Just Another Before & After Bonsai?

Itoigawa juniper before and after by Gabriel Romero Aguade By now you may have seen dozens, if not hundreds of before and after bonsai posts. Some were done in a matter of hours and some took years to complete. When I first saw this one, my guess was it falls into the second group; bonsai transformations that take years. – But rather than settle on a guess, I decided to ask the artist, Gabriel Romero Aguade who posted it just a couple days ago. Here’s my question… “How many years was the process? ” And here’s Gabriel’s answer… “From the … Continue reading Just Another Before & After Bonsai?

Another Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

As you can see, this before and after shows considerable skill in styling and refining bonsai. The tree is a European larch (Larix decidua). The artist is Will Baddeley. Someone goy lucky and bought this little gem from Will a while back Still working on our new website. Our original launch date has been obliterated and now I have no idea when we’ll throw the switch. Meanwhile, time is of essence, so it’s back to our archives. This one is from August, 2017 with a few changes today Continued below… THREE SPECIALS END TONIGHT 30% – 40% OFF OFF ROSHI TOOLS … Continue reading Another Brilliant Before & After Bonsai

Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Here’s a before and after of a Japanese red pine by Marco Invernizzi Following up from yesterday, we’ve a couple more Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) for you, including this before and after by our friend Marco Invernizzi. We’ve featured Marco’s bonsai going way back to early days of Bonsai Bark and before that in several issues of Bonsai Today NEW 25% OFF SITE WIDE SALE ON ALL ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE PLUS AN EXTRA 10% OFF OUR FAMOUS ROSHI TOOLS 25% OFF APPLIES TO EVERYTHING ON ORDERS 25.00 OR MORE INCLUDING ITEMS THAT ARE ALREADY DISCOUNTED A llttle fuzzy, but I wanted … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Japanese Red Pine

Bonsai Before & After – Three Year Progression

A three year progression on a Himalayan juniper (Juniperus squamata) by Josef Burschi We’ve got new Before & After for you. This time with an intermediate stage between the before and after. There is a small caveat however. The tree is a Tanuki* (Phoenix graft). I think most Japanese bonsai artists frown on Tanuki, or at least they don’t value them as much as other bonsai. But the tree looks good, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. You can see this tree and some other good ones on Josef Burschi’s fb timeling NEW SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF … Continue reading Bonsai Before & After – Three Year Progression

A Muscular Monster, Before and After

I found this Picea abies (Norway spruce, aka European spruce) before and after at Mandala Bonsai Ilona. Though it would be great to know just how large this tree is, nothing more than just the type tree and before and after is offered on the timeline This magnificent, muscular monster (sorry!) is from Mandala Bonsai Ilona’s timeline. In this case, the before and after process mostly involves bringing an already well established bonsai back into shape. With one new design element added; the first branch is now a jin (the bark was stripped and the resulting dead branch is left on the tree as an intentional feature). Otherwise, … Continue reading A Muscular Monster, Before and After

Sheer Bonsai Power – Before & After

We usually start Before and After posts with an appropriate B & A photo (see below). But I couldn’t resist this one. I think it captures the essence of the tree. Or at least its size and sheer power I found this impressive before and after pine on Luis Vallejo’s timeline. The only caption provided is… “Hiroaki Suzuki , Pinus sylvestris, Luis Vallejo Bonsái Garden.” We know Luis from numerous posts here on Bark and we also know a bit about Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine). I’m not familiar with Hiroaki Suzuki, but if you’d like to do a little research, here’s a link for you … Continue reading Sheer Bonsai Power – Before & After

Before & After Bonsai – Tie Pot Special Ends Tonight

Before and after by Koji Hiramatsu. No species is mentioned, but given that Koji lives in Japan and that the tree looks like a Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), that’s probably a good guess. Though I have been fooled by Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora), another two needle pine We’ve featured Koji Hiramatsu several times over the last couple years, though mostly his Shohin bonsai (here’s our first and my favorite Koji post), though lately I’m seeing more larger trees and fewer shohin on his fb posts. Either way, big or small, Koji is always worth a visit 30% OFF HAWS WATERING CANS ends tomorrow, Thursday … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Tie Pot Special Ends Tonight

Potentilla Bonsai, Before & After – As Fragile as Stained Glass

Potentilla fruticosa before and after from Lakeshore Bonsai. There’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to styling and caring for Potentilla Yesterday we featured a couple little Potentilla, so let’s stay on theme. This one was styled by Aaron at Lakeshore Bonsai in Toronto. The following is quoted directly from Lakeshore’s site… “This Potentilla is as fragile as a stained glass window and parts of it literally crumble away every time I work on it. It has undergone some pretty radical changes since I acquired it in 2011, and certainly does not look like the tree I initially envisioned it would … Continue reading Potentilla Bonsai, Before & After – As Fragile as Stained Glass

Before & After Bonsai – the Desire to Improve What Most of Us Might Settle For

Before and after Shohin pine by Koji Hiramatsu. No size or species is mentioned, but you can tell it is quite small and you might guess it’s a Japanese black pine simply because it’s a favorite in Japan and the after shot looks like it might be one Continuing with another before and after, though moving way down in scale from yesterday’s monster. The photos are from Koji Hiramatsu’s fb timeline TWO NEW TOOL SPECIALS 40% off list prices on all Bonsai Aesthetics Tools & Tool Kits 40% off list prices on all Stainless Steel Tools Includes Roshi, Koyo & Other Tool Brands … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – the Desire to Improve What Most of Us Might Settle For

Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

Before and after Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) by Todd Schlafer. The tree belongs to Mike Andrews. For the Godzilla reference, scroll down to the bottom of the post Continuing with another before and after transformation by Todd Schlafer (see Oct 19th). Here’s a quote by Mike Andrews (facebook)… “Progression of collected Rocky Mountain Juniper. Collected by Randy Knight, delivered to my house September 2016. Initial design and structure setting with Mauro in April 2017. Fertilized heavily and full sun 2017 and 2018 growing seasons resulted in very nice dense foliage. Finally detail wired and pad formation by Todd yesterday. … Continue reading Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After