Jesse Gilbertson first discovered the concept of bonsai during a landscape design class at the University of Missouri. “One of our projects involved a table full of small trees, a table full of decorative pots and piles of rocks. We had to take a tree and match it with a pot and match it with some rocks,” he explains.
While he doesn’t remember his grade for that project, the concept of matching small trees and pots and rocks developed into a lifetime passion. He shared that love with hundreds of others during last summer’s Missouri Botanical Garden tour of outstanding St. Louis gardens.
The concept of bonsai, developed over a thousand years ago in Japan, is basically the process of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers to mimic the appearance of an old tree in nature. “Bonsai,” Jesse notes, roughly translates as ‘tree in a tray.’”
There is no question why the concept of creating an exquisitely beautiful piece of living art appealed to Jesse, who began his studies at Mizzou as an art major. He switched to horticulture when his interest in landscapes was noted by a faculty member who suggested he investigate landscape architecture as a three-dimensional outlet for his creative instincts.
While he admits he didn’t know a lot about horticulture originally and had some catching up to do in terms of his plant knowledge, his “fascination” with trees had been there from childhood. “One of my earliest memories is the smell of crabapples in bloom,” he recalls.
“When I was young we lived in Germany for a while. There was a plum orchard behind our house and a remnant of the Black Forest. Many humans’ first memories actually involve trees,” he says. “We take them for granted. We don’t take the time to stop and appreciate these beautiful organisms for what they contribute to every part of our lives.”
Following college, his first job involved living and working at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, where, “I got to experience working with native plant landscapes hands on. It was a great experience.” From there, he moved on to the Missouri Botanical Garden itself, where he helped maintain the historic area of the garden, surrounding garden founder Henry Shaw’s Tower Grove House and the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum building. “I fell in love with Henry Shaw’s concept of bringing gardens to the general public,” he says.
Jesse did just that when he became a horticulturist, designing and maintaining landscapes at Forest Park Forever. When U. City in Bloom was looking for a director of horticulture to manage the team that oversees over 70 public garden spaces, a volunteer at Forest Park Forever suggested they contact Jesse. He has headed that program for nearly 11 years. In addition, he has his own business, TreeStyle: Aesthetic Pruning, working for a select group of clients with Japanese-style gardens.
Throughout his career promoting and maintaining public gardens, Jesse was privately kindling his growing passion for creating landscapes in miniature through the study of bonsai. Following college, he joined the Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis in 2000, as one of the youngest members of that group. He has since gone on to serve two terms as vice president and two terms as president of the society.
One of the things he most enjoys about the art of bonsai, Jesse says, is that he is always learning. “I have had many mentors and teachers.” His current teacher, who was trained in Japan, lives in North Carolina and comes to St. Louis three times per year to work with a study group composed of the most serious members of the Bonsai Society.
In practice, bonsai specimens are kept small by the size of the container and by repotting each tree every few years, pruning off the larger roots while maintaining the smaller feeder roots. Branches can be positioned with copper wire to “represent nature in miniature.” Bonsai specimens are “like a Phoenix, always rising,” he explains. “They may be very old, but they are reinvigorated every time you prune them and repot them.
“There are trees in Japan that have been passed down generation to generation and are hundreds of years old. I still have some that I started with that are 25 years old. “I am always starting new trees and projects to improve my collection of about 80 trees,” he continues. “I particularly like to work with hardy deciduous trees; Japanese maples, hornbeams and elms. I also love traditional junipers and pines. All trees have different requirements.” Keeping them healthy “requires a lot of knowledge,” he notes. He sees bonsai as a way to bring something from a natural environment into a small, urban space.
If he had to pick a favorite tree, it would be a maple for beautiful buds and electric silver bark in winter and the bright leaves and small flowers that emerge in spring. “In summer, they just remind you of a shady tree you would want to sit under, and in fall, the leaves turn to yellow and orange, even pink.”
While the type of tree is important, so is the choice of container, Jesse notes. Intrinsic to the art is selecting “a container that accentuates and highlights a tree,” he explains. “There are some things that need more water, but you have to select a pot that is proportional to the tree, so the tree becomes the focal point. I enjoy collecting pots from Japan, China and the United States.” Even so, he adds, “sometimes it seems I never have the right pot for the tree. I’m continually playing with the right tree and pot combination.”
Jesse’s bonsai specimens are displayed on platforms and tables throughout the fountain-centered back courtyard of the brick, federal-style home in South City he shares with his wife Amy. Low-growing perennials and shrubs soften the property edges and allow the bonsai to shine. “Our house is very formal, and we wanted to create an ornamental garden that respects that,” he explains, noting that Amy put her territorial stake in the ground with the creation of a vegetable garden and by helping with general landscaping. “I don’t do anything in the garden without her approval. Without her the garden wouldn’t be nearly as pretty.”
In growing season, Jesse begins each morning “watering my trees while I sip some coffee and make sure everything is happy and healthy. It is my morning meditative routine. I love that I have been able to model a career that I enjoy and a hobby that is my passion and do it in my own garden where I find peace and solace.”
The Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Garden’s Commerce Bank Center for Science Education, 4651 Shaw Blvd., 63110. For additional information visit the Bonsai Society’s website at www.stlbonsai.com. To see some of the beautiful work U. City in Bloom does in University City, visit ucityinbloom.org.
