Finished for now. Three years after planting (see below). Masahiko Kimura (aka ‘The Magician‘) styled this Ezo spruce (Picea Glehnii) planting with a high mountain stand of conifers in mind. Notice how the trees on the outside lean out, which is what you would expect in a natural stand of trees. You may also notice [...]
The drawing on the left shows a young deciduous tree before pruning. Notice that the tree’s energy (growth) moves primarily upward, forming a more or less inverted triangle (tip down). In order to control this growth and move the energy down, prune to form the tree into a triangle (more or less) with tip pointing [...]
After. Finished for the moment. The challenge was for Masahiko Kimura to style a bunjin (literati) bonsai with only one branch (see below for where he started). It’s eccentricity lies in its striking simplicity, if that makes any sense. It a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora). From our Masters’ Series The Magician, the Bonsai Art [...]
This wonderfully scenic suiseki is from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum‘s current calendar of events (see below). A first for us This is the first time we’ve featured viewing stones on this so far exclusively bonsai blog. If you are a die hard bonsai lover who doesn’t care about the connection (it’s all about [...]
This little pine clump with its shaggy too-long needles, aged lichen covered trunks and funky almost too-small pot is near perfect in its imperfect naturalness. From Shohin Bonsai World, Nishinomiya branch. For a detailed look at the ins and outs of pine bonsai, you might want to check out our Masters’ Series Pine book. Think [...]
Sickle time. This photo is from Bonsai Tonight’s first in a series of posts (five total, with numerous excellent photos) on repotting. A clear, simple, thorough series on repotting Jonas Dupuich (Bonsai Tonight) has one of the best visual and written instructions on repotting we’ve seen yet. If you haven’t done a lot of repotting [...]
These simple graphics show three solutions to three common branching problems. From Bonsai Today issue 58. Green Workshops present and past Our Green Workshop series is geared for beginners in the art of bonsai. Some earlier Green Workshops are: Wiring basics (using a turnbuckle); Wiring a Young Tree; Fall Transplanting: Pro & Cons; Yet Another [...]
This perfectly ramified, wonderfully balanced, natural beauty belongs to Min Hsuan Lo (Min is his family name) of Taiwan. I received it as an email greeting this morning. Well, actually Merry Christmas Just to set the record staight, Mr Min’s greeting actually said ‘Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,’ rather than the ‘Holiday Greeting’ you [...]
