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
A Quick Live Oak Bonsai-To-Be – Chop, Lift, Pot
In keeping with recent fun, today I decided to chop, lift and pot a Live oak, Quercus Virginiana. This is a specimen I've grown from seed, along with a number of others, since 2011. While it isn't a large specimen by any means, having a trunk base of 1" diameter, I...
A Shohin Willow Oak-To-Be – You Can’t Stop The Bonsai Collector
So you've already seen the wintry cover that blew in yesterday for me. Our high today looks like being about 38F, and this means a lot of things remain and will remain frozen at least until tomorrow. Does that stop the bonsai collector? Bah! So here's a Willow oak,...
The Rare Deep-South Winter Wonderland
Yesterday we got a rare bout of freezing rain and sleet, enough to put a light coating on everything. Well worth documenting. Temps fell to the low 20's this morning. This shouldn't be cold enough to kill anything on my benches, especially since it'll warm up a bit...
A Quick Water Oak Bonsai-To-Be – Lift, Chop, Pot
It was so much fun making a quick Hackberry bonsai last weekend that I did the same thing with a Water oak, Quercus nigra. This tree is a volunteer that has been growing on my property for several years now. I liked the form it took naturally. If you look closely...
A Quick Hackberry Bonsai-To-Be – Chop, Lift, Pot
And so, armed with some new handmade pots that I wrote about yesterday, my trigger finger has suddenly gotten itchy. To satisfy my need to create bonsai, I went out to my growing area and decided this Hackberry, Celtis laevigata, could be successfully lifted and made...
Art In Art – How To Make Your Bonsai Compositions Better
So I'm getting ready for the 2017 bonsai growing season, and that means stocking in my first round of bonsai pots. Now, the world of handmade bonsai pots is an art all to itself. This is not to suggest that there's anything wrong with inexpensive training pots, of...
Thank You For A Great 2016 – This Year Will Be Even Better
Happy New Year to all of you! And many thanks to all of you who helped Bonsai South grow in 2016. We've been doing better each and every year since I relaunched the business in 2010, and I'm happy to report that 2017 looks like it will be another record-setting year....
How To Make A Great Raft-Style Water-Elm Step By Step
Earlier in the season I began a fun raft-style Water-elm project that will take a few years to become a great bonsai. But I have no doubt how it's going to turn out. Here's the first photo I took of this very rough specimen: There's gobs of growth on this...
Defying The Season – A Cedar Elm Pushes New Growth
I get a lot of pleasure out of trying new things in bonsai, especially things that defy conventional wisdom. This includes "out of season" collecting. As an example, I lifted this field-grown Cedar elm, Ulmus crassifolia, in October. This photo was taken on October...