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
Spring Work – Parsley Hawthorn
Spring is upon us, and that means a lot of things need to happen all at once and quickly. This includes developmental work on trees collected in prior years. The Parsley hawthorn below (Crataegus marshallii) is a case in point. I treated this specimen as I do...
Collecting Season Ends – Got Some Nice Cedar Elms
Spring has come very early to the Deep South. Things are blooming and budding. Yesterday Cathy and I were able to collect some Cedar elms (Ulmus crassifolia), and I think we got some very nice material. Here are a few specimens that I hope to be able to offer soon....
Hackberry Collecting Goes Well – Weather Sucked
So we left home on Friday around noon to travel to North Mississippi, where I was meeting up with a friend to go Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) collecting. It was almost 80° and sunny when we left. 300 miles later, the temperature was about 45° and it was overcast. ...
For All You Timid Root-Pruners Out There
I regularly cause a lot of anxiety by how drastically I root-prune newly collected trees. To be sure, it takes some courage to start really chopping on your deciduous trees the way they need to be, but once you figure out they don't mind it does get a lot easier....
I’m Seeing BC Buds!
This winter has been pretty awful. In addition to being colder than usual, it's also been wetter than usual. That does not make for a pleasant time. Just over the past few days we've seen temperatures moderate a bit - and by that I mean it gets into the 60s during...
February Sucks, Styling Helps
Every August I think August is the suckiest month, then along comes February and I remember there are worse things than killer heat and humidity. To help make February less sucky, there is some work that needs doing on trees being developed. If you have some...
Hornbeam Harvest Part 2
I made a collecting trip with a new bonsai friend today, and we got some really nice American hornbeams (Carpinus caroliniana). Among the nicknames for the species is "Musclewood." This is because as it matures the trunk of a hornbeam will produce sinewy-looking...
Hornbeam And Huckleberry Trunks
I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago about new American hornbeam and Huckleberry specimens I'd collected. That post disappeared when we changed hosting services. I don't feel like trying to recreate that blog, so here's a replacement to show you a few nice trees...
More Great BC Material – Collecting Trip 3
The weather was dodgy today, meaning we had a torrential downpour all across South Louisiana. We did have the good fortune to be able to collect a few nice trees before the sky really opened up, however. Here are a few photos to give you an idea of how we did. This...