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I didn’t say it was “cruel” or “abusive”. These terms only make sense within an ethical framework, which I consider subjective. I said bonsai are crippled regu

I didn’t say it was “cruel” or “abusive”. These terms only make sense within an ethical framework, which I consider subjective. I said bonsai are crippled regular trees. You prune it to an extreme degree to stunt its growth and bend it with wires to contort it into an aesthetically pleasing look. That’s just an objective fact.

gerdesj 4y ago
So why did you say "crippled" rather than "pruned" in the first place? "Crippled" is an adjective that attempts to describe a loss of functionality and it is massively overloaded these days. I won't go further there. How on earth is wiring and pruning of a small plant causing a loss of functionality? I brutally prune roses and fuschias and many other plants too. They respond by growing enthusiastically and being healthy and vigorous. My bonsai do too. We can skirt around a debate of minor points of language but you did deploy a pejorative term: "cripple" with possible malice 8) I'd love to hear about your thoughts on these horrors: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/training-espalier https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/training-espalier