Moral Dilemma
I confess that I have wrestled with and have been questioned about the morals or ethics of the bonsai process, more than the result. It may not be settled law or agreed by all, but here are my thoughts. Feel free to leave questions or comments. I will start with some easy questions and progress deeper:
Why is it okay to grow plants in pots instead of a garden?
Bonsai in Japanese means “plant in pot.” The art derived from China, called Penjing. “The main difference between Bonsai and Penjing is that Bonsai is a more refined, stylistic depiction of nature (often in single tree displays), whereas Penjing is more natural and wild (usually displayed in a landscape form).”
The very first practice of indoor gardening with potted plants can be traced back to the early Greeks and Romans. Older civilizations like Ancient Egypt, India, and China also made use of potted plants, but mostly in outdoor spaces and courtyards. — Encyclopedia Britannica
As long as you are taking good, proper care of your bonsai tree, you are in no way harming the tree. Simply making sure that the tree stays small isn't doing any damage to the tree. A well-cared for bonsai tree might even live longer inside a pot than another tree might live outside.
The wiring of trunks and branches look like torture on the tree
While the practice of training and shaping a tree may seem cruel, if applied to a person or animal, they are ways to accelerate natural shaping that may take years in the wild. For most bonsai artists, the goal is to emulate nature in a smaller scale. What is appreciated in the beauty of trees in the wild may be the result of adaptation to limited resources or harsh climate conditions. Often the result may be a winding and or twisting trunk, the resilience of an old tree that has seen hard winters, broken branches, fire, and wind.
Use of wires, in addition to selective pruning, can train the small tree to adopt the shape and features that may be beautiful and natural, in the end.
Wires are only intended to be on a trunk or branch for 1-4 months. The trunk or branch will outgrow the constraints when they were applied. The goal is for the trunk and branch to naturally hold that desired shape, unassisted.
When you are thinking about cruelty for a tree, you can’t think of it in the same way that you would for a human or an animal. Trees and other plants aren’t able to feel in the same way that other creatures do.
For example, bonsai trees aren’t able to feel pain. When you prune a bonsai tree, you are not hurting it, you are only helping it to grow healthier. — — BetterLeaves “Is Bonsai Cruel?”
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