Trim, Wire, Feed, Transplant, Enjoy

Trident maple forest from Bonsai Today issue 14. Back issues of Bonsai Today are 75% off.

We don’t often use Bonsai Bark to advertise our products, but in this case, because so many of you have been waiting for our Bonsai Aesthetics wire, we’re making a somewhat rare exception.

Our famous and enormously popular Bonsai Aesthetics wire is back, and, as always, the prices are unbeatable.

1 Kilo rolls are from 14.80 to 18.50 each depending on how many you buy, and 100 gram rolls are from 2.36 to 2.95 also depending on how many you buy.

Roshi Bonsai Tool sale. And while we’re at it, a friendly reminder about our 20% off sale if you buy two or more Roshi tools. Even without this sale, Roshi tools are simply the best for the price. In fact, you might expect to pay twice as much for such high quality.

Just a few of our large selection of Roshi Bonsai tools

While we are at it, don’t forget the health of your bonsai.

The complete set of Ho Yoku Bonsai Care products

 

Transplanting essentials

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BCI: Bonsai Strong

Bonsai strong. One of many spectacular trees displayed at the recent BCI convention in China. This and all the photos in this post are courtesy of Robert Steven.

Pines now, the rest later. Robert Steven just sent us a whole host of great photos from the recent BCI convention in China. We’ll start with some powerful pines here, and then show you some of the other trees in a few days.

 

This has to be one of the most impressive pine forests anywhere. Actually, you can scratch the pine part and we’ll just leave it at one of the most impressive forests, period. Most of us would be more than delighted to have any one of these trees in our backyard, let alone the whole planting. Nice pot too. Looks a bit like an escarpment in the Rockies.

 

Another powerful trunk. This one accented by two whirling circles.

 

Looking up at this angle it’s easy to imagine you’re looking at some massive old-growth trees in the mountains somewhere.

 

I like the way this one doubles back on itself. Great taper on another powerful trunk too.

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Change Your Plans

Sometimes it’s helpful to break a bonsai down into its constituent parts. What you might see in this case, is a somewhat classical root-over-rock Trident maple bonsai accentuated by two rather long, undulating branches on either side. For some of us, there might be a temptation to cut them off; to revert to something safer and more recognizable as bonsai. Don’t do it! The photo is from the National Bonsai Foundation’s 2013 calendar.

Mr. California Juniper at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. The event is the annual Potomac Bonsai Festival which happens to be coming up this weekend (May 3-5, my apologies for the late notice). It features Harry Hirao (aka Mr. California juniper) and is something not to be missed. Even if you have to change your plans and book a last minute flight (I’m only half-joking, you may never have another opportunity to see Harry in action).

The Potomac Bonsai Festival is co-sponsored by the National Arboretum, the National Bonsai Foundation, and the Potomac Bonsai Association and held at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. For more on this event and other events at Museum, check out he National Bonsai Foundation’s 2013 calendar.

BTW: I wonder if the two long branches on the tree above were originally left on as sacrifice branches (branches that are left on a tree to speed growth and thickening – often to develop taper – and that are later removed) and then at some point the artist (Stanley Chinn) realized how much they enhance the tree, so he decided to leave them on. Or…?

 

This famous Harry Hirao California juniper resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum.

 

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Getting Out of the Way

This Ponderosa pine was no doubt collected somewhere in western North America. Europeans are lucky in that regard; it’s relatively easy for them to import plants from around the world. Here in the U.S. restrictions are much more onerous. The tree belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project, as are all the photos in this post.

All of the bonsai in this post are by Walter Pall in collaboration with Mother Nature. Walter is a proponent of the ‘getting out of the way’ school of bonsai. Not that we want to resurrect the old naturalistic vs highly refined debate, but somehow, whenever we discuss Walter’s trees the questions begs to come up.

‘Getting out of the way’ isn’t really the whole story. Clearly Walter doesn’t just find suitable yamadori (trees collected from the wild) and stick them in pots. His experienced eye and hands are a big part of the process. Still, I think the objective is to do whatever is deemed necessary to let the natural qualities of the trees speak for themselves.

Some of Walter’s best trees are Norway spruce (Picea abies) and this one is no exception.

 

A trunk that’s full of character never hurts. It’s an English oak (Quercus robar).

 

Simple elegance and shaggy bark. I don’t think you’ll find such perfect Bunjin (Literati) bonsai growing just anywhere. It’s a European larch (Larix decidua). The pot is by Peter Krebs.

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Bjorn’s Biggest Loser

After. This masterpiece Itoigawa Shimpaku was recently restyled by Bjorn Bjorholm at Keiichi Fujikawa’s Kouka-en Bonsai Nursery in Ikeda City, Japan, where Bjorn is currently an apprentice. The photo is from a post on Bjorn’s Bjorvala Bonsai Studio blog, as are all the photos in this post.

The Biggest Loser
In Bjorn’s own words
“This massive Itoigawa Shimpaku has a long history as a bonsai. It was first shown in the Kokufu-ten about 35 years ago, back in the days before the boom in major refinement techniques and quality occurred. Since then, it was purchased by several different owners and has been in the collection of its current owner for about 20 years. During that period, this particular client has tried to show it in the Kokufu-ten again on three separate occasions, and each time the tree has failed to cut the mustard, so-to-speak. The owner recently brought the impressive juniper to us at Kouka-en for a major restyling and to see if, perhaps, we might be able to transform it once again into a Kokufu-ten-worthy bonsai…” (please visit Bjorn’s blog for the rest of what he has to say about this tree).

 

Before. To paraphrase Bjorn, this tree arrived at Kouka-en after being over-watered, overfed and overgrown.

Fertilizing for health and ramification. What does it mean to overfeed a bonsai? I (Wayne, not Bjorn) should say something here, as I’ve put a lot of energy into encouraging our readers to fertilize more, rather than less. To clarify, we need to make a distinction between older well-established trees and younger less developed trees.

With older bonsai, once the trunk and branches are well developed, two primary concerns are the health of the tree and the continued development of fine branching (ramification). If you fertilize too much at this stage, the fine branching grows too fast, with the result being undesirable thickness and internodes that are too long. So you want to slow the feeding down to just enough to keep the tree healthy and to promote tight ramification.

With younger trees, heavier fertilizing helps promote faster growth which can result in increased trunk girth and the development of strong primary branching. Though there much more that can be said, and, as with most everything, finding the proper balance between too much and not enough is key.

 

This closer look gives you a pretty good view of how well this tree is ramified. If you look closely, you can follow the branching from primary, to secondary, to tertiary and so forth. Though conifers aren’t usually as highly ramified as the most developed deciduous trees, still, ramification is critical if you want top-notch conifer bonsai.

 

No explanation needed.

For a more photos and insight into the process from before to after, you can visit Bjorvala Bonsai Studio.

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Bonsai Island Paradise

Though it’s not really a bonsai if it’s in the ground, this one is a very close cousin. This photo and all the photos in this post are from Stone Garden.

Our last post was our first ever on Korean bonsai, and, as one thing leads to another, here’s our second post on Korean bonsai. This time the bonsai reside at a place called Stone Garden, which happens to be on an island just south of South Korea and due west of Japan’s Kyushu Island. The island’s name is Jeju and judging by the photo and text at the bottom of this post, it’s a rather magnificent place, with warm enough weather to support almost sub-tropical plants (at least zone 7 plants).

 

Is this a Trident maple? Whatever it is, it’s a bit of a break with convention to see such a stout tree, let alone a stout deciduous tree, in a bunjin pot.

 

I’m going to guess that this is a Japanese black pine. Mostly because it looks like one. The tree to the right with the flowers looks like a Crape Myrtle, which happens to be a zone 7 plant.

 

Stone Gardens is much more than just a bonsai garden. If you are interested, there are numerous photos that show off some luscious landscaping and great stone sculpture.

 

Do you think that all the trunks (nine?) on this wild tree are supported by the same roots?

 

A powerful base and dynamic lines make for a great bonsai.

 

A strange tree. The wood imparts a feeling of centuries of rough weather and other wild hardships, while the foliage suggests an easy life with abundant nutrients. If the foliage were made more spare, in keeping with the feeling of the trunk, then a shallower, less dominating pot might work.


 

Jeju-do is a volcanic island located 130 kilometres off the southern coast of South Korea. It is the country’s largest island, smallest province and home to its tallest mountain, Halla-san, a dramatic-looking dormant volcano that rises 1,950 metres above sea level. The people of Jeju have developed a culture and language that are distinct from those of mainland Korea, and the island is famous for its matriarchal family structure, symbolized by the haenyeo (“sea women”), who make a living from deep-sea diving to harvest marine products.

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A Compelling First Look

This photo of a Shimpaku that appears to be growing out of the side of a lava rock, came out better than most of the photos from Korea Bonsai Museum’s Exhibition at theplace gallery. Though some of the trunk is too dark to allow for any detail, the lower section is pretty good. Good enough to show off the rich cinnamon bark that you often find on Shimpaku.

I realize we have never featured bonsai from Korea. An oversight for sure. Once it dawned on me to do something about this oversight, it turned out that there is a little problem finding quality bonsai photos from Korea. When you search Korean Bonsai, you’ll get a host of Korean hornbeams along with a small handful of sites/blogs/facebook pages that actually feature Korean Bonsai. Some of the best bonsai photos (that I found at least) are from the Korea Bonsai Museum. Actually it’s the Korea Bonsai Museum’s 1st Exhibition of 2012 that took place at theplace gallery.

It’s not that often you see bonsai featured in a gallery setting where a lot of attention has been paid to the environment as well as to the trees. Unfortunately, the lighting at theplacne gallery isn’t all that good for shooting bonsai. The biggest problem is the lack of illumination inside the trees (a very common problem). Still, I think that overall, these photos provide us with a compelling first look at some intriguing Korean bonsai.

 

The shot gives us a pretty good idea of the gallery setting.

 

I’m going to guess that this untitled tree is a Korean hornbeam.


Bonsai silhouettes.

 

Though this tree appears to be a Literati at first glance, you don’t usually see a Literati bonsai with such a smooth trunk (it’s hard to tell just how smooth in this photo) and such lush foliage. Maybe it’s best to just say that we like the movement and overall feel of the tree and leave it at that.

 

Another example of a Literati-like tree. Only this time with two trunks.

 

Looks like the pine in the center of the circle is the feature tree in this shot. Maybe in the whole exhibition.

 

A close of the pine above. It’s not really falling over, it’s just the photo.

 

Nice shot. This looks like it might be one of the most interesting trees in the whole exhibition. Unfortunately, no close-ups are available.

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A Nice Pot, a Little Soil…

Succulent with flowers. Such brilliant colors are hard to argue with.

All the companion plantings shown here are succulents that belong to Eraydin Erdogan, a bonsai potter living in Turkey (the pots are his creations). The great thing about succulents is that anybody can grow them. All you need is a nice pot, a little soil and a juicy little plant or two. No green thumb or amazing sense of aesthetics necessary. You can even forget to water (up to a point at least).

The following three paragraphs are from earlier Bonsai Bark posts (from 2011 and from 2009).

If it’s in a bonsai pot
You can plant almost anything in a bonsai pot. If it’s woody, you can call it a bonsai. If it’s not, you can call it a companion or accent plant; a planting that’s designed to enhance a bonsai display. Or it could be designed to stand on its own, in which case you can call it a kusamono (for more on this, you can check out Willi Benz’ Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, or this earlier post). No matter what you call it, you might come to the conclusion that, if it’s in a bonsai pot and it’s alive, it’s either bonsai or it’s related to bonsai.

What does Kusamono mean?
In his book Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, Willi Benz says “Kusa = grass and Mono = object.” He goes on to say “If a Kusamono-Bonsai is the main object of a display, we use the term Kusamono. But if a Kusamono-Bonsai is used as an accent or complementary plant, we say it is a Shitakusa.”

Expanding the definition over time
Mr. Benz goes on to say that over time, small flowering plants have also been used as kusamono. Now many people say that any herbaceous plant in a bonsai container is a kusamono. I think this is the way most of us use the term.

 

More succulents with flowers enhanced by a well-chosen colorful pot.

 

In this case, with such a simple understated planting, it’s a lot about the pot.

 

Succulents in coral. That’s a great thing about succulents, you can plant them almost anywhere.

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Kokufu: More of the Very Best Bonsai

2012 Kokufu Prize wining informal upright Osakazuki Satsuki azalea (Rhododendron lateritium var. Osakazuki). This and the other images in this post are from Phoenix Bonsai.

As long as we’re stealing images from Phoenix Bonsai Society we might as well pillage their text: “This now eight-day February national exhibit of bonsai is the largest and most prestigious of all bonsai shows worldwide. The Nippon Bonsai Association (NBA), the official sponsor of the event, has worked diligently over many years to insure that only the finest bonsai in Japan are displayed. To win one of the several prizes or sho awarded greatly enhances the career of the stylist and honors the owner of the outstanding tree. In a given year there may be anywhere from one to five of the prizes awarded.  However, the Kokufu sho is not given if there is not a worthy tree. Once a tree does win the prize, it is never again eligible for another Kokufu sho but it still can be entered additional times for display only.”

You can visit Phoenix Bonsai Society’s website for more on Kokufu-ten and a wide range of excellent bonsai articles. It’s a link well worth clicking. You can also check a recent Bark post that features some Kokufu trees.

 

2012 Kokufu Prize winning Informal upright Shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. shimpaku)

 

2011 Kokufu Prize winning informal upright style Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora); it also received the Prime Minister Award at the Taikan Ten Exhibition in November 2010.

 

2010 Kokufu Prize winning twisted-trunk Pomegranate (Punica granatum ‘Nejikan’)

2006 Kokufu Prize winning Shimpaku Juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. shimpaku)

 

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A Steady Stream…

Premna serratifolia by Robert Steven. Aside from the immediate impact of the old wood with all the trunks popping up everywhere, there’s the counter-balance provided by the sturdy little trunk on the far left and the way the two tiny trunks at the base provide subtle accents. And then there’s that teetering trunk on that tiny tip that sticks out on the far right at the very end of the planting (six years of government-funded college down the drain on two mangled sentences).

The beat goes on. If you take the time to go back through our 700-plus previous posts, you’ll find that Robert Steven appears more than any other bonsai artist. This is not an accident. Not only does Robert provide us with a steady stream of highly instructive critiques (send me a photo <wayne@stonelantern.com> and he’ll do one for you), but even without those we’d still feature Robert as we consider him to be one of the most energetic and innovative bonsai artists in the world. Beyond that, Robert is a business partner of sorts; we are the North American distributors of his classic bonsai books and of his Bonsai Aesthetics tools and wire.

Plantings where old wood becomes a stand-in for rocky outcroppings and cliffs are one of Robert Steven’s specialties. I don’t know who originally pioneered this type of raft planting, but I do know that Robert has elevated the art.

 

I like the relaxed way this raft is gently laid out on a mossy knoll. Reminds me of something I’ve stumbled upon hiking in the mountains somewhere. It’s from one of Robert’s recent facebook posts.

 

This highly unusual raft style planting, with its gnarled twisty protuberance and corresponding pot, is still fresh and needs some time to fill in. It’s from the same facebook posting as the image immediately above.

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