Before and after bonsai

Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Root-over-rock Japanese black pine by Suthin Sukosolvisit. No major restyling, but what a striking improvement. Sutin’s caption reads simply… “Japanese black pine 2011-2013” The original before and after photos are from Suthin’s timeline A big part of learning about bonsai involves transforming rough stock into beautiful, or at least passable bonsai. However, it’s equally important to do the periodic work necessary to keep a bonsai beautiful, or soon enough it will return to its rough state (or worse). Allowing a tree to just grow on its own for a while is essential to its health, and bringing it back into shape after this period of unrestrained growth is also … Continue reading Before & After Root-Over-Rock Black Pine Bonsai

Beautiful Bonsai – Before & After Scots Pine

It takes a lot of experience and strong sense of design to effect a transformation as good as this one. The tree is a Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris) and the artist is Martin Bonsai Kolacia. I don’t read a word of Czech, so aside from figuring out that Martin Bonsai Kolacia lives in The Czech Republic (it’s the cz at the end of his url that gave him away) and that he has inserted Bonsai into the middle of his name, there’s not too much more I can say about him. If you’d like do your own research here’s your link to his fb page and here’s … Continue reading Beautiful Bonsai – Before & After Scots Pine

Before, During & After – Seven Years & Some Serious Wiring

Here’s Mariusz Komsta’s captiion for this tree… “Momiji Polmans & Bonsaimotorworld bonsai school is finally paying off, great job by Jean-Pierre Reitz , Pinus nigra” (Austrian black pine). I found these photos of Jean-Pierre Reitz’ superb before and after bonsai on Mariusz Komsta’s timeline. If you’ve been following Bonsai Bark for a while, you’ll know that Mariusz is one of our favorites. Jean-Pierre however, is new to us. Looks like a good discovery SITE WIDE SPECIAL Up TO 60% OFF Some items 20% TO 60% OFF LIST PRICes* *there are 4 individual items we cannot discount – see below This and other … Continue reading Before, During & After – Seven Years & Some Serious Wiring

Full Cascade Before & After – Stone Lantern Summer Vacation

Here’s another routine maintenance before and after. As you can see, it’s a monster cascading Juniper. Just how ‘monster’ we don’t know, as there’s no size given. Nor is there a variety (looks a lot like a Shimpaku juniper) or an artist/owner Like yesterday’s post, this one is from BonsaiBaison. It’s part of a their series on before and after bonsai with high quality mature trees Stone Lantern will be closed from July 28th to August 14th (see below for details). Orders received after the 3:00pm EDT, July 27th, will be sent on a first come, first served basis, beginning on the … Continue reading Full Cascade Before & After – Stone Lantern Summer Vacation

Rising to the Challenge – Another Before & After Bonsai

This radical before and after Sargent’s Juniper (Juniperus sargenti, aka Shimpaku) required technical and artistic skills you don’t see everyday. The artist is Salatore Liporace Staying with our before & after theme. This one is from our archives (August, 2014).  It was titled Technical Skills, Great Vision & An Unsolved Mystery. The artist is Salvatore Liporace. My assumption at the time about the type tree was mistaken, so to avoid confusion, I’ve eliminated much of the text from the original post.  This is an excellent example of a before and after bonsai. The before is full of challenges and promise (good stock is half the battle) … Continue reading Rising to the Challenge – Another Before & After Bonsai

Florida Cracker – Before & After

This Buttonwood is just a tad more eccentric than your average bonsai. Juan Andrade posted this and some other photos of this tree a while back.  Here’s his caption “Florida Cracker”, ain’t it? Sourced @ Olicata Bonsai Studio last year. Thank you Hiram!”* Today I set out to find a something that Juan Andrade wrote about four types of bonsai nurseries. Sadly, I failed in my quest (not defeated, just postponed), but I did find the photos shown here on Juan’s timeline and couldn’t resist. And if you’d like to get back to this tree’s source, you can visit Olicata … Continue reading Florida Cracker – Before & After

Reviving a Neglected Bonsai

After. The fresh lime sulfur causes the deadwood to be a little too white, though it will fade in time to create a more natural look. If you look closely, you can see some of the foliage is still recovering from stress. Today we’ve got just one tree for you. A dramatic before and after. Well actually, after, before and then after again. The artist is Naoki Maeoka. His short caption reads Styling a Tosho (Needle juniper). Continued below… Last Day! 30% off Roshi Bonsai Tool Sale ends tonight Roshi Tools are known throughout the world bonsai community for exceptional … Continue reading Reviving a Neglected 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

Before, After & Midway Through

Mugo pine by Walter Pall. Here’s what Walter wrote about this tree: “This one has exceptional potential. Unfortunately, it almost died a few years ago. Now it is recovering and some day it will shine again.” From the looks of it, I’d say it’s already shining. I can think of at least four good reasons to feature this tree… First, the artist is Walter Pall, a favorite on here on Bark and someone whose trees are featured in Modern Bonsai Practice, a groundbreaking new bonsai book. Second, it’s a Before & After, which judging by responses is a favorite topic. … Continue reading Before, After & Midway Through

Before & After – Refining a Very Compelling Bonsai

This has to be one of the most compelling bonsai I’ve seen in a while. It has that wild, not overly refined look and ‘just so’ deadwood (it’s not dominated by deadwood like so many trees). But the real deal is the trunk. When was the last time you saw a trunk with so much power and character? To save a little time, we’ll dig back into our archives today (I’m out west watching the grand kids while mom & dad attend the BookExpo America 2016 in Chicago and lunches still need to be made). BTW: this is one of … Continue reading Before & After – Refining a Very Compelling Bonsai