Powerful Pines & Bonsai Wire

This powerful pine with its aged, heavily plated bark (reminiscent of our North American Ponderosa pines, especially the reddish section at the base of the trunk) is one of many spectacular trees displayed at the recent 2012 BCI convention in China. This and all the photos in this post are courtesy of Robert Steven. Summer sun beckons, so we’ll take the easy way out once again. This post, with some text added today (in italics) originally appeared in April, 2013. Pines now, the rest later. Robert Steven just sent us a whole host of great photos from the recent 2012 … Continue reading Powerful Pines & Bonsai Wire

Digging & Field Growing Bonsai in the Early Fall

This sumptuous Satsuki is from Bill Valavanis’ 2014 Japan Satsuki tour. Though I don’t know for sure, based on the massive trunk it’s easy to imagine that it was originally field grown. Early fall is good times to dig and transplant. For me, it’s mostly native larch (some cedar and spruce too) from a friend’s land here in northern Vermont. However, unless you live in the frozen north or blazing tropics, Satsuki azaleas just might work for you. This post (from 2009) is taken from one of many field growing posts we’ve done over the years. I have edited (italics) … Continue reading Digging & Field Growing Bonsai in the Early Fall

Playing It Straight

Straight line raft Juniper. I borrowed this photo from Bill Valavanis’ blog. Bill took the photo at the 2015 38th Mid America Bonsai Exhibit. This is a somewhat failed attempt to finish our series on forest plantings. Specifically raft style forest plantings. More specifically straight line raft plantings. Problem is, couldn’t find good photos of straight line rafts (the exception is above). So rather than spending more time searching, we’ll settle for some informative text on raft-style borrowed from ofBONSAI Magazine (one of the better online bonsai sites). “Raft style bonsai mimic a natural occurrence when a tree topples onto … Continue reading Playing It Straight

Kimura Rocks

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 … Continue reading Kimura Rocks

Bonsai Photos: from Black & White to Colorized and Back

You can find the color version of this Japanese white pine on the cover of our Masters’ Series Pine book. The black and white version is the same image with the color photoshopped out. Though the B&W version does have it qualities, the vivid pot color and the robust green foliage provide a strong argument for shooting bonsai in color. This post is a composite of two posts from 2012 with some thoughts added today. The attempt is to contrast B&W bonsai photos with color bonsai photos. There are four types of photos here. Black and white photos. Color photos. … Continue reading Bonsai Photos: from Black & White to Colorized and Back

Fall Transplanting: Timing and a Light Touch

A freshly transplanted Black pine. From our Masters’ Series Pine book. When it comes to transplanting, timing depends on your climate. This post is based on conditions here in northern Vermont where seasons can change rapidly and winters are very cold. If you live in a warmer climate, there is more margin for error. One advantage to transplanting in the early fall is that when the spring season starts, little or no growing time is lost. Roots experience strong growth in the fall while the soil is still warm and after the top has shut down. By the time the … Continue reading Fall Transplanting: Timing and a Light Touch

Going Rafting on Sinuous Roots

This amazingly rugged sinuous root raft style planting is by our friend, Robert Steven. I don’t know the variety, but my guess is that Robert, who seemingly keeps track of the entire bonsai universe, will let us know. Rounding out our discussion of forest bonsai, it’s time to take a look at raft style bonsai. I don’t need to say much (Peter Adams has it covered below) except that all the rafts shown here are sinuous root style (netsunagari in Japanese) as opposed to rafts with straight line trunks (stay posted). The section just below by Peter Adams originally appeared … Continue reading Going Rafting on Sinuous Roots

Multiple Trunks Sharing a Single Root Stystem – Clump Style Bonsai Forests

We found this extraordinary clump style deciduous bonsai on Bonsai Nakayoshi. They don’t give a variety. You can imagine that all the smaller trunks started as suckers on the roots of the main tree (you could also imagine that they started from seeds dropped by the main tree; in which case this would not qualify as a clump style bonsai). We’ve been discussing forest bonsai for a while now without mentioning clump style (Japanese: Kabudachi or Kabubuki) . Rather than boring you with my take on clumps, here’s something that I lifted from ofBONSAI Magazine: “Clump style bonsai should have … Continue reading Multiple Trunks Sharing a Single Root Stystem – Clump Style Bonsai Forests

Digging Deeper into Our Forest Bonsai Excavation

Does five trunks constitute a forest? Maybe we should call it a glade. A mossy glade at the edge of meadow somewhere. Whatever we call it, it has to be one of the most impressive multiple trunk bonsai anywhere. It doesn’t hurt that the individual trees can stand on their own, especially the twin trunk tree on the right (the focal point). With or without the second trunk. The magnificent pot looks like an escarpment in the Rockies. Robert Steven took the photo at the 2012 BCI convention in Guangzhou, China. We’ve been digging into forest type bonsai lately, so … Continue reading Digging Deeper into Our Forest Bonsai Excavation

Forests Again – Focal Point, Balance, Scale, Age & That Elusive Quality…

I stumbled across the European hornbeam (Carpinus betulas) by Walter Pall on his Bonsai Adventures blog. The shot looks like spring with some trees lagging behind others. Continuing with our forest theme, we’ll go back in time once again to a post that originally appeared about 17 months ago (we’ve added a photo and a little more text). I think it’s one of our best on forests, and worth another look. Without the dominant tree this forest planting by Walter Pall would be a whole lot less interesting. With the dominant tree the planting has a focal point, balance, scale, … Continue reading Forests Again – Focal Point, Balance, Scale, Age & That Elusive Quality…