
When to Begin Fertilizing in Spring?
It’s likely not a good impulse to want to lasso students to slow down their spring fertilizing, but I admit to the urge. And yet I get it: the trees are growing, so we reach for the fertilizer by instinct. The problem with this is that by the end of summer everything, even old geriatric […]

How to Correctly Read Bonsai Heresy-
When a student sent me this photo I began to worry that others might be having similar reading malfunctions. We are here to help. If you can’t make any headway with Bonsai Heresy, please—before calling, writing, or showing up on the doorstep—check that you aren’t taking direction from Rich, a past Seasonal student. (It was […]

Jonas Dupuich Tells Us About ‘The Little Book of Bonsai’: Guest Post
By Jonas Dupuich Some time ago, Michael Hagedorn suggested that he and I swap posts to share the stories of why we wrote our respective books: Bonsai Heresy in Michael’s case, and The Little Book of Bonsai in mine. Jonas Dupuich and a pine he wired in Japan I’d known about Michael’s interest in debunking […]

Bonsai Heresy…(tantalizingly close)…
As I’m writing this a ship is docking with cartons of Bonsai Heresy: 56 Myths Exposed Using Science and Tradition. The frugal and impatient among you who pre-ordered a copy (some of you ordered several) now have just a little less time to wait. Having received an advance copy last month, I signed it to […]

A Perfect Time for Creativity-
The first album of The Bonsai Rappers, featuring John Eads, Andrew Robson and a few of their friends will not be released, now or ever. But just in case you were wondering, this would be what the jacket cover would totally look like~ Bonsai Rapping aside, this is a good time to stretch our creative […]

Read Books!
In the studio last week I was talking with John (current apprentice) and Andrew (past apprentice), and in a dreamy, innocent moment I tossed out the hope that people might soon be reading more books. I said this having just got word that Bonsai Heresy: 56 Myths Exposed Using Science and Tradition was printed and […]

A Holiday Story-
Some may recognize this as a previous post entitled ‘A New Year’s Story’, and I beg forgiveness for the repeat; finishing up Bonsai Heresy (proofing just completed) has been all-absorbing. But I figured this story had continued utility, like last year’s advent calendar does: Usually I offer the bungled photos of the year in a […]

Front Cover and Brief Review of Bonsai Heresy—
As it’s terrifically difficult to write a review of one’s own work and still sleep at night, I’m copying here what Wayne Schoech of Stone Lantern wrote in his newsletter about my forthcoming offbeat, educational book Bonsai Heresy: 56 Myths Exposed using Science and Tradition— Here’s the glimpse into the future we promised, Michael’s Bonsai Heresy is […]

Producing A Self-Published Book: What You Didn’t Know…
The first time I did this the steps seemed endless. There’s content editors, copy editors, illustrators, formatters, proofreaders, bluelines, and printers. And with my second book it’s not much less endless. While a publishing schedule is lengthy, taking months to wend through, on the sidelines are those waving flags of support, like at a marathon—the lone […]

~New Book ‘Bonsai Heresy’ Nearing Completion~
Bonsai Heresy is my new book about our misperceptions of bonsai technique and aesthetics. The book is wrapping up and things are advancing apace… Bonsai Heresy will shortly be copyedited, giving me a much needed break No fewer than 10 savvy content editors were involved, improving this complex book immeasurably Our production timeline will give us […]