A landscape in a pot may evoke the image of a scale down model at an architect’s office, but how about a living garden in a pot, with different species trimmed to different sizes to make it resemble a landscape. It is this vivid imagination that marks the Saikei gardens of enthusiast Syed Ali.
Starting off with a dwarfed Banyan and bonsai trees a couple of decades ago, Syed Ali unknowingly entered into the world of Bonsai realising later that he was not the first to think about a dwarfed tree. Later, while working on his plants, he was moved by the idea of creating a miniature landscape in a pot. Garden in a pot has been mastered by the Japanese who call it ‘Saikei’. Syed Ali liked the idea and started experimenting with it. He created many such scenarios while he was with the Naval Dockyard and later with the Naval Dockyard Apprentice School. Many of the apprentices picked up the skills and continued with it, while many left it, Mr. Ali told The Hindu here on Wednesday.
Syed Ali made many such gardens for the spouses of Naval officers in the Dockyard. Unfortunately, most of them withered away due to poor maintenance, he said.
A Bonsai takes four to five years to come to a shape whereas a Saikei garden can be made ready in a matter of months. It is a different approach to gardening, he explained. “In a way you can experiment more with ideas in a Saikei,” he added.
His landscapes are capped by toy homes, toy animals and bridges and other such objects to complete the landscape. He has been creating landscapes based on a theme, like the one he has developed on Taj Mahal.
