The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings.
It’s hot here in Vermont, my bonsai need water and so do I. Once again it’s time to dig into our archives and vacate this office. This post originally appeared summer before last and again last summer.
A question about watering came up when this was originally posted. I’ll preempt this time with my answer:
“My guess is the hinoki plantings are kept in shade or semi-shade which would help keep watering requirements somewhat manageable. Shimpaku on the other hand do best in full or near-full sun, so you might imagine that on hot sunny days more than one watering is in order.”
Kimura’s rock plantings. These photos are all from a posting by Alejandro Sartori that he took during a recent visit to Masahiko Kimura’s nursery. I’ve chosen to pick out some rock plantings from a much larger selection of Alejandro’s photographs of Kimura’s trees. I think they represent an aspect of Kimura’s revolutionary bonsai journey that may not be as familiar as some of his other bonsai, particularly his famous dramatic large bonsai that he sculpted using chainsaws and other power tools.
I believe that at least some of the rocks in these photos were constructed by human hands. Quite possibly even by Kimura’s famous hands. There is a chapter in The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2 that shows how to construct a layered vertical rock. The second photo down features one of these.
By the way, all of the plantings shown here are root-on-rock style as opposed to root-over-rock style.
Are these trees Hinokis? It's hard to tell for sure, but that's my best guess. It's also hard to tell the size of this planting without something to contrast it with, though you might imagine that it's quite large. My guess is that the pot is somewhere around 30 inches (76cm), which would make the planting about 40 inches (100cm) across, but that's just a guess.
Another Shimpaku planting. The trees aren't quite as developed in this one, but they're still pretty good. It's fairly easy to see that the rock was constructed in layers. There's an excellent chapter in The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2, where he shows how to do this.
I like the way the trees (Hinokis again?) grow straight up along the side of rock on this one. This serves to emphasize the rock's strong vertical movement. This is further enhanced by the way the crown of the rock thrusts up above the trees.
The eccentric. I think this one is the most unusual of the lot. Perhaps a big part of that unusual feel is the distinctive shape of the rock. In contrast to the planting immediately above, these trees (Hinokis again?) create a whole different feel by growing down and away from the rock.
If you want to see how Kimura does it, this is the right book. And, it’s now on special at Stone Lantern.