Essentially the two aspects that the bonsai pot needs to cater for.
One of the most important part of it is its horticultural needs and that is determined by the volume
of the soil that the pot can hold.
How big the pot you need depends on one, the size of the tree and the voracity,
or how much water the tree can use.
So ideally the amount of water that the pot can hold or the tree can use from the pot should be
just what it needs for a day.
The more difficult part of getting it right is the aesthetic part.
The bonsai pot should not overpower the picture, so it's not the dress that you're looking at,
or it's not the pot that you're looking at, it's the bonsai that you're looking at.
The pots - there are oval pots, there are rectangular pots, there are square pots, there are round pots,
hexagonal, octagonal, and then there's the lotus shape and the floral shape.
The lotus shape and the floral or the Japanese Miller shape are quite extravagant pots.
With the shape of the pot you have the depth of the pot.
The depth of the pot is quite crucial because a shallow pot can make your tree look quite tall.
A deep pot can, on the other hand, make the tree look much more squatter.
So if you want to have a tall delicate looking tree, then you would use a very thin narrow pot.
On the other hand, you have a strong masculine looking tree that needs to show that it is well
established in the ground, you'd use a deeper pot.
If you have a tree that is up in the mountain or growing by the riverside, you would need a shallower pot,
but one which kind of accentuates that the tree is leaning off onto one side.
So you would use what we call a semi cascade pot, but the pots are not too deep but they're
deep enough to lift the tree from the ground.
You then have cascade pots which are quite tall pots compared to the width of the pot so the pot is
usually twice as wide or twice as tall, maybe even two and a half times as tall as the width of the pot.
Then you have trays. Trays are used in compositions: roots over rocks, little landscapes.
You have slabs. Slabs again are used in larger compositions to go along with the shape and the depth of the pot.
You have decorations on the pot. Often, you'd use textures on the pot.
The textures generally emulate the bark of the tree or if the fruits are quite unique, and got spikes
and other characteristics on it, then texture sometimes helps on the pot.
The lips on the outside of the pot tends to make the top of the pot much wider than the bottom of the pot.
If you want the most sturdy looking pot, more masculine looking pot, usually the lip is hidden on
the inside of the pot. The lips could be textured or could be heavily carved out or shaped.
Glazed pots are the more colourful ones with the brighter colors and more vibrant textures on them
and they are generally used for the flowering and fruiting trees.
On the other hand, you have unglazed pots which are very earthy colors and you have earthen browns,
earthen reds and even greys.
Now earthen pots or unglazed pots are normally used for evergreen trees because the green
and brown goes naturally together.
Short sturdy feet ground the pot quite low to the surface and makes the tree look, makes the
pot look very much grounded, stronger and so they're used more for masculine trees.
Tall delicate treated pots on the other hand, are for more flowery trees, for more decorative trees,
for more trees that are more feminine.
They have stepped feet which are a cross between the sturdy feet and the tall feet.
You then have what we call the cloud feet.
The cloud feet signify that the pot or the tree is up in a mountain range so it helps to bring our
imagination to that area.
We have recessed feet very much like the short sturdy feet.
The recessed feet, you can't see them from the surface of, from the end of the pot.
They're quite deep into the pot.
Then you have flushed feet where the feet are in line with the surface of the pot.
It's not recessed at all. When you have the feet in line with the surface of the pot, it helps
raise the pot and it gives quite a smart finish to the pot itself.
You can't have a pot without the feet because it doesn't allow the free passage of water underneath
the pot so all pots should have, for horticultural reasons, should have feet.