Bonsai Tools Sale

It’s Still Labor Day Weekend & the Sun Is Still Shining

A wonderfully convoluted Sabina juniper after a little taming by Gabriel Romero Aguadé. If you look at the before photo below, you can see that Gabriel did quite a bit to tame what started out as tree with a world of potential but also with a crazily unruly crown and a trunk with poor taper. It’s not too hard to see how the crown was brought under control (some very detailed labor and some time for new growth to fill in). But the taper is a bit more mystifying; not much has changed, but somehow it looks much better. BTW, … Continue reading It’s Still Labor Day Weekend & the Sun Is Still Shining

Big Bonsai Tool Sale Ends Sunday Night

a small sampling of our large selection of Koyo Japanese Bonsai Tools now Koyo and all other tools are 25% off plus an extra 10% off for any order 100.00 or more but only until Sunday, Sept 6th at 11:59pm EDT We’ve been offering a steady stream of beautiful bonsai, bonsai tips, events and related stuff for almost 7 years. All for FREE. But every now and then, we turn a post over to our sponsor (that’s me). Don’t worry, we’ll be back with more bonsai tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can go ahead a take advantage of some very big savings … Continue reading Big Bonsai Tool Sale Ends Sunday Night

Gentle Reminders – Lower Prices – New Sale

We just started a NEW Sale Roshi Bonsai Tools – Up to 30% off I just got back from the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition. I was quite inspired (to say the least) by the powerful trees displayed, the good people I met and the overall feeling of the whole event (tomorrow I’ll show you some of the winners). In fact, I was so inspired that I got all soft and decided to sharpen my pencil (unintended!). I’d been thinking I needed to revisit our prices for a while now and just didn’t get around to it (better exchange rates … Continue reading Gentle Reminders – Lower Prices – New Sale

Useful Tips for Those of Us Stuck in Beginner Level Bonsai Skills

  Robert’s digital simulation of a Ficus nerifolia that was submitted by Tom Kreugl. Busy traveling so we’ll dig up another post from our vast archival past. This one is from September, 2010. It’s one of numerous Robert Steven critiques that provide simple lessons in bonsai design, with several useful tips. I think it’s particularly good for beginners and those of us who have been stuck with beginner level skills for too long (all of Robert’s critiques are good for beginners and for more advanced enthusiasts too). While we’re talking about Robert Steven, this might a good place to mention … Continue reading Useful Tips for Those of Us Stuck in Beginner Level Bonsai Skills

Defoliación del Abuelo (Defoliating Grandfather)

Here’s Juan Adrade’s caption for this photo. “Partial defolation on one of the grandfather trees. Close to 100 yrs old (Defoliación de las ramas exteriores en uno de los tridentes del abuelo de mi maestro. Este arbol posiblemente se acerca a los 100 años).” All the photos in this post are from a series of photos on Juan’s facebook feed. Facebook is great if you like photos of children, animals or glassy eyed people over eating at restaurants. If you’re lucky and you have the right friends, you might find good photos of quality bonsai. However, it’s somewhat unusual to … Continue reading Defoliación del Abuelo (Defoliating Grandfather)

A Magical Land Where Almost Every House Has a Bonsai

We know this tree is very large, but exactly how large is difficult to tell (the uncropped photo immediately below might help a bit). In addition to its great size, it shows an excellent base and nebari, as well as some gnarly bumps that look a bit like melting wax. I think I can say with confidence that it’s Ficus. All the photos in this post were taken by Robert Steven on a recent trip to Vietnam. The other day someone suggested we feature Vietnamese bonsai. As it turns out, we have done just that several times already, with more … Continue reading A Magical Land Where Almost Every House Has a Bonsai

Tool Sale 20% to 25% off All Tools

20% off for 1-4 tools – 25% off for 5 or more SALE INCLUDES Bonsai Tools, Gardening Tools, Ikebana Tools Plus Turntables, Soil Scoops, Sheaths, Sharpening Stones & Tool Rolls BRANDS INCLUDE Roshi, Koyo, Yoshi, Bonsai Aesthetics, Okatsune, Flexcut & others Sets count as one tool This sale won’t last long, so don’t wait  

Juniper: Before and After

After: By Michael Hagedorn, Crataegus Bonsai. Michael says the container is approx 30 gallons. This should give you some idea of the scale (it’s bigger than it looks). Michael says it’s a Juniper procumbens, but it looks a lot like a J. procumbens ‘nana’ to me (that’s the dwarf cultivar), especially in the photo below. What’s surprising about this is, that if it is a ‘nana’ it’s a monster, with a trunk whose thickness defies the normal limits of the variety. The most over-used tree in North America Juniper procumbens ‘nana’ is ubiquitous in the North American bonsai scene. Especially … Continue reading Juniper: Before and After

Necessary and Good

Not too many I try not to clutter Bonsai Bark with too many Stone Lantern promos, still, selling books, tools and the other stuff is how we make our living, and that’s necessary and good. For us, and for you (check out the discounts). Three more rare out-of-print old issues of Bonsai Today just went up on Stone Lantern. Including 17, the famous transplanting issue (we only have 3, so don’t wait).