Japanese beech forest on a curved slab. From Bonsai Today issue 24. Artist unknown.
Japanese beech (Fagus crenata), with their striking white bark, strong trunks (often with excellent nebari) and beautiful smallish leaves, are a favorite of many bonsai artists, especially in Japan. Unfortunately, they aren’t that easy to find her in North America and our native beech (Fagus grandifolia), though a sweet and prolific tree is too rangy and large-leafed to make for very good bonsai (the European beech, Fagus sylvatica, which you can find, is a much better bet). All the trees in this post are Japanese beech and all the photos are from back issues of Bonsai Today magazine.
Speaking of Bonsai Today, we keep threatening to end the 75% off back issue sale. But then we would have to price them a little differently (especially the older rare issues), which means going through each one on our website and making 3 changes. This is something we just don’t seem to get around to. So, just in case you are interested, all remaining Bonsai Today back issues are still 75% off at Stone Lantern.
BTW: Sorry about the title of this post. Couldn’t resist all those B’s. And, just in case you are old and haven’t been paying attention, Beast is used in the positive sense.
Copper colored fall leaves are another reason to like Japanese beech (other beeches too). A strong, well-tapered trunk doesn’t hurt either. By Sinichi Watanabe. From Bonsai Today issue 49.
Beech (and other deciduous trees) are appreciated for their bare-boned winter look, when you see the whole trunk and all the branches all the way out to the finest twigs. From Bonsai Today issue 10. Artist unknown.
A strange and wonderful tree with its lumpy base and willy-nilly branches (and very unusual background color) is the kind of tree that you might look at and think ‘what a mess’ and consign it to the ‘later’ pile, or even the ‘never’ pile. Fortunately, some sharp-eyed person saw something worth saving and even potting. It’s from Bonsai Today issue 21. Artist unknown.
Good ramification is essential if you want quality deciduous bonsai. Beeches have somewhat heavy-tipped branches, so you don’t see the amazingly detailed fine branching you see on some other deciduous trees. Still, this one is pretty impressive. From Bonsai Today issue 49.
And then there are the lovely leaves. A higher quality photo/scan would be better, but still, you get the idea. From Bonsai Today issue 58.