Twelve Colors: Which One Works Best?

You pick ’em This post shows a Satsuki azalea in twelve digitally colored* pots. Is one color better than the others? Are there several that work? Do they all work? One question that might come up is: what color are the flowers? Would your choice (or choices) be different if the flowers were white? Pink? Red? Coral? Two tone? Tricolor? The photos are from Bonsai Today issue 25. *Colors will vary depending upon our scanner, the settings on your screen and who knows what else? Don’t worry though, it’s all just play and there’s no one right answer.

Rafting in a Bonsai Pot (or a Box)

This very well rendered drawing by Peter Adams is from his book ‘Bonsai with Japanese Maples.’ It appears in a section called ‘Creating Raft Trees’ and on the back cover of the book. Whether or not this drawing comes from a tree in Peter’s collection or is just from his imagination, we can’t say. But one thing we do know; a pot that big (I imagine it to be at least 40 inches) will most likely set you back several hundred dollars. Rafting in Peter’s own words The raft method… is formed by laying a tree on its side and … Continue reading Rafting in a Bonsai Pot (or a Box)

A Simple (& Clever) Grafting Technique

All you need to get started is a good sharp grafting knife and willingness to experiment. An easy way to add a branch The simple technique shown here allows you to keep the roots of the scion until it takes; an obvious advantage. The scion, aka the branch to be, will remain in its pot until it takes. The part you want is the branch growing off the right of the trunk. Notice the slit (notch) to left of that branch.

The Magician’s Formal Forest

Finished for now. Three years after planting (see below). Masahiko Kimura (aka ‘The Magician‘) styled this Ezo spruce (Picea Glehnii) planting with a high mountain stand of conifers in mind. Notice how the trees on the outside lean out, which is what you would expect in a natural stand of trees. You may also notice how Kimura enhanced the feeling of age by removing or jinning about half of the limbs (from below). Trees tend to shed limbs as they age. This is especially true of trees in forests where growth follows light; at tree tops and at the outer … Continue reading The Magician’s Formal Forest

Green Workshop: Ugly Branches

These simple graphics show three solutions to three common branching problems. From Bonsai Today issue 58. Green Workshops present and past Our Green Workshop series is geared for beginners in the art of bonsai. Some earlier Green Workshops are: Wiring basics (using a turnbuckle); Wiring a Young Tree; Fall Transplanting: Pro & Cons; Yet Another Watering Problem; Bonsai Branching Basics; A Simple Wiring Video, and more (just type Green Workshops in search).

Eccentric Bonsai #8: Crafty Nick’s Crazy Cedar

You like unconventional? Crazy? How about daring and masterful? Notice how the color and design of the pot plays with the wild shari (deadwood) and the small touch of moss on the left mirrors the foliage. Just another bonsai from left field by crafty old Nick Lenz, master left fielder, author, and preeminent (whatever that means) master of cedars, larches and other collected North American gems. This photo is from North American Bonsai (American Bonsai Society – compiled and edited by Martin Schmalenberg), now on sale at Stone Lantern. When is a cedar not really a cedar? The tree featured … Continue reading Eccentric Bonsai #8: Crafty Nick’s Crazy Cedar

Fruiting Bonsai: A Mystery Persimmon

If you know the variety of this tiny fruited persimmon (Diospyros kaki), let me know. The photo is from Bonsai Today issue 39. When I first saw it, I figured ‘kaki’ was the variety, but no such luck. ‘Kaki’ just means persimmon in Japanese. Height 33″ (84cm). Dwarf flowers and fruit You can make leaves smaller by defoliation (cutting leaves off an entire tree, or section of a tree, resulting in a second, or even third crop of smaller leaves) and to some extent by pruning, confining the roots, limiting water and nutrients, and perhaps other means. But dwarf fruit … Continue reading Fruiting Bonsai: A Mystery Persimmon

A Cornucopia of Bonsai Art & Technique

This drawing by Kihara Susuma is from an article entitled ‘Exploring a Collected Needle Juniper’ that appears in Bonsai Today issue 98. Back issues of Bonsai Today… …are a great place to study the art of bonsai. Each issue presents a wealth of bonsai art and technique by many of the world greatest masters and teachers. Issue 98 table of contents Refining a Satuki Azalea – Beginner’s Section: If You Care – Bonsai Gallery – Beginner’s Section: Trees in Nature – Review: Three Bonsai DVDs – The Pottery of Max Braverman – Styling a California Live Oak – Exploring a … Continue reading A Cornucopia of Bonsai Art & Technique

In Praise of the American Larch #2: Good Taper Isn’t that Easy to Come By

You can find this in-training collected Larch in Bonsai from the Wild by Larch Master Nick Lenz (Stone Lantern Publishing). Good tapers on larches are hard to come by. This exceptionally strong taper is the result of what Nick calls a ‘swamp layer.’ For details see the chapter on larches in Bonsai from the Wild (THE book on collecting). Planting two trunks together that diverge as they ascend is a good way to create the appearance of taper. This image is from an article by Nick Lenz entitled Larch with Taper, that appears in The Bonsai Journal. Check out our … Continue reading In Praise of the American Larch #2: Good Taper Isn’t that Easy to Come By

Eccentric Bonsai #7: Nick’s Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy bonsai by Nick Lenz, who, in addition to be one of our most talented bonsai artists, is also a master of the unusual. This photo appears in Nick’s book, Bonsai from the Wild (Stone Lantern Publishing). Nicknamed OSAMA Nick Lenz calls his charming looking, but otherwise nasty little bonsai, OSAMA (no explanation needed). Halloween bonsai Though you may not take poison ivy bonsai seriously (or take it at all, for that matter), Nick does. Here’s a few of his words (lifted from his book): While poison ivy may be considered a Halloween bonsai, the species has great charm … Continue reading Eccentric Bonsai #7: Nick’s Poison Ivy