Clipping and Growing

This massive Trident maple most likely started in a field somewhere and was allowed to grow quite tall (the fastest way to thicken the trunk) before it was cut back. This first cut was the beginning of clip and grow styling (see below). The owner/artist of this outstanding bonsai is German Gomez. Most large Trident maples (and some other deciduous trees) are started in the field and developed using the clip and grow technique. The result is usually a heavy trunked tree with gentle curves, often in a more or less S shape. You can see this basic shape in … Continue reading Clipping and Growing

Some of the Very Best Bonsai in the World

The trees are exquisite and so is the book.192 pages of some of the best bonsai in the world. This book, along with the first one and all the others to come, will surely become collector’s items. We can lay that notion to rest For a long time many of us wondered if North American bonsai was falling behind the rest of the world. Now we can lay that notion to rest. It turns out that what we were lacking was something the Japanese have had for a long time (the Europeans have had theirs for a while too); a … Continue reading Some of the Very Best Bonsai in the World