More Than $1,000 In Prizes

This Nick Lenz pot is being donated by Todd Hansen of Sanctuary Bonsai. It is one of many prizes that will be awarded to entrants in our $1,000 (plus) Bonsai from Scratch Contest. Pot dimensions: 16 1/2″ x 13″ x 2″ Donate and your fame will spread like wild fire If you donate a prize for our Bonsai from Scratch Contest, your name (and your business name) will be listed with links in the following places (at least two times each): Bonsai Bark (average 1,800 over 800 visitors per post) and our Stone Lantern Newsletter (over 8,200 recipients). Please contact … Continue reading More Than $1,000 In Prizes

A Not-So-Well-Kept Bonsai Secret

This wild, Wild apple, appears on the back cover and in the chapter titled ‘Wild Apple’ in Bonsai from the Wild. A confession and a little insignificant history I’ve never met Nick Lenz. I don’t think we’ve even talked on the phone. Andy Rutledge (a student of Nick’s who’s been featured on Bonsai Bark) introduced us via email years ago because he thought we’d enjoy each other (we share certain unrelated-to-bonsai views). The upshot was a flurry of emails and finally, a decision to reprint an enhanced version of Nick’s now famous book, Bonsai from the Wild. So what’s the … Continue reading A Not-So-Well-Kept Bonsai Secret

Pushing Bonsai Boundaries Even Further

Has Nick gone too far and ventured beyond what you’d call bonsai with this early spring larch that promises summer shade for a cheap garden ornament? From Bonsai from the Wild by Nick Lenz. Nick Lenz’ fertile imagination Nick Lenz has been pushing bonsai boundaries for a long time. The planting above is just one example of his fertile imagination. However, a friend of mine says that what Nick is up to is just vain eccentricity and has no real meaning as far as bonsai goes. As for me, well, root-over-tank (below) always makes me smile, and maybe that’s good … Continue reading Pushing Bonsai Boundaries Even Further

A Most Unusual Bonsai Artist

Azalea and pot by Nick Lenz. Photo borrowed from The Art of Bonsai Project. A unique American bonsai artist Nick Lenz is an unusual person. On the spectrum from conservative to daring and even outrageous, his bonsai land somewhere beyond the latter. What he says about bonsai (and other things) reveals a unique mind; fascinating, humorous and often quite insightful. Beyond that, you be the judge. Collected larch (Larix laricina). Tree by Mother Nature and Nick Lenz. Pot by Nick. Larch with decent taper are extremely unusual. Chances are, Nick applied a few tricks to help this one along. Photo … Continue reading A Most Unusual Bonsai Artist

Wouldn’t You Like to Find a Tree Like This?

Wouldn’t you like to find a tree like this when you are out collecting? This is a cropped version of Autumn, by Giacomo Pappalardo. From his facebook wall photos. I assume it is Giacomo’s, though I find no mention of it anywhere; just the photo. A trunk with everything This funky (in the good sense) trunk has everything: shape, massive girth, aged bark, a natural looking hollow (sabamiki) and a perfect touch of deadwood. Though you could make an argument for hiding some of the trunk’s heaviness near the top (the dark hole above the jin), I imagine Giacomo decided … Continue reading Wouldn’t You Like to Find a Tree Like This?

Laziness Plus Foolishness Equals Trouble

I posted this haunting strangeness the other day, and then, without doing an ounce of research or exercising even a small sliver of my overtaxed intelligence, I conjectured that Nick Lenz must be the guilty party. I could blame it on the fact that I was in the middle of summer vacation, or because I grew up in an age well before photoshop and have never really caught up (I still struggle with my TV/DVD remote). The good news is… … it elicited more comments than 98% of our other more accurate and (in my opinion) more useful posts. I … Continue reading Laziness Plus Foolishness Equals Trouble

Larch Roots & TMS

Larch bonsai in full fall display. By Larch Master Nick Lenz. Larch roots & TMS I know the topic in this post is a bit arcane, but I’d like to know if anyone out there has any more info on TMS. The research quoted below is from this journal. “The roots of 200 one-year-old Changbai Larch (Larix olgensis) seedlings were soaked for 6 hours at the TMS concentrations of 2000, 1000, 500, 250, 125, and 62 ?L·L?1. Mean seedling height, root collar diameter, main root length and number of lateral roots were measured every 15 days during growing season from … Continue reading Larch Roots & TMS

The Dog Days

Bonsai? Weird perversion? Highly innovative new cross art? Whaddya think? And to answer your question, I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet my third born grandchild that it’s a Lenz (it just has too many marks of the old Master to deny). Anyway, you can blame it on BUNJINJOURNAL.COM. Or further down the chain of blame; FreakingNews.com.