A Common Mistake?

This image showing three tropical bonsai, each with two different crowns, was originally borrowed from Robert Steven. This post is worth another airing (here’s the original from last year). The topic is something many of us don’t think about that much when designing bonsai, though maybe we should. We’ll let you be the judge. The three trees on the left (above) are tropicals that are shaped like conifers. To Robert Steven and to many others, this a mistake. A common mistake to be sure, but still a mistake. The three trees on the right have more rounded and therefore natural … Continue reading A Common Mistake?

Don’t Do It Too Soon but Don’t Wait Too Long

You don’t often see half defoliated trees. You also don’t often see photos of bonsai with both side chopped off, but there was too much noise in the background so this is my solution (you can see the uncropped version here). The tree is a Ficus and the photo is originally from Eduardo Mourão Guedes’s post at Indonesian Bonsai Society. I couldn’t find a live link there but I did find one here. If you live in the tropics you can defoliate a tree like the one above any time of year. However, if you want to defoliate a Ficus … Continue reading Don’t Do It Too Soon but Don’t Wait Too Long

One of the Most Compelling Bonsai

This has to be one of the most compelling bonsai I’ve seen in a while. It has that wild, not overly refined look and ‘just so’ deadwood (it’s not dominated by deadwood like so many trees). But the real deal is the trunk. When was the last time you saw a trunk with so much power and character? This before and after is more about refinement than styling rough stock. Less daunting perhaps, but only someone skilled in the art of bonsai can do what you see here. In this case, that someone is Gabriel Romero Aguade (Bonsai Sant-boi) (this … Continue reading One of the Most Compelling Bonsai

If I Had A Complaint…

After. Choosing Branches for Flow- is Michael Hagedorn’s title for his latest post which features this extraordinary Japanese white pine. If I had a complaint about Crataegus Bonsai, it would be that Michael doesn’t post often enough. But I really don’t have a complaint, because: 1. Michael has a whole bonsai nursery to run, classes and tutorials to teach, a travel schedule to keep and maybe even a life (who knows?). And 2. When he does post, it’s always something worth my time. Before. For what happens between before and after you can visit Crataegus Bonsai. While we’re at it, … Continue reading If I Had A Complaint…

Robert Steven Critiques a Ficus

Robert’s digital simulation of a Ficus nerifolia that was submitted by Tom Kreugl. Tom’s original. The small stick marks the front Tom has chosen. Robert’s critique In spite of the tree itself, this is a photo that I do not like (sorry!). There’s a problem with appreciation of the art of bonsai because the photo cuts off part of the pot.

Screwing Around

Graham Potter’s hands doing the screwing (into a larch). The image is from a video on styling an old larch (the same larch, and the same video we used a few days ago) on Graham’s Kaizen Bonsai site. It’s another way to do the same thing Often, when you want to use wire to pull two parts of a tree closer together, you can find branches or stubs or something else to fasten the wire to. But what if you can’t? Or what if you can, but you are concerned about the wire damaging the part of the tree you … Continue reading Screwing Around