After by Kimura (aka the Magician). This photo is from a chapter in our Masters’ Series Pine Book titled Masahiko Kimura Transforms A Semi-Cascade. The tree is a Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora).
I’m at the tail end of a short vacation of sorts, so we’ll indulge in one more rerun before it’s back to work full time. This one originally appeared in August 2012. It was titled The Other Cascade: Before & After.
The other cascade
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seem to me that, with the exception of Junipers (especially the ever present Procumbens nana) you don’t see that many semi-cascade bonsai (I just scrolled back through the last couple month of Bonsai Bark and about 10% of the trees featured are semi-cascade; more than I thought I’d find, but still, not that many).
Actually, you don’t see that many full-cascade bonsai (see the photo at the bottom of the post) either, but when you think of cascades, my guess is that it’s full-cascades that comes to mind.
Semi-cascade is NOT the same as windswept
It’s not unusual to see semi-cascade bonsai referred to as windswept. This is a mistake. Windswept bonsai can be in any style (though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a windswept full-cascade), including semi-cascade, and most semi-cascade bonsai don’t really qualify as windswept.
Here’s a Robert Steven critique that explores windswept bonsai (there are others, but this is a pretty good start). BTW: Robert is the author of two excellent bonsai books (one now out of print).
Before. It helps to have well developed stock to start with. You can find the 28 other photos (not shown here) that describe the process and give general information on styling pines in our Masters’ Series Pine Book (currently on sale along with all of our other books).
Full cascade (the lowest point of the tree is below the bottom of the pot). From the Black pine gallery in our Masters’ Series Pine Book.
Our 30% to 40% off Book Sale ends tonight. All of our bonsai books including our Master Series Pine Book are currently on sale. But like all good things, this sale will end. Tonight at 11:59pm EDT. Don’t wait.