Still Sleeping at the Switch

Do you recognize this award winning Shimpaku juniper? It appears in Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature (and older version is in the gallery of our Masters Series Juniper book). It belongs to Masahiko Kimura. The photo is by Jonathan Singer, as are all three photos in this post and all of the photos in Fine Bonsai. The three trees shown here are all from a review of the book Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature, that appears at Smithsonian.com. We were alerted to the review by Matt Calcavecchia in the comments on a recent post (scroll down to the last tree … Continue reading Still Sleeping at the Switch

There’s Bunjin and Then There’s…

Recognize this planting? It was posted day before yesterday, though now there has been some changes. Andy Rutledge did the digital pruning and repotting to enhance its bunjin-ness, though I’m not so sure he’d say it quite that way (here’s what he did say about it: Even with a very few, but vital adjustments (mostly reduction), the pines begin to take on the bunjin quality). Wabi Sabi Our previous post elicited one of our best discussions yet. Thanks in large part to Andy Rutledge‘s comments. Here’s a quote from Andy that goes to the heart of the matter: “Bunjin is … Continue reading There’s Bunjin and Then There’s…

Trunks & Trunk Chopping Techniques

I borrowed this mesmerizing ancient black pine trunk from Andy Rutledge’s ‘the bonsai journal.’ Trunk chopping 101 for deciduous trees There’s an excellent article on trunk chopping at Andy Rutledge’s bonsai journal. Andy bills it as trunk chopping for beginners, but I suspect there are experienced bonsai people out there who might also benefit (like me, for example). I’ll just show you an illustration and a little text here, and encourage you to visit Andy’s site to see the whole article (and plenty of other useful stuff). Cutting back to an existing leader Here we have a likely candidate (above). … Continue reading Trunks & Trunk Chopping Techniques

In Praise of the American Larch #2: Good Taper Isn’t that Easy to Come By

You can find this in-training collected Larch in Bonsai from the Wild by Larch Master Nick Lenz (Stone Lantern Publishing). Good tapers on larches are hard to come by. This exceptionally strong taper is the result of what Nick calls a ‘swamp layer.’ For details see the chapter on larches in Bonsai from the Wild (THE book on collecting). Planting two trunks together that diverge as they ascend is a good way to create the appearance of taper. This image is from an article by Nick Lenz entitled Larch with Taper, that appears in The Bonsai Journal. Check out our … Continue reading In Praise of the American Larch #2: Good Taper Isn’t that Easy to Come By