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
How I Ended Up With A Nice Water-Elm Group Planting
This Water-elm connected root bonsai-to-be was first presented last December. It had been separated from a larger specimen that did not match the remainder in style. So the idea was to make two bonsai out of it. This part was "parked" in a too-big tray, and allowed...
Some Great Evening Bonsai Fun With A Crabapple
I got this really nice Crabapple, Malus species, from a bonsai friend in Pennsylvania. The trunk base is just under 3" across, and it's 14.5" to the chop. With a finished height looking like 18-20", it'll have an ideal diameter to height ratio for bonsai. And of...
An Old Live Oak Bonsai Gets Some Care And A New Pot
I first wrote about this Live oak, Quercus virginiana, back in October 2015. It's been sitting on the bench now for a couple of years, and aside from letting it grow out and giving it a haircut a couple of times a year, I haven't done anything with it. It has a solid...
How To Make A Deadwood Bald Cypress – The Initial Design
This isn't the first time I've made a deadwood Bald cypress bonsai, Taxodium distichum. They've been part of the ongoing How to Make Bonsai Lemonade series. Today I pulled out the last of the BC's I've been ignoring, that failed to bud all the way when I collected...
Privet, Ginkgo And Trumpet Vine – New Bonsai To Be
I collected this Chinese privet, Ligustrum sinense, during the winter and put it directly in a bonsai pot. While this is not something you can do every time, if you're fortunate enough to collect a suitable trunk you can eliminate a preliminary step in creating a...
How To Not Get Stumped By A Live Oak Stump
I collected this Live oak stump (Quercus virginiana) from a bonsai friend's property last year. It took a while to bud out, and when it did there was growth on only one side. To make things even more interesting, once the new main shoot had extended five or six...
How To Learn To Go With The Flow – Don’t Worry, Your Trees Will Insist
A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog on using vines for bonsai. In it, we began the tale of a neat Trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, that I collected on my property and started working on. It wasn't long before I was able to report this progress. Isn't this a...
Slip-Potting A Sweetgum – How To Make A Nice Composition
Bonsai design is a hugely complex subject. The good news is, we have some tried and true rules to help get us through the process even if we're not the next Rembrandt (I'm certainly not). Last October I published a blog titled Designing Your Bonsai - Not To Not Miss...
How To Master Root Reduction – But Did I Go Too Far On This One?
I've written before about reducing roots when collecting trees. Even though my collecting season is about over, some of you may just be getting started. So this isn't a bad time at all to review some principles - and surprises. Before I get into this topic, I do...