Japanese Slab Forest & Other Issues

This illustrious forest is from Bonsai Today issue 23. Among other things, it shows how one very strong tree can add drama and power to a forest planting. Though the original doesn’t say, I’ll guess that it’s by Saburo Kato (Japan’s most revered bonsai artist) and that the trees are Ezo spruce. Other treasures like this Most of the content in Bonsai Today magazine is from the old Japanese masters, and even though there is much to be excited about in contemporary Western bonsai, you would be hard pressed to find a forest with this level of refined precision anywhere … Continue reading Japanese Slab Forest & Other Issues

Suzuki, Santini & One Big Sabamiki

I pulled this distinctive bonsai off of a gallery on facebook that was posted by Francesco Santini. There isn’t much information provided and I don’t read Italian anyway (Free Translation nonwithstanding), so I can’t say much about this tree except that the hollowed out trunk caught my eye. An unusual tree I have seen very few trunks that have been so completely hollowed (from side to side anyway, if not in depth). It looks like it might be a Ezo spruce though I could be mistaken. If it is an Ezo, it must be quite old to attain such size … Continue reading Suzuki, Santini & One Big Sabamiki