to achieve with solid rock slabs. Other unconventional containers can also be used, but in formal bonsai display and competitions in Japan, the ceramic bonsai pot is the most common container.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

For bonsai being shown formally in their completed state, pot shape, color, and size are chosen to complement the tree as a picture frame is chosen to complement a painting. In general, containers with straight sides and sharp corners are used for formally-shaped plants, while oval or round containers are used for plants with informal designs. Many aesthetic guidelines affect the selection of pot finish and color. For example, [[evergreen]] bonsai are often placed in unglazed pots, while [[deciduous]] trees usually appear in glazed pots. Pots are also distinguished by their size. The overall design of the bonsai tree, the thickness of its trunk, and its height are considered when determining the size of a suitable pot.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Some pots are highly collectible, like ancient Chinese or Japanese pots made in regions with experienced pot makers such as [[Tokoname, Aichi|Tokoname, Japan]], or [[Yixing]], [[China]]. Today, many potters worldwide produce pots for bonsai.<ref name="About Bonsai Pots and Potters"/>