Cuttings

Fertilize Your Bonsai for Health & Beauty

Lush summer foliage and impressive deadwood on an old Shimpaku juniper.The lush foliage is the result of timely feeding. The photo is from our Masters Series Juniper book. I know the tree is from Japan, but don’t know who the artist is. Time for a reminder from one of our archival favorites (July, 2015). Nothing has changed since then, except our new lower fertilizer prices. Many, if not most people underfeed their bonsai. There are many reasons why ample fertilizing is critical to developing healthy and beautiful bonsai… 1. It’s up to you. Most bonsai soils don’t contain nutrients. This … Continue reading Fertilize Your Bonsai for Health & Beauty

Two Satsuki in Full Bloom & More Impressive Nebari

Satsuki azalea in full bloom. Nice natural looking nebari too. Artist unknown (for the moment at least). You can find this photo and other great shots like it on Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai Blog. Here’s what Bill has to say about the photos shown in this post … “The Bonsai Society of Upstate New York is holding their 44th Upstate New York Bonsai Exhibition on May 27-28, 2017 at the Monroe Community Hospital in Rochester, New York. Some of the finest bonsai in New York state will be on display for the public to enjoy and learn from too. “These photos … Continue reading Two Satsuki in Full Bloom & More Impressive Nebari

Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

Stewartias often have strong nebari and this one is no exception. This photo is from a post we did back in July 2014. I didn’t know who the artist was then and I still don’t know. I tried Image Search, which recognized that it’s a Stewartia, but didn’t find this particular tree. This post is a continuation of yesterday’s Bottoms Up! More Nebari How-to. which was taken in part from In Search of the Perfect Nebari – part four, a 2009 Bark post. (In Search of the Perfect Nebari parts four and five are from Bonsai Today issue 64). The … Continue reading Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

Bottoms Up! More Nebari How-to

This natural scale nebari (surface roots and flare at the base of the trunk) stands in contrast to some of the more exaggerated nebari that we’ve been featuring (including the one at the bottom of this post). Bill Valavanis, who seems to spend half his life in Japan, took this photo at the Uchiku-Tei Bonsai Garden at S-Cube Bonsai Garden in Hanyu, north of Omiya. Continuing our discussion of nabari, here’s another how-to post from our archives (with the exception of the photo above and the one at the bottom of the post which we borrowed from Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai … Continue reading Bottoms Up! More Nebari How-to

Begin Work on the Nebari the First Time You Transplant

This Trident maple (Acer buergerianum) is sporting a rather impressive nebari. Does it look a bit like a clown’s oversized shoe? Or does it suit you just as it is? The original appears in Bonsai Today issue 70 in an article titled “Transplanting to increase the feeling of age,” by Kazunori Kamiya. Continuing our series on nebari. This one is originally from April 2009 (with a few changes today). It was titled, In Search of the Perfect Nebari 3. For some more good how-to nebari tips, take a look at our last post. No matter how you view the nebari … Continue reading Begin Work on the Nebari the First Time You Transplant

Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

This Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) presents a number of striking features, not the least of which is its powerful nebari (surface roots). The photo originally appeared in Bonsai Today issue 35. Yesterday we featured a post on nebari, part of a long history of posts on the topic. Today we’ll go all the way back to April 2009 (our infancy) for our third ever nebari post. It was titled In Search of the Perfect Nebari – part two (Part one was comprised of An Ingenious Technique and An Ingenious Technique part 2 taken together). Continued below… Special Kilo Bonsai Wire now … Continue reading Still Searching for the Perfect Nebari

Grotesque? Or Alive & Absolutely Awesome?

Here’s part of what Juan Andrade wrote about this highly unusual Trident maple… “4 generations in the making, 120+ years old… this tree was started by my Oyakata’s great grandfather…. Nowadays its very hard to find ‘Miyasama’ Trident maple of this caliper in Japan…. This Miyasama encompasses a lot about Aichien deciduous style: power, ramification, age and uniqueness.” See below for your link to Juan’s untruncated quote. I suppose I need to get over my ideas about what is and isn’t grotesque. At lease when it comes to nebari. After all, highly respected bonsai artists – mostly Japanese – seem … Continue reading Grotesque? Or Alive & Absolutely Awesome?

Soft & Squishy

Juan Andrade’s caption for this photo is… “Keto, mochi and wet cement. Soft and squishy was today’s theme.” We’ll skip the mochi and wet cement for now, and focus on the Keto. BTW: I don’t know if you noticed, but this is a very unusual tree (eccentric works)… one feature that stands out is the trunk’s horizontal thrust and then the sudden shift to vertical. This abrupt effect is softened by all the movement. In particular the way the live vein snakes along the deadwood and the curlicue vertical section. There are other striking peculiarities, but we’ll leave those to … Continue reading Soft & Squishy

A Study in Deadwood

A great tree for a study in deadwood. It’s a Juniper procumben from Luis Vallejo’s website. I cropped the photo a bit, but you can see the full size original just below. Very busy right now with little time to put together a new post. Yesterday it was the remarkably talented Luis Vallejo’s bonsai, so today we’ll stay on the same track. This post originally appeared in June, 2015. I just spent the last digital hour or so wandering around Luis Vallejo’s Bonsai Studio (Estudio de Bonsai) and his Bonsai Museum (Museo del Bonsai). Given just how prolific Luis is, … Continue reading A Study in Deadwood

The Difference High Quality Professional Photos Can Make – Especially with Such High Quality Bonsai

This and the other trees in this post are from Luis Vallejo’s Bonsai Collection. The caption for these (and some others not shown here) is “Some of the Bonsai trees that will be displayed at the Bonsai San Show. Saulieu . October 2017 – Luis Vallejo Bonsai Collection – Photos By Miguel Krause” Luis Vallejo didn’t list the varieties when he posted these remarkable photos, and because I’m still licking my wounds from the fiasco of Sunday’s post, I’m going to dispense with any guessing today. But don’t worry (not that you were), I’ll recover soon enough and resume guessing … Continue reading The Difference High Quality Professional Photos Can Make – Especially with Such High Quality Bonsai