"Niwaki", The art of helping trees
express their most beautiful personality
“Our most basic symbiotic relationship with gardens and trees is to water and have them in our view. We walk next to them but don't really see them. We can grow deeper and more meaningful relashionships by placing attention to what the plant is willing to express. Listening to them is a beautiful. I am just the interpreter.
Some people say, let the trees be trees, but ...do we let our dogs be wild dogs? Attention is the most basic form of love.
Oscar Romero
About ZENZIA
ZENZIA was created in 2009 as part of Oscar's BA degree in Design, a vision shared with his Father and applied to several ecological endeavours. Oscar has applied his expertise in many creative fields: graphic design, architecture, fashion design, landscaping, and others.
From a very young age, he was captivated by bonsais after visiting a nursery that decades later, would become the “Mexican Institute of the Bonsai Art”. He learned the art of tree pruning at the “Jhon Naka Bonsai Museum”, which exhibits more than 400 bonsais, crafter by reknown Bonsai Masters, and the founder who also became his mentor, the Bonsai Master Emigdio Trujillo.
The Asian culture has had a significant influence on his life. He lived for a short period of time in Japan, where he was amazed by the beauty of the pruned and trained trees (Niwakis) that you can find all over the country. He is also a Hapkido Master (Korean Martial Art) under Grand Master Ji Han Jae, who was a friend and teacher of Bruce Lee.
In 2015, Oscar traveled to Seattle to celebrate his teacher's 80th birthday. He was delighted by the love shown for nature and the environment by the people of the Pacific Northwest. In 2020, he began sharing his passion for tree pruning and landscaping with neightbors as a Covid friendly activity. Two years later, he decided to open his services to the public as a Certified Arborist and member of the North American Japanese Garden Asociation.
Tree Service
There are other professions working on trees: Arborist, Landscape Architect, Backyard or Landscaper Designer and Niwaki / Bonsai Artist. Our approach is focused on the individual beauty of trees or shrubs. We follow principles that find their origins in China over 1,000 years ago. Our aim is to persuit the most optimal balance of any shrub or tree, with its own structure and the rest of the garden, so that their beauty causes you to stop and admire them! The Niwaki practice comes from Japan, but it's principles and values are Universal and can be applied to trees all over the world.
Tree trimming
The Niwaki term is used to describe the process for the garden trees to achieve its ideal adult shape. The "japanese look" finds its origins in nature. We replicate how the natural elements shape them through hundreds of years. Sometimes, given the garden design, that involves scaling down overgrown trees to achieve the right balance and proportions.
Tree Support
The pruning and training techniques to shape trunks and branches include using materials such as wire, rope, and others to create guidance and support. That way we can facilitate having foliage in the right areas. This will provide many benefits to the tree, like more air flow in between the branches, structure support or recovering the view from your windows.
Private Lessons and Events
Oscar has conducted group and private lessons on design topics, martial arts, meditation and bonsai. Learning the art of Bonsai or Niwaki, implies the peaceful act of contemplation and admiration for nature. Pruning sessions are a very calming experience, as if it were a meditation or a philosophy class. Reach out to discuss your goals and design a memorable custom experience!
Hardscaping
Flagstones, pavers, rocks and sand. Frugality materials can become a virtue and invite the spectator to transform their experience with the space. The elements can work in balance with nature, creating abstract landscapes that welcome the act of contemplation. A garden can be a small representation of nature with abstract elements full of symbolism.
Zenzia Hardscaping
Design
We work with other professionals in the search for you to have the most qualified people for each part of your projects. Teamwork has always been the best way to gain mastery on what we love. Whether you are a landscaper designer, architect or a garden lover, we are here for you.
Passion led by Creativity
Sometimes it can be challenging to envision the results of an intervention. For those situations, 2D and 3D illustrations are great tools to facilitate the process.
These services are open for all professionals in need of these types of solutions. We have found it very useful to digitally sketch the potential look of any project (on site or remotely), before the work is performed.
Oscar's professional experience can play a key role in the creation of successful projects where collaboration is needed. He has lived in 19 different countries and traveled over 60. That gives him a multicultural background that becomes very handy in all the stages of any project, from the creation and selling process to the execution.
