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Shree Bonsai

January 11, 2013 by Jonas Dupuich

If you find yourself in Andra Pradesh, I’d strongly recommend a visit to Shree Bonsai in Hyderabad.

Ficus with great roots

Ficus

Shree Bonsai

Shree Bonsai

India, it turns out, has quite a bonsai community. Thanks to the efforts of Shailesh Kapadia, I was put in touch with Lalitha Shree and Madhusudan Reddy of Shree Bonsai (on Facebook) on very short notice. Within 24 hours of making contact, I met with Reddy and Raghurandan Bhagwath at their nursery for a tour. In short, I was really impressed!

Madhusudan Reddy and Raghunandan Bhagwath

Reddy, Bhagwath, and a great ficus

Air roots take hold

Air roots taking hold

The nursery contains many different varieties, the vast majority of which are new to me. My hosts took time to point out the fruit, flowers and foliage of their native trees while showing off their favorite specimens and describing some of their growing techniques.

Acacia

Tamarind

Many trunks

Many trunks

Most impressive was the scale and quality of the trees. Taking advantage of the warm weather and the speed with which tropical bonsai grow, Madhusudan has learned to develop trees quickly, encouraging fierce growth and clipping and wiring to guide new shoots. Although I found the garden green and lush, Madhusudan pointed out that it was still winter (about 80F the morning I visited) and that the garden was far more verdant during the growing season.

Building a massive tree

Long-term ficus project

Keeping the soil moist

Preserving moisture with burlap – a smart move when temps can rise above 120F

Ficus

Ficus

Tamarind

Tamarind

After showing me around the nursery, Madhusudan took me across the street to a field with really, really, huge pots. “You can’t possibly buy pots like this can you?” Nope, you can’t. They made the giant growing pots themselves in a pit kiln 10 feet away. It took about a week to bake them.

Bouganvillea

Bougainvillea

Giant pot

More giant pots

In town for a wedding, I felt lucky to find so much bonsai enthusiasm in the South Indian town of Hyderabad. And what fun varieties!

Tropical trunks

Green trunks

Tamarind

Red fruit (tamarind)

Colorful fruit

Colorful berries

Bouganvillea

Bougainvillea

Indian Fruit

Custard apple

Fruit

Not a tamarind

Shree Bonsai

Shree Bonsai

Thanks again to Shree Bonsai for taking the time to show me around and letting me share these photos – I really appreciate it!

✕

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: India

Previous Post: « Bonsai from Takasago-an
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Juan says

    January 11, 2013 at 4:42 am

    Very cool, I have been to India many times and have yet to see bonsai! Thanks!

  2. gaycarboys says

    January 11, 2013 at 5:09 am

    It’s a custard apple jonas!:)

  3. gaycarboys says

    January 11, 2013 at 5:11 am

    BTW love the bougie

  4. Zack Clayton says

    January 11, 2013 at 5:49 am

    Something for us to look at where live sphagnum is hard to find. The burlap would work quite well to retain moisture. Not as pretty a top dressing perhaps, but functional.

  5. Lyn. Waring says

    January 12, 2013 at 3:33 am

    Hey Jonas! Tks for this info. I live in India and couldn’t find a bonsai nursery, I’m a bonsai enthusiast. Have two banyan trees abt 15 & 18 yrs old, the younger one has good arial roots. Have some ficus too still trying to train them. Also training some Jadeplants. Cannot get soft thick wire for wiring though, I manage with thin binding wire. Great work Madhusudan. All the best. Lyn.

  6. Jose Luis says

    January 13, 2013 at 8:31 am

    Jonas,

    The unlnown fruit (not a tamarind) you point out is the fruit of the Banana Shrub tree, Michelia figo.

    Regards,

    Jose Luis

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