The Bonsai Files
Your free access to general and how-to articles, The Bonsai Files. Detailed and filled with bonsai pictures, Zach shows you step-by-step how he designs bonsai and provides before, during, and after images.
The Bonsai Files
Here’s Something Expected, And Something Unexpected
We've been following along with the development of this Crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, for a couple of months now. It's a small specimen that I made from a venerable old Crape left to me by my friend Allen Gautreau. I love the trunk of this literati bonsai, and...
The Mystery Is Solved: It’s A Swamp Azalea
A couple of years ago I went on a collecting trip to a piece of property owned by a client's brother. I had been hoping to harvest some American hornbeam, but there just weren't any to be found. I did, however, run across a species I had never encountered in all my...
It’s Time To Make Some More Bonsai
There are distinct phases in the bonsai year. Spring 2018 is just a memory now. But that's okay. Summer is never dull. While you can't do everything in summer you can in spring, I guarantee you'll keep busy if you know what needs doing and how your individual...
This Is Either Going To Be Great Or Awful
The seasoned bonsai enthusiast often takes on projects that, at least in the beginning, seem full of promise but later on go a bit sideways. That's another way of saying that trees usually do what they want, and it's not at all unusual for you not to appreciate what...
Watch Me Wire The Big BC – It’s Progress!
Last week I defoliated this very large Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). Not surprisingly, the tree is already showing new buds. The wiring needed to be done now! Here's the step by step work I did on this tree. When you defoliate any tree, it gives you the...
How About This Great Progress With A Sweetgum
I lifted this Sweetgum last year and put it in a nursery container to recover and gain strength. It was sluggish for most of last year, but I just fed, watered and otherwise ignored it. As I knew it would, it finally kicked growth into high gear this spring, which...
Have You Ever Defoliated A BC? Here’s How To Do It
If you grow or plan to grow Bald cypress bonsai, it's vital that you learn an indispensable development technique - defoliation. It may sound challenging at first blush, but it's one of the easiest and most beneficial techniques you'll ever use in growing bonsai....
A Couple Of Quick Progressions I Like
Bonsai is a pursuit that works best when given enough time. This is fairly obvious once you've studied enough. It's the old trees that have been in training for decades (even centuries) that command our attention. Now, with that said I'm a big proponent of bringing...
A Terrific American Elm Bonsai-To-Be
I love elm bonsai. Among my favorite elm species to work with is American elm, Ulmus Americana. I found this one almost by accident in early May. Though I would normally prefer to collect American elms in January or February, I thought it would be worth a try to...