Review: Kimura Techniques Masterclass 2
The latest online course from Bonsai Empire continues its series with Mr. Masahiko Kimura. The 4.5 hour series of video lectures covers the styling of a huge Japanese Black Pine and the detailing of a Hinoki Cypress for the Kokufu Show. I was impressed with this course. My reviews of the Kimura courses were all […]
Example Of A Good Pigeon Breast
Remember that guideline to avoid pigeon breasts? A strong movement of part of the trunk toward the viewer? Well. Here is a tree that just begged for that guideline to be ignored. (Somewhere in Bonsai Heresy I wrote about the looseness of the pigeon breast guideline, but I’m far away from home—Chicago—and haven’t the faintest […]
Unusual Repotting Projects ‘25
A photo essay of notable repots this year, with comments. A Styrax air-layer ready to separate. The roots were getting tight in the small pot. And a new bonsai is born. Will pots up the baby in a training pot. This is the Cryptomeria shown in the 2024 Pacific Bonsai Expo which won best in […]
100% Pumice As Soil
For years I’ve been impressed with the bold root growth in boxes with collected yamadori, in 100% pumice. Trees as distinct as Pine and Maple have predictably strong root growth. Once I recall trying to stick a chopstick into the pumice of a Vine Maple I’d collected only the year before and failed, the roots […]
Reworking A Forest
This is a forest of Vine Maples, Acer circinatum, that came to the studio recently. Last week we took it apart and redesigned it. This forest has older plants with a few young ones. The age range has promise, but there is a uniformity to the design. I see this a lot in Western bonsai—a […]
Pacific Bonsai Museum Excels: An Interview With Curator Aarin Packard
Not far off the I-5 interstate south of Seattle is a public bonsai collection gem, Pacific Bonsai Museum. Full of diverse and top-notch specimens, for years it has served as a locus to inspire and educate us about bonsai. Pacific Bonsai Museum. Image courtesy Pacific Bonsai Museum Pacific Bonsai Museum brings another rare element. For […]
A Pine Makeover
Apprentice Patch Clark is back with a Japanese Black Pine. This is our sequel to A Juniper Makeover. A tall Black Pine with nice bark and plenty of issues. For one thing, after the first foot there is no taper. The branching also has no rhythm or movement, which is why it looks like a […]
3D Bonsai—Interactive Images From Aaron Kupferman
During the setup for the 2024 Pacific Bonsai Expo I saw a walled-off photography setup in the corner. At least, that’s what I thought it was, until I saw a second setup that I knew, for sure, was a photography setup. Now I wasn’t sure what the other thing was. Before the bonsai were put […]
Should I Worry About That Burl?
They have an attraction, these lumpy knobs on trees. Several times I’ve stared up at a tree in a forest with a magnificent lumpy knob, and, after admiring it, wondered if it was the next to be stolen. The theft of maple burls have been reported on the news here in Oregon. Burl wood is […]
The Baobabs And Acacias Of Africa
I am on the way home from Africa. The first half of the trip was a birding trip in Gambia, and the second half was spent with friends in Senegal, one of whom works at the U.S. Embassy. We took a long road trip north from Dakar to the city of St. Louis, not far […]