Shore Pine Design Exercise—Pt. 1
During rewiring a tree is a good time to rethink the design and look for ways to improve it. We gave this Shore Pine that kind of scrutiny this past week. This is one of our two-part series, which will conclude next week. Here is the Shore Pine before some changes. Next week we’ll show […]
Needle Juniper Restyling-
This tree is too tall. And the branches are a bit leggy, too. One of the problems we get into in bonsai design is that with time and growth, height and branch length can begin pulling us away from the trunk. Literally destroying the design, making it weaker. And this tree has a nice trunk, […]
Bunjin #1: Shore Pine
First up in our tale of two bunjin…this Shore pine (Pinus contorta subsp. contorta) is from Vancouver Island, BC, collected by the eminent and excellent sir Peter Wilson. The tree was potted this past spring, 2015, in the pot shown, and styled in late winter 2016. We wired nearly every branch and shoot on this Shore pine. The […]
Very Tall Hemlock Clump Styled
This photo essay ends with a couple of movies… They’re too short for popcorn, but long enough to sit down for. Mountain Hemlock before branch removal or wiring. Here are some pre-work branch close-ups: Last week this Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) was styled with pruning and wiring. It’s an unusual front, as the apexes all […]
Two Grafting Projects: Juniper and Pine
The first tree in this photo essay is a whimsical juniper that used to be a needle juniper. Although my client enjoyed the needle juniper, it wasn’t doing very well where he lived and was getting weaker. I gave him a few options, and he decided we’d ‘change the clothes’ of the tree, so to […]
Burning Bush revisit –
Several have asked to see a photo recap of this chunky Burning Bush, Euonymus alatus. We (my students and I) started the process of turning this vigorous stump of a shrub into a bonsai in 2012. The fella who collected this Burning Bush said that it was growing by the side of a pond where […]
Vine Maple ‘Boot’ Styling…
For lack of a better title…The ‘Boot’. Long time followers of this blog know that I often name trees so that it’s easier to identify them. Not in the sense that they are serious NAMES that are sometimes given very, very good bonsai in Japan. It’s easier (and more fun) to say, ‘Let’s bring the […]
Matt Reel styles a juniper in KINBON
The last time we talked about Matt Reel he’d just finished a staggering 7 year 9 month apprenticeship with Shinji Suzuki. When I opened my January 2015 issue of the Japanese bonsai magazine Kinbon, there was Matt, standing next to a very fine juniper that he’d worked on as an apprentice. If you figure Matt is […]
Revisiting a Raised-Root Cascade White Pine-
This tree has developed quite a bit in the last few years. The exposed roots have grown in size, and the development of the branches made our re-tweaking a bit more complete. Konnor is a client who tosses a few trees in a car and drives across several state lines to spend a few days […]
Photo Shoot in Germany-
Two years ago I fell out of the sky and landed in Germany. Actually that’s not quite accurate, I rolled in by train from Prague, after falling out of the sky in Vienna. Obviously I’ve forgotten some of the details. In any event, once there (in Germany) I did a photo shoot for the bonsai […]
Michael Hagedorn 