Before & After by Bonsai Boon with a Guest Appearance by Michael Hagedorn

Here’s Boon’s caption for this before and after… “Itoigawa shimpaku removed old needles, downward growth, rewired and reposition” No bonsai is ever finished (unless it’s dead and then it’s no longer a bonsai anyway). I don’t know how many trees Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon) has, but I know it’s a whole lot more than most of us So what do you do when you have so many trees? Beyond basic care, like watering, feeding, treating for disease, insects etc? Well, one thing you do is spend some time bringing established bonsai back into shape, and if you have the talent, improving them in the process. … Continue reading Before & After by Bonsai Boon with a Guest Appearance by Michael Hagedorn

Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

Before and after European olive by Javi Campos Juan. Though it looks as though Javi has somehow managed to bend the trunk, perhaps all he has done is changed the planting and viewing angles. In any case, the improvement is striking Continuing with our Before & After theme from the last few days… You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t conform to this standard often look unnatural Still, I like this tree. True, … Continue reading Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

Before and after. This impressive and very unusual European olive (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris) was styled by Javi Campos Juan. Continuing with Javi Campos Juan (see two posts from earlier this week)… You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t follow this standard often look unnatural. Still, there’s a lot to like about this one and beauty doesn’t always conform to our expectations. New Site Wide Sale 20% to 70% OFF LIST ON ALMOST EVERYTHING* see … Continue reading Beauty Doesn’t Always Conform to Our Expectations

A Bonsai in Hand…

No variety is given with any of the photos featured here and we won’t bother to guess. Another big snow storm is blowing in and there’s too much to do, so we’ll take a shortcut and resurrect a post from August 2016 while staying with our Javi Campos Juan theme (see yesterday). I’ve always liked photos of hand held bonsai. The hand immediately provides a way to determine the size of a tree and it adds a personal touch, without the more intrusive photos of the proud artist posing with the tree. All the photos shown here were posted on Facebook by Javi Campos Juan. … Continue reading A Bonsai in Hand…

What Was Missing?

Javi Campos Juan’s caption reads Tenía falta? The translation is “Was it missing?” That didn’t seem quite right so I checked with Free Translation, which came up with “What was missing?” Anyway, sweet tree (no variety given) and well chosen pot. I’ve been follow Javi Campos Juan for a long time, but have only featured his bonsai twice and the last time was over a year ago, so we’re overdue. The images and captions are from Javi’s facebook timeline. NEW SPECIAL Koyo Japanese Bonsai Tools 30% off list prices – Before. Time to rootprune and repot. BTW, those are exceptionally vigorous looking … Continue reading What Was Missing?

A Very Unusual European Olive Bonsai – Before & After

After. This impressive and very unusual European olive was styled by Javi Campos Juan. You don’t often see Olives styled like this one; more like a conifer than an Olive. Regarding this, there is a good argument for styling in the way the type tree naturally grows. Trees that don’t conform to this standard often look unnatural. Still, I like this tree a lot. True, at first glance I thought it was a conifer and was surprised when I read Javi’s Campos Juan’s caption which refers to it as Ullastre (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris). But beauty is as you … Continue reading A Very Unusual European Olive Bonsai – Before & After

Hand Held Bonsai

No variety is given with any of the photos featured here and we won’t bother to guess. What we do know is that they all show bonsai held in one hand that were posted by Javi Campos Juan. I’ve always liked photos of hand held bonsai. Party because the hand immediately provides a way to determine the size of a tree. Or at least a very close approximation. And then there’s the personal touch. An introduction of the hand of the artist (presumably) into the picture, without the more intrusive photos of the artist posing with the bonsai. In addition … Continue reading Hand Held Bonsai