Defoliation – Before & After

A Shohin Trident maple before & after defoliation by Harry Harrington. Just to give you some perspective, this sturdy little tree is only 8″ (20cm) high. It’s time to defoliate. Early summer heat is causing leaves to become oversized. With some deciduous bonsai (especially maples) defoliation works wonders. Not only are the new leaves smaller, but they tend to produce better fall color. Most defoliation is a one-time-per-summer, per-tree occasion. If you live where the summers are very long, it’s possible to defoliate twice in one summer.* Be careful though. If there isn’t enough time to fully recover before cold … Continue reading Defoliation – Before & After

It’s a stunningly gorgeous Vermont day and good sense dictates that it’s time to get out and work on our bonsai and pull some weeds in the garden, but first, take a look at this!

Harry Harrington’s latest iteration of his English yew. Here’s what Harry said about this tree : “Finally, work on my Taxus baccata/Yew bonsai completed with the branches wired and laid-out. Height 25″/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12″/30cm. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.” It’s a stunningly gorgeous Vermont day and good sense dictates that it’s time to get out and work on our bonsai and pull some weeds in the garden. So rather than taking the time to put together a new post, I’m going to show you one of my favorites from our archives (last November). It’s titled … Continue reading It’s a stunningly gorgeous Vermont day and good sense dictates that it’s time to get out and work on our bonsai and pull some weeds in the garden, but first, take a look at this!

Not So Common Privet Bonsai

One of Harry Harrington’s latest Privet bonsai. This one has highly refined delicate carving with abundant sabamiki, which is something I’ve noticed in Harry’s bonsai lately. Height 16″ (39 cm). Pot by Erin Bonsai Pottery. I’ve been following Harry Harrington since Bark’s earliest days (2009). He has a thing for Common privets (Ligustrum ovalifolium) and they’ve long interested me too, though you just don’t see that many Privet bonsai. Except if you follow Harry. This one was collected from a 70 year old hedge row in 2012, though you can bet it didn’t look like this then. Height 13″ … Continue reading Not So Common Privet Bonsai

Large Bonsai with Thick Trunks Are Nearly Always Developed in the Ground

We’ve shown this Harry Harrington privet before, but it’s worth another look. I’ve long been impressed with what Harry Harrington has been up to. Both his bonsai techniques and the results, as well as his willingness to share what he knows (three books and a website full of useful techniques and other information). Yesterday it was a remarkable yew. Today it’s a field grown privet and an excerpt of an article Harry wrote on field growing. Both are from our archives. One reason we’ve featured field growing so much is that the USDA restrictions make importing quality stock from Asia … Continue reading Large Bonsai with Thick Trunks Are Nearly Always Developed in the Ground

Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai

Harry Harrington’s latest iteration of his English yew. Here’s what Harry said about this tree three days ago: ” Finally, work on my Taxus baccata/ Yew bonsai completed with the branches wired and laid-out. Height 25″/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12″/30cm. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.” I’ve been watching the evolution of Harry Harrington’s bonsai for a long time now. In fact, one of our first posts is from Harry’s bonsai4me (March 2009). Now, almost seven years later we have the (you can supply your own adjectives) tree shown here. It’s an English (aka European) Yew (Taxus baccata). … Continue reading Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai

Savage Bonsai Beauty

One of the many excellent trees at the just completed 2015 Heathrow Bonsai Show. Heathrow is in the U.K (I just read somewhere that many Americans don’t know what the U.K. is. I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed or just resigned; though I’m pretty sure this doesn’t apply any of you). Photo by Ann White All the photos in this post are from the 2015 Heathrow Bonsai Show. Some are by Harry Harrington and some are by Ann White. Neither identify the varieties or the owners. This is par at bonsai shows and based on my experience at … Continue reading Savage Bonsai Beauty

Pointing the Way

Three years ago when we originally showed this tree we didn’t have any idea who the artist was. We were none the wiser until someone offered this in the comments (from the second posting last year ): “The first sabina juniper you mention is from Patrick Cremers..” Once we had a name it was easy to find this newer and better photo (the original is below). This post is worth a third time. It’s rich in bonsai beauty and information. First time was titled The Trend Only Gets More Outrageous (be sure to read the comments). The second was There Are … Continue reading Pointing the Way

Just Waiting There for You in Millions of Hedges

Harry has outdone himself this time. Harry Harrington has been styling and posting Privet bonsai for a long time. To my eye, Harry’s previous Privets (two below) have been very good, but now he has outdone himself (as witnessed by the tree above and the closeup just below). It’s not just Privets for Harry; his website Bonsai4me presents a whole range of excellent bonsai (and plenty of educational writing as well), but his Privets stand out for a couple reasons: first, they are good and getting better, and second, Privet is an excellent candidate for bonsai that is widely underused … Continue reading Just Waiting There for You in Millions of Hedges

There Are No Rules (but What About Guidelines?)

Same tree, better photo. The original caption from a post two years ago started with: “Snakes. From Estação Bonsai on Facebook. I couldn’t find any mention of the artist….” We were none the wiser until someone offered this in the comments: “The first sabina juniper you mention is from Patrick Cremers..” Once we had a name it was easy to find the new photo (the original is below). However, I can’t tell if Patrick is the artist, the photographer, or just someone who posted this photo (confused yet?). Here’s a link if you’d like to explore further. We’re a little … Continue reading There Are No Rules (but What About Guidelines?)

The Trend Only Gets More Outrageous

Snakes. From Estação Bonsai on Facebook. I couldn’t find any mention of the artist and even though I don’t like to show trees without attribution, just couldn’t pass this one up (there’s another from Estação, below). The old rules of bonsai, if they ever really existed, were broken as soon as they were made and the trend only gets more outrageous (in whatever sense you prefer: out·ra·geous: shockingly bad or excessive, wildly exaggerated or improbable, very bold, unusual, and startling). As you can see, this common Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) belongs to Harry Harrington (Harry on facebook and Harry’s famous … Continue reading The Trend Only Gets More Outrageous