Yes, that is the correct headline… bonsai on plastic. I wasn’t too sure of it myself. In the late summer of 2010 I collected this Mountain Hemlock, Tsuga mertensiana, with my friend Anton Nijhuis in Canada, and potted it in a strange box that was sort of cantilevered up because the tree had been prostrate, [...]
Archive for the ‘Before and after’ Category
Mountain Hemlock On Levitated Nylon Board
Posted in Before and after, tagged Hemlock, Mountain hemlock, nylon board, plastic board, potting on March 31, 2012 | 25 Comments »
Burning Bush—Seasonal Styling and Potting
Posted in Before and after, Development, tagged bonsai styling, Burning bush bonsai, deciduous bonsai, Euonymus alata, Euonymus bonsai, Seasonal program on March 18, 2012 | 6 Comments »
This tree was originally collected by Kevin Yates from a park in Eugene. Apparently it had been kept stunted by the nutria that lived in a pond nearby. When Kevin saw this post he recognized his tree and corrected me on several points on its origin- Thanks! Euonymus is a popular genus for bonsai. The [...]
Tar and Feathering? Changing a Famous Juniper…
Posted in Before and after, Development, tagged bonsai design, changing bonsai design, Foemina juniper, juniper bonsai, Shig Miya on December 14, 2011 | 27 Comments »
No matter how assured you are, changing the design of a famous tree is done with a deep intake of breath. One takes precautions. Like boarding up windows and doors, in premonition of a rowdy gang of tree maniacs in green cloaks with picks and axes and rolls of wire for who knows what horrible [...]
Old White Pine Rewiring
Posted in Before and after, tagged Brussell's Bonsai, japanese white pine, pine bonsai, white pine bonsai, wiring pine bonsai on December 8, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Not something we see every day in the United States… a meter-high seedling white pine. Meaning, a white pine on it’s own roots, not grafted onto black pine. Originally imported from Brussell’s Bonsai, this pine has been gaining strength and balance every year. I think I first styled it in 2008. One of it’s few [...]
Bunjin Ponderosa Pine Styling
Posted in Before and after, tagged bunjin bonsai, bunjin pine, Ponderosa bonsai, Ponderosa pine, styling pine on November 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This was a demo tree at a convention a few years ago. My client has been keeping it healthy and it’s been budding back quite well, and we decided it was ready for a rewiring. I’ve been surprised how well Ponderosa develops here in the Northwest. When I first moved here in 2006 I assumed [...]
Revisting a 2009 Ezo Spruce
Posted in Before and after, Development, tagged ezo spruce, ezo spruce bonsai, spruce bonsai, styling spruce bonsai on October 10, 2011 | 9 Comments »
Spruce bonsai have been ‘in the news’ this past year or two. I’ve posted one spruce already this fall… and I thought, why not continue the trend? So here’s another one. Some of you might remember this four-trunk Ezo spruce clump from an earlier post. It was styled in 2009 and left rather leggy as [...]
Western Juniper Styling–
Posted in Before and after, tagged bonsai before and after, Juniperus occidentalis, styling bonsai, Western Juniper bonsai on October 1, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I worked on this tree some years ago, probably 2006 or 2007. I just came across the photos the other day and it was like rediscovering an old acquaintance. Boon Manakitivipart was kind enough to give me some work shortly following my return from apprenticing in Japan. This was one of the trees from his backyard [...]
Three Years Of A Spruced Up Engelmann
Posted in Before and after, Development, tagged Accent plant, bonsai styling, Engelmann spruce, penstemon, spruce bonsai on August 28, 2011 | 11 Comments »
This Engelmann spruce was originally owned by a guy up in Seattle and I suspect it grew in a mica drum pot for a couple decades. Collected in the Cascades many years ago, it has nice flaky, mature bark and sports a healthy community of lichen up and down the main trunk. It was growing [...]
Developing an Unpromising Sierra Juniper Bunjin–student work from Seasonal
Posted in Before and after, Development, tagged juniper bonsai, Seasonal, Sierra juniper bonsai, styling bonsai, yamadori on July 29, 2011 | 6 Comments »
This is a product of my Seasonal sessions. A few years ago I bought this weedy looking Sierra juniper, removed the field soil and repotted it into a pumice/akadama mix in a plastic nursery pot with help from Seasonal students in 2009, and styled it with a Seasonal group in 2010. It really did look [...]
