Sturdy Spruce Bonsai

This impressively sturdy tree is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 61 (all issues are now 30% – 40% off). As you can see, it’s a Picea glehnii (Sakhalin spruce) though it’s often confused with Ezo spruce (Picea jezoensis) and for all I know, could be an Ezo spruce (there doesn’t seem to be general agreement on which is which). Image courtesy of Bonsai Focus. 30% off Our Famous Roshi Bonsai Tools plus an extra 10% off for all orders 100.00+* FREE Shipping on U.S. orders 50.00+ but you have to select it when you check out if you … Continue reading Sturdy Spruce Bonsai

Before & After – from Wild to Wild

Before and after. This distinctive European spruce, aka Norway spruce (Picea abies) was collected in Switzerland in 1993. It’s now 25cm high and around 100 years old. The pot (on the right) is by Mateusz Grobeiny. The artist and owner of the tree is Walter Pall. The before shot is actually an intermediate shot, taken well after the tree was collected and had been styled some. Now, though you can tell it’s the same tree, the transformation is radical and far from a highly stylized bonsai. Often with before and after shots, the progression is from wild with potential to … Continue reading Before & After – from Wild to Wild

Getting Out of the Way & Extending Our Bonsai Book Sale

This Ponderosa pine was no doubt collected somewhere in western North America and exported to Europe. Europeans are lucky in that regard; it’s relatively easy for them to import plants from around the world. Here in the U.S. restrictions are much more onerous. The tree belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project, as are all the photos in this post. We’ve decided to extend our Bonsai Book Sale until Sunday (see below). This is because I’m traveling and can’t find the time (don’t want to be bothered) to make the decisions … Continue reading Getting Out of the Way & Extending Our Bonsai Book Sale

A Radical Approach to Bonsai Soil

This sturdy, barely tamed beast of a tree is a perfect example of Walter Pall’s naturalistic style. The photo is from Walter’s website. The tree is a European spruce. Yesterday we resurrected Walter Pall’s unique hedge pruning method. Today we’re resurrecting (for the second time) his equally unique take on bonsai soil. It originally appeared here on Bark in June of 2013. Walter Pall, world famous bonsai artist and much more… We’ve feature Walter’s bonsai numerous times here on Bark (and in Bonsai Today) and will continue to feature them for as long as we continue posting. I won’t say … Continue reading A Radical Approach to Bonsai Soil

Eccentric Bonsai?

The compressed quality (like a very large foot stepped on it) make for a somewhat unusual but natural looking bonsai. Then there’s that wonderful trunk. The image is from Joko Sulistianto’s facebook photos, as are all the images in this post. I don’t know who the tree belongs too (ditto on the others). Busy time of year and running behind so once again we’ll dig into our archives. This one is from April 2012. It was titled ‘Eccentric Bonsai: Pushing Invisible Boundaries.’ Way back in the recesses of time (2009 & 2010) we featured a whole series of posts titled … Continue reading Eccentric Bonsai?

Can there ever be too much Deadwood?

Mario Komsta (Mariusz Janusz Komsta) recently featured this tree with the following caption: “after refinement by Taiga Urushibata, june 2014.” We’ve featured Mario’s bonsai numerous times, but this is the first time for Taiga. To my eye the tree above is an outstanding bonsai. Powerful, with balance, flow and numerous points of interest (my only question is the chopped off looking jin at the top). Recently a friend mentioned that we’ve been featuring too much deadwood lately. Perhaps he’s correct. There does seem to be a renewed emphasis on creating and carving deadwood. You see massive carved trees everywhere and … Continue reading Can there ever be too much Deadwood?

“It’s About Time We in the Bonsai Community Caught Up”

This majestic old pomegranate (Punica granatum) was styled by John Naka. After John died, his wife Alice donated it to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Mr Naka was and is a major influence on Dave De Groot’s view and practice of bonsai (more below on Dave). Yesterday’s post resurrected an old debate that has been running on and off for years here on Bark and elsewhere. We’ve been calling it highly refined bonsai versus naturalistic bonsai. If you check the comments to yesterday’s post and earlier posts on the topic, you’ll get an idea of just how high passions … Continue reading “It’s About Time We in the Bonsai Community Caught Up”

Revisiting An Old & Still Relevant Bonsai Debate

Hinoki cypress by Dan Robinson. From Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees. An excellent example of a naturalistic bonsai. I think it’s time to revisit a discussion that seems to provoke plenty of interest each time we bring it up (there were 35 comments to this post back in 2011 and numerous comments to previous posts on topic). It’s also timely given that Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees is now back in print and Dan Robinson’s bonsai play a big part in the discussion. A note about Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees that I neglected to mention last post: By agreement with the publisher, … Continue reading Revisiting An Old & Still Relevant Bonsai Debate

Every Day Is Bonsai Day and Today Is Mother’s Day

The sculpted look. This Mugo pine by Mother Nature and Georg Reinhard combines wildness and elegance with its flowing lines and almost perfectly shaped robust live growth. I particularly like the way the deadwood twists and turns all the way back down to soil and the jagged lightening bolt on the left. Though I know that some people take issue with highly sculpted deadwood, this is so well done that I can’t imagine even the most dogmatic proponents of the naturalistic look being too worked up about it. Too much going on today, so we’ll dip back into our archives. … Continue reading Every Day Is Bonsai Day and Today Is Mother’s Day

Ezo Spruce by Any Other Name…

One glance at this Ezo spruce and you know it belongs to Walter Pall. Walter sometimes refers to this natural looking untouched-by-human-hands style as ‘naturalistic bonsai,’ though if you go to Walter’s Bonsai Adventures blog where this photo is from, you’ll see just how touched-by-human-hands it actually was. And just how accomplished Walter is at turning pedestrian bonsai into naturalistic gems. Ezo spruce are sometimes referred to as Jezo or Yezo spruce (Picea jezoensis or Picea yezoensis) and even Sakhalin spruce, though that’s a really a different species (Picea glenii). Most (or perhaps all) of the specimen quality Ezo bonsai in … Continue reading Ezo Spruce by Any Other Name…