Shimpaku bonsai

Before & After Bonsai – Tie Pot Special Ends Tonight

Before and after by Koji Hiramatsu. No species is mentioned, but given that Koji lives in Japan and that the tree looks like a Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii), that’s probably a good guess. Though I have been fooled by Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora), another two needle pine We’ve featured Koji Hiramatsu several times over the last couple years, though mostly his Shohin bonsai (here’s our first and my favorite Koji post), though lately  I’m seeing more larger trees and fewer shohin on his fb posts. Either way, big or small, Koji is always worth a visit 30% OFF HAWS WATERING CANS ends tomorrow, Thursday … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Tie Pot Special Ends Tonight

New Roshi Tool Special & New Shohin Bonsai Course

Colorful fall highlights at Morten Albek’s Shohin bonsai garden NEW ONLINE BONSAI COURSE Morten Albek of Shohin Bonsai Europe and Oscar Jonker at Bonsai Empire have teamed up to create a Brand New Online Shohin Bonsai Course. I am familiar with both of these gentlemen (Stone Lantern published and edited Morten’s Shohin Bonsai, Majesty in Miniature – sorry, out of print – and I’ve been borrowing great photos from Oscar for a long time), so if my two cents are still worth anything, I’m betting it’s a winner You’ll need some good tools if you’re going to take the course NEW ROSHI TOOL SPECIAL 30% … Continue reading New Roshi Tool Special & New Shohin Bonsai Course

Kimura Playing with Bonsai

One of Masahiko Kimura’s famous juniper rock plantings at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here’s their caption… “Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works” Today’s photos are from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. I don’t know who the photographer is, but the results are great, especially the one above with its soft texture and colors. But what really caught my eye is the way the foliage stands out from the rock and shadows in the background All the trees are the work of the world’s most famous Bonsai artist, Masahiko Kimura (The Magician). Here’s a quote from … Continue reading Kimura Playing with Bonsai

Two Potentilla Bonsai & Two Brand New Books

Would you ever guess that these two little gems are Potentilla? Both are sweet in their own way, and so’s the photo; the muted painterly background, the contrasting pot colors and contrasting dead and live wood on both trees. I don’t know what the little companion is, but I like it too. I found it on Roman Stresow’s timeline. His caption is Just two Potentilla When I saw the photo above and then read that the trees were Potentilla (aka Cinquefoil), I felt a little tug of excitement. Not only were both little trees unique, but they’re Potentilla, a type tree I have … Continue reading Two Potentilla Bonsai & Two Brand New Books

Brilliant Beech Bonsai & Tiny Companion

Contrast! This shot has to go in our Bonsai Bark hall of fame photos (if we had such a thing). The big one is a Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) and the small one is unidentified, though it looks a lot like a Shimpaku juniper. Both belong to Mariusz Folda Suddenly we’re inundated with fall color bonsai photos. Our colors in northern Vermont peaked three weeks ago and now the rest of the world is catching up. Mariusz Folda, a long time favorite here on Bark is from Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland Two New 30% off Tool Specials Okatsune Bonsai & Garden Tools Koyo … Continue reading Brilliant Beech Bonsai & Tiny Companion

Before & After by Bonsai Boon with a Guest Appearance by Michael Hagedorn

Here’s Boon’s caption for this before and after… “Itoigawa shimpaku removed old needles, downward growth, rewired and reposition” No bonsai is ever finished (unless it’s dead and then it’s no longer a bonsai anyway).  I don’t know how many trees Boon Manakitivipart (aka Bonsai Boon) has, but I know it’s a whole lot more than most of us So what do you do when you have so many trees? Beyond basic care, like watering, feeding, treating for disease, insects etc? Well, one thing you do is spend some time bringing established bonsai back into shape, and if you have the talent, improving them in the process. … Continue reading Before & After by Bonsai Boon with a Guest Appearance by Michael Hagedorn

Wild Plum Bonsai, Before & After

Walter Pall’s Wild plum (Prunus cerasifera) before and six years later Continuing with our latest before and after series… Walter Pall has long been a favorite of ours. Aside from his massive bonsai collection and his considerable skills in developing and maintaining that collection, Walter takes the time to walk us though step by step transformations with a series of sharpe uncluttered photos. And not just three or four photos. In this case there are upwards of fifty (that’s on the high side even for Walter, but he’s always generous in this regard). We’ll show you five photos here and encourage you … Continue reading Wild Plum Bonsai, Before & After

Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

Before and after Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) by Todd Schlafer. The tree belongs to Mike Andrews. For the Godzilla reference, scroll down to the bottom of the post Continuing with another before and after transformation by Todd Schlafer (see Oct 19th). Here’s a quote by Mike Andrews (facebook)… “Progression of collected Rocky Mountain Juniper. Collected by Randy Knight, delivered to my house September 2016. Initial design and structure setting with Mauro in April 2017. Fertilized heavily and full sun 2017 and 2018 growing seasons resulted in very nice dense foliage. Finally detail wired and pad formation by Todd yesterday. … Continue reading Godzilla Refines a Monster Bonsai – Before & After

Bonsai on Instagram – Great Trees, Great Stones

There’s a lot going on with this one. Especially the two types of exposed roots – the long aerial roots growing down to the flat stone on the right, and the other set of roots fanning down the side of the large stone (the stone is another nice feature). I couldn’t find the type tree (looks like it might be a Ficus) nor any info on the artist/owner. Unless the person who put the photo up is the owner (there’s a name embedded in the Instagram address) Just ventured onto Instragram for the first time. So far I like it. It’s an easy … Continue reading Bonsai on Instagram – Great Trees, Great Stones

Bonsai Skill & Vision – Before & After

Before and after Procumbens Juniper by Todd Schlafer at the Des Moines Botanical Gardens Continuing with our venerable Before and After tradition… This is only the second time* we’ve featured bonsai by Todd Schlafer, but there will certainly be more. Todd  is one of a significant (in numbers and skill) crop of young North American bonsai artists . You can enjoy more of Todd’s bonsai on his First Branch Bonsai website, on facebook and in the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album BONSAI SOIL SPECIAL ENDS SUNDAY 25% OFF LIST PRICES Special ends Sunday at 11:59pm EDT Before. As you can see, the trunk is already … Continue reading Bonsai Skill & Vision – Before & After