Nebari pancakes

In Search of the Perfect Nebari #9

Grotesque is in the eye of the beholder. Every now and then, and only in Japan, you see a nebari like this (pancake nebari is an apt name). Aside from its somewhat strange quality, a couple things jump out about this one. First it’s is a clear example of a fused nebari (except for around the edges, all the exposed roots have fused together), and second is how thin the trunk is in relation to the size of the nebari. This photo and the others in this post were all taken at Fuyo-en by Bonsai in Japan. Back in the … Continue reading In Search of the Perfect Nebari #9

How to fertilize for a better nebari

This very useful tip comes courtesy of from Michael Hagedorn of Crataegus Bonsai, author of Post Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. For those of you who like growing maples and other deciduous trees that might develop a marvelous fused nebari, when that tree is young, fertilize right next to the trunk of the tree. Fine fusable roots will grow right under your fertilizer cakes, the kind that develop into the solid nebari pancakes that we see on really old bonsai and trees in the wild. If we fertilize only at the outside of the root system, the … Continue reading How to fertilize for a better nebari