Bonsai Before & After – Foundations & Inspirations

harryB&A

English field elm, after & before by Harry Harrington. Here's Harry's caption... "... before and after images of my Ulmus minor/English Field Elm Bonsai. The 'before' image was taken in 2006, a couple of years after I had collected the tree and while I was still grafting in a few roots at the base. Height 27"/66cm, trunkbase 9"/22cm in diameter. Collected in August 2004. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery."

It has been a while since we visited our friend Harry Harrington. You can enjoy Harry’s ongoing bonsai endeavors on facebook and you can can visit his extensive bonsai4me website. Better still, you can enjoy Harry’s now excellent bonsai books; The Foundations of Bonsai and Bonsai Inspirations (see below).

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harrytrunk

Close up of the trunk. Carving by Harry

 

harrypot

The pot was dug up from Celtic ruins near Stonehenge. Or maybe it was made by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery. You decide

B1-2HARRY

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Bonsai Mirai Live

dfir

This Douglas fir is one my many favorites from Bonsai Mirai's gallery of great North American yamadori (there are a few that are not North American, but the vast majority are trees that were collected in the mountains of the Western U.S.)

Ryan Neil’s instructional bonsai videos are now available on the Bonsai Society of Portland’s website to anyone and everyone who is interested. The following is from an email we received from Roger Case…
“Over the last year, Ryan Neil has presented a series of detailed lectures and demos at our club meetings, which his team has professionally recorded and edited.  Each is about 2 hours long, and they cover many topics of bonsai, from repotting to design to winter care to foliage management….”
Continued below…

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into

This shot is from Ryan's Introduction to Mirai Live

Roger Case continued from above…
“These videos were always going to be available to all the member of the Bonsai Club of Portland, but our Board has recently decided that as the function of our club is the expansion of bonsai knowledge to the public and those not in the club itself, they are now available to anyone who wishes to watch them.  They can now be viewed without  any password or membership requirements on the BSOP website under Mirai videos.”

 

engleman

Close up of an Engleman spruce from Mirai's gallery

 

pomPomegranate

 

pomcu

 

rmj

Rocky mountain juniper

 

rmjcu

 

hand

Another shot from the intro to Mirai Live

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It’s all about Yew

taxusmarioThis impressive old tree with its melted wax deadwood and cinnamon bark is yet another dramatic Yew. So dramatic that it's easy to miss it's unusual companion. The tree and the little piece of deadwood belong to Mauro Stemberger. The pot is Tokoname.

When we originally posted these photos (December, 2012) many of us were just beginning to appreciate Yew for bonsai. Since then they have been pushing their way into our consciousness with a vigor worthy of their robust nature. Anyway, and bad puns aside, I know that I’ve praised yew before. Still, at the risk of repeating myself, I’m a big fan. For landscaping and for bonsai.
Continued below…

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Every time I open Bonsai Today issue 106 and lay my eyes on this wicked old English yew, my mind does a little double take. It may not look exactly like anything you’ll see in nature, but it certainly jumps off the page. It’s by Kevin Willson. Photo by Simon Carr.

Yews are often over-used in landscaping and as a result their beauty is not always appreciated. Another problem is that the wood is usually covered by the foliage. This is a shame as the color and gnarly shapes that the wood takes can be very attractive, especially with age. And then there’s that brilliant yellow green new growth in the spring.
Continued below…

The foliage on this one is not quite show-ready, but the rest of the tree, wild deadwood and all, certainly is. It's by Mario Komsta. A regular here on Bonsai Bark.

Back in the day when I first became interested in  bonsai, you didn’t see that many yews, and to some extent, you really don’t see that many still (this was written over five years ago, things are changing). Perhaps this is because they are so common that we overlook them. The extreme hardness of the wood probably doesn’t help either. Conversely, they are very tough, and respond to pruning and root pruning with flying colors. Carving too, if you have the patience and strength (or power tools) to work their extremely hard wood. Once carved, the deadwood can be striking, especially in contrast to their reddish bark. As an extra plus, yews are more rot resistant than most trees. And then there’s that beautiful spring foliage.

Here's some of that spring color we're talking about... This dynamic Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) is from the cover of Bonsai Today issue 89. Unfortunately, the artist’s name was lost somewhere in translation.

 

Here it is again. This time where it belongs

And speaking of…
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Before & After Bonsai, Six Years Later

taxusB&a

Before and after six year later. It's a European yew (Taxus baccata 'Summer Gold') that was dug in 2011 and completed (not that a bonsai is ever completed) in 2017.

Sometimes before and afters only show just that… the before and after photos. This time we got lucky with a series of photos (from Josef Burschi’s timeline) that make it a lot easier to understand how the process evolved.

Josef Burschi lives in Kisújbánya, Baranya, Hungary. This is his first appearance on Bonsai Bark

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taxbeforebefore

Before, before. It has already been cut down, but you might imagine that it was at least twice this height. You can see three useful digging tools; a spade, loppers and what looks like it might be an adze.

 

taxusbeforecu

Before, now in it's training pot. Just a slightly tapered trunk with a future apex, a few very young branches and a nebari that has some possibilities but needs plenty of work. It has been  pruned and the future apex and main branches have already been wired.

 

taxusduring4

Coming along. The top has been cut down considerably, the taper is getting better, the carving has started and the nebari is shaping up

 

taxdur3

After more carving.  The branches are coming along nicely, showing how advantageous it was to wire them when they were tiny. Taper continues to be developed, and the same goes for the nebari

 

taxusduring5

Almost there. Time for a final trimming, wiring and other finishing touches

 

taxusafter

In all its splendor! Reminds me of the magnificent Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) that grow in California's Sierra Nevadas. My only question is; would you see a tree like this in nature with such a lush and perfectly rounded apex?

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Six Sweet Little Trees

kk4Here's a rather famous dwarf Princess persimmon that we've shown several times over the years and is still worth another look. Aside from the luminous fruit, distinctive little pot and the twisted trunk, it's also hard not to notice the spots on the leaves. No matter, it's still a sweet littl tree.

If you’ve ever tried to grow fruiting bonsai, you know that getting healthy fruit to grow and to stay on your trees is no mean feat (birds, wind, insects and other problems will conspire against you). Like yesterday the images in this post are all from Katsumi Komiya’s facebook photos.

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Another sweet little tree with luminous fruit and hand-painted pot. I think we can say with confidence that it's a crabapple.

 

Another little gem in a great pot. Looks like a quince. The size of the fruit brings up an interesting point; you can dwarf leaves by defoliating, allowing the roots to become pot bound, etc, but you cannot dwarf fruit on an individual tree (you can dwarf fruit genetically, but that's another story). Thus the large fruit on a such a small tree.

 

Another quince? At a glance I thought those little red things were fruit, but on closer examination, they look a lot like quince flowers.
BERRIESMAIN2I recognize this type tree, but just can't remember the name.  Katsumi's caption says simply "Mayumi," which is a common Japanese girl's name that translates as truth or beauty.
Another crabapple in yet another great pot. The tiny tree makes the two little apples seem huge.

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Elevating the Bonsai Experience

kkpinemain

There's a lot to like here. The obvious part is the perfect little tree itself (looks a lot a Japanese five needle pine) and, in addition to other outstanding features, there's the way the moss and lichen seamlessly tie the trunk and soil surface together, enhancing the feeling of age. There's also the cleaned and polished pot and stand and the professional quality photo that elevate the whole experience.*

The photos in this post are all from Katsumi Komiya’s timeline and I’m  reasonably sure the trees are all his, though I can’t verify this. He doesn’t identify them all, but we’ll do our best. By the way, this is our forth post featuring Katsumi Komiya’s bonsai.

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kkfruit

Just spent about 15 minutes googling around, trying to identify this tree, but no luck. Maybe you know what it?

 

kkfruitcu

A close up of the fruit and leaves

 

kkdec

Here's another one I'm not sure of, though the bark and shape of the tree might suggest Zelkova

 

kkpine1

Another little Japanese white pine

*So many photos of bonsai on social media are poorly staged, with little attention to detail, so it’s good to see the occasional high quality photo

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Which Pot Would You Choose?

boonmain

Because this is such an exceptional tree, it would look good in almost any pot. And the pots you see here are no exception. But does it look even better in one of them?

This post stands squarely in our venerable tradition of borrowing Which Pot? posts from Boon Manakitivipart. The tree is a Shore pine (Pinus contorta) that Boon is getting ready for Bay Island Bonsai’s 19th Annual Exhibit. If you’d like, you can chime in and offer your choice in the comments on our facebook timeline. Or you can visit Boon’s.

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pot4

Pot 4

 

pot3

Pot 3

 

pot2

Pot 2

 

pot1

Pot 1

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Green T Bonsai Monsters

GTmonster

Just in case you think your monster bonsai is too big for a Green T Hydraulic Lift Turntable... The following is the caption for this photo (from G T's site)... "Matsuda san is the new entry in the Masahiko Kimura Bonsai family and her page Kimura’s home Bonsai has already gained world recognition." And of course Green T is an important part of Kimura's workshop (see below). BTW, the tree looks like a Japanese five needle pine (Pinus parviflora)

A  Green T Turntable will change the way your work on your bonsai and enhance the results… and you’ll enjoy the journey 

For some of you, spring is only a matter of weeks away. And even those of us who have to wait until April for the ground to thaw, can dream and plan ahead. And what better dream than working on your trees with a Green T?

And by the way, we’ve got two models now. In addition to the Green T Basic model we now offer the New Green T Plus.

 

gtkob

That's famous bonsai artist, Kunio Kobayashi on the right, getting ready to tackle his monster demo tree at last year’s World Bonsai Convention. And yes, that's a Green T not even straining to hold the behemoth up.

 

gtafter

Tree just above, after. I don't know how long it took, but because it's a demo, it must have been done in less than a day. Many hands make light work

 

gtkim

The famous Masahiko Kimura with his demo planting sitting on a Green T Plus at the World Bonsai Convention.

green-t-sumo-770

Even though this is a poorly doctored photo, we have it on good authority that Sumo wrestlers like Green T Turntables

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Dynamic Bonsai – Korea Exhibition 2

parkcascade

Does this dynamic tree say something about Korean bonsai style? Maybe, maybe not, though I have notice several Korean trees that share a similar feel.

This post is the second of a series on the recent Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition. The photos were taken by Mu Jong Park and posted on facebook. The trees aren’t identified, nor are the artists or owners,  so for the second day running, I’m breaking my New Year’s resolution not to post unattributed bonsai. But I have my reasons (see yesterday if you care).

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parkpineThis cascading pine looks like it was once a large tree that was cut down to just above the first branch. You might image that it was originally dug from the wild, or perhaps even a garden. No variety is given.

 

parkquince

Another Chinese quince (see yesterday) and a rather dramatic one at that. Though I've seen it before, I find the way the fruit is just stuck on the tips of a few twigs to be a little strange.

 

 

parkclump

A clump style tree that reminds me of that dynamic and wild quality mentioned above. I won't bother to guess the variety. Nor will I both to guess what those to two things sticking up are

 

parktall

Vertical bonsai. Again there's that wild feel.

oarkyew

A little more conservative in style and shape, but still a great tree.

parkstew

I like the nebari on this one. Because of the reddish bark, at first glance I thought it might be a Stewartia, but no sign of exfoliation. So your guess is as good as mine (or maybe better than mine)

parktwist

The twist

parkforest

Uniquely Korean?

parkhimself

Mu Jong Park in his workshop

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Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition

parkmain

In addition to the strong trunk and nebari, there's so much dynamic and expansive movement with this tree. The fruit looks like what you might find on a Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) and the tree could certainly pass, so quince is a safe guess. I don't know who the artist or owner is

This post is the first of a series on the recent Korea Bonsai Artists Exhibition. The photos were taken by Mu Jong Park and posted on facebook. The trees aren’t identified, nor are the artists or owners, so I’m already breaking my New Year’s resolution not to post unattributed bonsai. However, I think I deserve a pass… we know where the photos are from and who took them and we also know that Mu Jong Park is a bonsai artist in his own right, rather than just some guy posting unattributed bonsai all willy-nilly. Best of all, these trees provide a good look at what’s happening with Korean bonsai

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parkpine

This strong tree with its two-toned bark looks like it could be a Japanese black pine. But don't take it to the bank, it's just another guess

park7

I don't know if this is Yew (Taxus), but it looks a lot like it could be

park4

The bark and something about the overall appearance look like this one might be a Japanese maple

 

park5

It's hard to tell where the rocks end and the trunks begin on this monster. Is it a Chinese elm?

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