Hebron -

Years ago, the art of “dwarfing trees” captured the attention of the Palestinian youth interested in agriculture, Shahd Al-Sharif, from the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, to gradually turn into a private project in which she practices her hobbies, with a symbolic income compared to the effort expended in dwarfing.

And “dwarfing trees”, “Peng Jin” or “bonsai” are all names of an art that depends on the cultivation and breeding of trees under special conditions, often harsh, so that the tree remains small in size, but its trunk suggests that it is perennial.

The information indicates that China is the origin of this art, but it is also spreading widely in Japan, and its roots became deep in the two countries thousands of years ago, before it spread to all parts of the world.

Shahd says that her project is the first in Palestine.

Olive trees in the process of dwarfing (Al Jazeera)

Olive dwarfing..a special imprint

In a fiberglass-roofed plastic house next to her house, Shahd keeps hundreds of shrubs and ornamental plants, and she achieved the goal of "dwarfing" in 4 of them, but she put her stamp more broadly on the olive tree, which has a special place in Palestinian heritage and culture.

Dwarfed ornamental trees in Shahd Al-Sharif nursery (Al-Jazeera)

The task of dwarfing is neither easy nor quick, but requires skill and urgent accuracy over years so that an eight-year-old tree looks - for example - at the age of 40 years.

Shahd - an agricultural engineering graduate from Hebron University - draws attention to the need for dwarf trees for special care, and seeks to develop a simplified guide on caring for this type of trees to gift to those who buy their trees.

Pruning goes through several stages that depend on creating a harsh environment for the shrub with continuous pruning of leaves, twigs and roots (Al-Jazeera)

harsh environment

As for dwarfing, she says that it goes through several stages that depend mainly on creating a harsh environment for the shrub with continuous pruning of leaves, twigs and roots, and a little “thirsting” irrigation.

"After years of planting the plant, it is uprooted, two-thirds of its roots are pruned and re-planted in a smaller container, to try to adapt to the good harsh conditions, so that it looks older than its real age," Shahd explained.

The dwarfing process starts from the seed and takes at least years to become dwarfed (Al-Jazeera)

How is dwarfing done?

The Palestinian engineer mentioned two methods of dwarfing: the first starts from the seed and takes at least 7 years to become stunted, and the other is easier and depends on pruning a thick branch of the tree and replanting it and subjecting it to dwarfing conditions and within a year it becomes stunted.

Dwarf trees are affected by climatic changes, so the needs of each tree (the island) must be taken into account.

Shahd points out that dwarfed trees are affected by climatic changes, so they must take into account the needs of each tree in its residential area, which is about 900 meters above sea level.

The diameter of the olive tree in the Shahd nursery reaches 10 centimeters, and heights range between 10 and 30 centimeters, and it is usually acquired inside offices, homes and their balconies.

The art of connoisseurs

Popularly, Shahd points out that this art is not common among the people and that those who taste it are few, and what is available in the Palestinian market comes from Israel, and some of it is imported from abroad.

She points out that the Japanese are interested in this type of tree to the point of sanctification sometimes and even issuing their own passports.

The Palestinian young woman Shahd Al-Sharif in her nursery, where she practices the art of dwarfing trees (Al-Jazeera)

low yield

In terms of economic feasibility, Shahd says that the difficult economic conditions in Palestine push her to sell one tree at about $40, although its price in other countries is hundreds of dollars, "and the longer it lives, the higher the price."

The Palestinian engineer adds that her goal is not primarily material, so the financial return is not a criterion for her project.

After her success in dwarfing olive and ornamental seedlings, Shahd seeks to dwarf citrus trees, explaining that miniature trees can bear fruits.