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
Starting Over With A Bonsai – You Will, Sooner Or Later
Last year I was working on this Riverflat hawthorn, Crataegus opaca, for a client who had purchased the tree and was anxiously awaiting delivery. I had collected it in 2015, and began its training that same year. The primary work last year was to pot it into a nice...
Art In Small Packages
I've posted blogs about this old Crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, that Allen Gautreau and I collected in the early 90s. He left it to me when he passed. I've since done some redesign work and put the tree in a different pot. That's not the topic of this blog,...
My Latest Shot At Swamp Maple
I seldom write about Swamp maple, Acer rubrum 'Drummondii,' not because you can't make nice bonsai with them but because I have had no success collecting larger specimens and maintaining them past a few years. In about year three they start rotting from the chop...
Repotting Mr. Van Winkle
It's been a couple of years since I repotted my big Willow oak, Quercus phellos. Last year I named him Rip Van Winkle, because he waited until May to finally bud out. (I was afraid he was R.I.P. Van Winkle.) Anyway, when I did the repotting back in 2016 I tried...
Just Had To Share
Chinese Elm - 8/4/14 Chinese Elm - 4/4/18 Not bad for four years' work! The progression has been updated too. Note: Comments are closed. Remember to use the new Insider's Club Form to post your questions and comments. This helps everybody learn and help and this is...
Bonsai South News + Odds & Ends
In the next two weeks we will be launching our updated website. Cathy has created a wonderful new design, which will be much more functional and easier for you to use. We'll send out an announcement when we launch. Meanwhile, here are a few...
Hawthorn Gets New Home. Nice!
If you've spent any time browsing through our site, you've seen my awesome Riverflat hawthorn (Crataegus opaca). After several years, this tree is really well developed and frankly is one of my all-time favorites. One thing I've come to realize over the past...
How To Fix Problems When They Happen (For They Will)
As you know by now, we had an unexpectedly cold winter that included two snowfalls that accumulated (inches, which for us is unheard of) and temps of 15F on three separate occasions. For those of you up north, this is probably balmy spring weather, but down here the...
Spring Work – Potting And Repotting
The beat goes on. As I mentioned yesterday, spring is the time when you need to do all sorts of things all at once. One of those things is potting. Another, related, is repotting. Here are today's subjects. Here's my Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, that you can...