Repotting Closeups 2023
A few photos with captions of our repotting adventures in 2023… A partial soil replacement of a hemlock, with the beginning of a muck wall to hold the soil in. The wall was up to the top when finished. It’s easier to repot large clumps and forests on slabs while leaving them on the slab […]
Shore Pine Bunjin First Potting
It’s a big shift from a large pot to a small one. Take great care to preserve fine feeder roots in this transition. Feeder roots are the very finest roots. If a pine’s roots are cut leaving only 1/8” roots, and nothing finer, the pine can die. For older pines a solid mass of the root […]
Is Lava Good For Bonsai?
This is a legitimate question. My master Shinji Suzuki never used lava (aka scoria), preferring just akadama and pumice. On coming back from Japan in 2006 I continued using the akadama / pumice mix and have always had strong, fine root growth with dense root masses. Several lava stories have stuck with me over the […]
Chojubai: 10-Year Development
After growing Chojubai for 10 years from 2” cuttings, I now have some idea what’s possible in that time frame. A few weeks ago we had Daisaku Nomoto in the garden, and on going into the Chojubai house where our efforts of the last decade were, he said, “Only ten years! In Japan they’d be […]
Major Branch Removal: Shore Pine
Here’s a pine with an odd branch. It arises from the lower part of the tree, across from another branch. It’s a bar branch. Those who have read Bonsai Heresy know I’m willing to leave a bar branch now and then if it’s needed for balance or fullness. In this instance the odd branch isn’t filling […]
Engelmann Spruce: A 15-Year History
A short history of this Spruce: bought in 2008 at Bonsai Northwest, part of a collection being sold styled in 2009 lived merrily for 5 years nearly died of a fungal attack in 2015 many dead branches later, it was reworked in 2023 2008, an Engelmann Spruce camouflaged as a mop. 2011, filling in a […]
What’s a Root Aphid and What’s Mycorrhiza?
It’s not easy to tell the difference between them. Aphids are detrimental and Mycorrhiza are beneficial, so we have to get this right. Which is tricky, as they are doppelgängers. I’ve seen lost branches from root aphids, and general weakening. They are usually found in greatest numbers right next to the pot wall. Mycorrhiza helps uptake of […]
Indiegogo Campaign: Buy Binoculars for Young Birding Guides in Ecuador
This week, a sideways skip from bonsai…still about connecting with nature, protecting and nurturing it as we do in bonsai, but in a different way. This is about an Indiegogo campaign I just launched. Last month I went on a 2-week birding trip to Ecuador. I saw 327 species on this trip—spectacular birds!—but it was […]
Twin-Trunk Hemlock on Slab: Rework
This Mountain Hemlock was the first tree I put on a nylon slab, back in 2012. We reworked it this week. Before work, January 2023. This composition was put together 11 years ago. After the initial round of work. The right side of this composition has felt foliage-heavy the last few years. The skinny trunks […]
Interview with Enrique Castano
This was a hoot. Enrique and I talk internationality in bonsai, creative directions, and bonsai education in this 40 minute interview. Please be patient! The first few sentences are in Spanish, the rest is in English. The interview was for the Latin America groups, FELAB 2021, which I repost here with gratitude. If the video doesn’t […]
Michael Hagedorn 