Koi Ponds & Bonsai Trees

Peanut butter and jelly, peas and carrots, pork chops and applesauce, and around our house, bonsai and koi ponds. When considering these famous duos, it’s hard to have one without the other.

Some beautiful bonsai, artfully placed around your koi pond can set just the right tone. It brings some of that wonderful Japanese history, full of fables, and heroes, culture and mystery, right to your own backyard.

There are some distinctive ties between koi and bonsai, that are very interesting. Both koi and bonsai were actually started in China, but adopted, and enveloped so thoroughly into Japanese culture, that people now believe they were both originated in Japan.

Koi ponds and bonsai both have great symbolism in Japanese culture, and taken together, can give you all you need for a well-rounded, spiritually satisfying lifestyle.

Bonsai trees symbolize patience, nobility, harmony, and sympathy, with each species of tree further expanding upon this; for instance, azaleas symbolize love, while oak symbolize strength.  The shape a tree grows in also has meaning. Cascades mean challenges, a slanting tree means overcoming troubles, and an upright tree means stability, strength, and endurance.

Exposed roots symbolize old age, as do gnarled trunks, while drooping branches mean wisdom. A smooth trunk symbolizes youth, and a circular trunk shows victory over the elements of nature.

Koi ponds symbolize strength of character, longevity, accomplishment, courage, prosperity, and perseverance. The koi themselves symbolize prosperity, good luck, strength, perseverance, courage, and patience.

So you can see why bonsai and koi ponds go hand in hand. The symbolism behind them is so similar, and of course, bonsai trees next to a pond are absolutely beautiful.

Here at Pond Digger Ranch, we have a bonsai pond. It is a cute little 8 x 11 pond, surrounded by stunning bonsai. Drop by and take a peek. You can pet a horse or kiss a goat while you’re here!