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

“These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

This Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 104. It belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. He presented it as an example of a naturalistic bonsai Walter Pall yesterday, Walter Pall today. This one happens to be our first Walter post ever (June, 2009). It was titled The Great Debate part 2: You Be the Judge. I’ve condensed it to accommodate our shorter attention spans The following quote by Walter is from the same 2009 post (it originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 104)… “I have seen that the trend in styling is toward more and more … Continue reading “These Bonsai Look Like They Were Made of Plastic”

A Piece of Rebar, Some Nerve & More than a Little Skill

This before and after by David Benavente provides a look at what you can do with a piece of rebar, some nerve, and more than a little skill. I originally posted this in 2010 and can longer find David’s original, but if memory serves, the tree is a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) Continuing with David Benavente (see yesterday’s post) and our before and after from the day before… The photos for this post are from a a 2010 Bark post. I’ve reworked them some, and the text is new. For more on David, you can visit his website and you can visit him … Continue reading A Piece of Rebar, Some Nerve & More than a Little Skill

Magnificent Monster Scot’s Pine

This magnificent monster yamadori Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) belongs to Andres Alvarez Iglesias. I cropped it for a closer look. The original is below Andres Alvarez Iglesias sent the photo above to the Bonsai Focus Golden Concave contest (see the poster just below). Judging from what I see here, there are some other very good trees (including several that we’ve featured here on Bark). They’ll need to be very good to hold up to this one. Continued below… Two New Excellent Japanese Tool Sales 25% off Koyo Bonsai Tools and… 25% off Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Plus an extra … Continue reading Magnificent Monster Scot’s Pine

Ferociously Contorted Scot’s Pine

Gabriel Romero Aguade says of this magnificent, ferociously contorted, Scot’s pine, “Maintenance work and small improvements in a pinus sylvestris from a client. Reposition the angle of planted, settlement of the low branch, cleaning of leaves and selection of outbreaks.” I’ve been seeing a lot of Gabriel Romero Aguade’s bonsai these days and every time I do, I think I should post some. Now, finally, the moment has arrived. Continued below… Fertilizer Sale Ends Tonight 25% off all Green Dream Organic Slow Release Pellets Sale ends tonight (Thursday) at 11:59pm EST Close up The artist with the tree. Though … Continue reading Ferociously Contorted Scot’s Pine

A Dancer, a Famous Snake & Other Impressive Bonsai

The Dancer by Mauro Stemberger. Mauro’s caption reads: Never give up!!!! Swedish Scots pine “The Dancer.” You can see that Mauro is planning a new planting angle and most likely a new pot. You might imagine a bunjin type pot; shallow, round, maybe a little rough… Today I set out to put together a post on some rock plantings that were created during Mauro Stemberger’s recent (on-going?) trip to India. However, time wasn’t on my side, so I decided to wait until I could do a little more research. Meanwhile, to set the tone we’ll borrow this one from our … Continue reading A Dancer, a Famous Snake & Other Impressive Bonsai

Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

I found this gnarly old European yew (Taxus Baccata) on Francesco Santini’s website. We’ve been featuring yews a lot these days. They make excellent bonsai and there are countless old specimens in temperate zone gardens (and in the wild) in Europe, North American and elsewhere (not all are T baccata however, as there are several other species scattered around the world). It’s been a long time. Way back in February of 2010 we featured a couple trees that belong to Francesco Santini. Now, seven years on, he’s still at it and so are we. This time however, we’ll double down … Continue reading Francesco Santini, Seven Years Later

The Sun Still Shines on Our Bonsai

Japanese yew with one thin live vein and lots of great deadwood. From Mauro Stemberger’s Italian Dream website. Still on vacation and trying to recover from a hangover and a bad dream. Rather than going to the time and trouble to compose a new post, we’ll resurrect this one from December, 2013. It was titled, “Sun is shining on my bonsai, but I stay in bed a little longer…” Mauro Stemberger is something of force in European and world bonsai. He usually starts with excellent stock and ends with even better bonsai. This is not not the first time we’ve … Continue reading The Sun Still Shines on Our Bonsai

Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess spectacular will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website. After three straight new posts it’s time to delve into our archives . This one originally appeared March 2013. Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come. The problem, for most of us at least, is that it’s in German. But really, the photos and overall presentation are so good that … Continue reading Bonsai Art & the Art of Bonsai

Free, Unconstrained, Witty, Clever, Humorous & Unconventional

This elegant Bunjin style Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) won Finest Natural Bonsai award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. It belongs to John Jaramillo. With Bunjin (Literati) style bonsai a certain sensitivity is required. Anything even a little forced or overdone or unnatural in any way, just won’t do. Thus, in the case of this tree, the award for the Finest Natural Bonsai is spot on. Here’s a quote on Bunjin by the illustrious John Naka (from a 2015 Bark post) “… Its appearance should not be too serious nor easy, it should be free, unconstrained, witty, clever, humorous … Continue reading Free, Unconstrained, Witty, Clever, Humorous & Unconventional