Bonsai Boon: A Sierra Juniper’s Eight Year Journey

Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) before and after by Boon Manakitivipart Staying with our Sierra juniper theme, this impressive bonsai originally appeared here in December, 2009 (approximately 3,000 posts ago) We’ve featured Boon Manakitivipart on this blog numerous times over the years, and for good reason. Boon is a highly accomplished bonsai artist and teacher whose enthusiasm and skill has influenced a generation of aspiring Western bonsai artists. If you are serious about improving your skills, you might want to check Boon’s intensives. visit stone lantern for the largest selection and best prices on Bonsai Wire – Before. June 2001. Sierra juniper that was no doubt … Continue reading Bonsai Boon: A Sierra Juniper’s Eight Year Journey

Choosing the Right Bonsai Pot – Oval or Rectangle?

Which pot would you choose for this Western juniper?* There’s a direct path from Michael Hagedorn (see our last two posts) to his teacher Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon). This post originally appeared here in June, 2015. Sooner or later every serious North American bonsai artist is influenced by Boon Manakitivipart. For some, this influence is face to face (if you’re lucky). Or indirectly through one of his students that now teach bonsai (Michael Hagedorn is one of many). And then there are his regular posts on facebook (including our our source for this post) that are full of generous pointers and bonsai inspiration. Three … Continue reading Choosing the Right Bonsai Pot – Oval or Rectangle?

Boon’s Black Pine, Before & After

A Japanese black pine after some serious trimming. If you look at the photo just below, you might notice that there has also been some serious needle reduction. The tree and the photos in this post belong to Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon). Yesterday we featured Boon, our famous bonsai teacher to the teachers, so why not just keep going? We’re on vacation, so both yesterday’s and today’s (June 2014) are from our archives. The first two photos shown here provide a simple before and after on a Japanese black pine. As you can see it’s a remarkable tree. I … Continue reading Boon’s Black Pine, Before & After

Bonsai by Boon

This Sierra juniper by Boon Manakitivipart is one of three trees by Boon that appears in the gallery section of our Masters’ Series Juniper book. Still on vacation. Right now it’s California’s Central Coast, with its Elephant seals and pure blue sunny skies (last time I checked it was 50 degrees and raining at home). Anyway, vacation time is usually archive time. This one is originally from November, 2015. Boon Manakitivipart (Bonsai Boon) is a well-known and highly respected bonsai artist and teacher (a teacher’s teacher). He also has the distinction of having three of his trees in our Juniper … Continue reading Bonsai by Boon

An Eight Year Bonsai Journey

Boon Manakitivipart’s transformed Sierra juniper. If you go to Styling on Bonsai Boon you can see how Boon took this tree through an eight year bonsai journey. Yesterday’s post was about a magnificent old California juniper, so we’ll just stay right there in the Golden State and take a look at another native, a Sierra juniper, a very close cousin to the California juniper. I borrowed the photos and some of the text from way back in the first year of Bonsai Bark. We’ve featured Boon Manakitivipart on this blog before, and for good reason. He’s a highly accomplished bonsai … Continue reading An Eight Year Bonsai Journey

A Prize Winning Bonsai & a Superstar Bonsai Teacher

Boon Manakitivipart’s Itoigawa Sargent Juniper that won the Finest Medium Size Bonsai award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Here’s a tree you couldn’t miss. It stood as a lone bonsai at the edge of the suiseki section. A magnetizing presence, visible from a distance. A prime spot for a prime tree. The more I look at this tree, the more I like it. But rather than go into specifics (we’ll leave that to you), I’ll just relate a quick story…. While I was admiring this tree, Boon, the artist himself, walked by. I said something like ‘great tree, … Continue reading A Prize Winning Bonsai & a Superstar Bonsai Teacher

Black Pine Bonsai – Before & After (Seriously)

A Japanese black pine after some serious trimming. If you look at the photo just below, you might notice that there has also been some serious needle reduction. The tree and the photos in this post belong to Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon). The first two photos shown here provide a simple before and after on a Japanese black pine. As you can see it’s a remarkable tree. I was especially taken with the deeply striated bark and the way it flows into the nebari. Another thing that struck me about this tree is just how far American bonsai has … Continue reading Black Pine Bonsai – Before & After (Seriously)

It Takes a Village of Bonsai Artists & Patrons

This Itoigawa shimpaku juniper won the Finest Medium Size Bonsai prize at the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition (September 2014). Though it looks larger, its height is only 12″ (30.5 cm). It belongs to Troy Schmidt of Asheville North Carolina. Though I don’t know this tree’s whole story, I do know that both Boon Manakitivipart and Bjorn Bjorholm have worked on it (it takes a village of bonsai artists and patrons). The photo above is from Boon Manakitivipart’s facebook feed. The other photos in this post (except the very last one) are from a 2012 workshop that Boon hosted. It’s … Continue reading It Takes a Village of Bonsai Artists & Patrons

Boon Again

This stupendously powerful little Japanese black pine had just been refined at a Bay Island Bonsai workshop by Peter Tea when Jonas Dupuich (Bonsai Tonight) took this photo. The tree belongs to Boon. Yesterday we featured five of Boon Manakitivipart’s bonsai, so let’s stay on theme and stick with Boon for the moment. This time the emphasis is on Boon as a bonsai teacher as well as an accomplished bonsai artist. The photos shown here and some of the text as well, are borrowed from three earlier Bark posts (here, here and here). Michael Hagedorn working at one of Boon’s … Continue reading Boon Again

Dwarf Kingsville & Other Boxwood Bonsai

You can tell this is a genuine Dwarf Kingsville boxwood by the tight tiny leaves. This planting by Boon Manakitivipart was the winner of the Certre Award at the 2010 U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. Let’s touch back in with boxwoods for a moment (see our post from two days ago). This one originally appeared in September of last year. This post was inspired by an article on boxwoods in Bonsai Mary that sheds some light on the rampant confusion about dwarf boxwoods and particularly, what is and what isn’t a Dwarf Kingsville. Here’s one of the photos from Bonsai … Continue reading Dwarf Kingsville & Other Boxwood Bonsai