Bonsai (bon-sai), the Japanese word, literally means ‘tray planting’. It is the art of dwarfing trees or plants into pleasing shapes. Although widely accepted that this skill originated in China, it is the Japanese that developed it into a truly ethereal art form. Bonsai can be created from almost any perennial woody tree or shrubs which produce true branches. They are dwarfed by confining growth in pots and branches are shaped, clipped and teased to get the ultimate shape and thereafter continuously trimmed and pruned into the desired effect.