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
Water-Elm ‘Root Around Cypress Knee’ Repotting
I posted this fall shot of my 'Root Around Cypress Knee' Water-elm, Planera aquatica. The tree had been in its pot for a couple of years. Because I had not been able to give it a lot of room during the first potting, I didn't want to wait another year to cut back...
Hawthorn Thread-Graft Success
Last month I showed you the result of a six-year project to establish an acceptable design for this large Mayhaw, Crataegus aestivalus. After collecting the specimen, which measures 4" at the base and was originally chopped at 24", trunk budding failed to produce a...
Happy To Be Wrong
One of the key skills the bonsai artist must learn is how to identify the various species he or she intends to work with. This is especially true when you collect your own from the wild. This is a challenge when you're first starting out, though I believe it's a fun...
Spring Bonsai Fun – Part 2
I collected this Mayhaw, Crataegus aestivalus, on January 2nd of this year. It had some nice roots so I direct-potted it into this beautiful Chuck Iker round. Then waited. Hawthorns almost never disappoint, so when it got just warm enough for new material to begin...
Spring Bonsai Fun – Part 1
We're once again at that time of year when new trees are coming out and demanding to be worked on. You may remember this "twin-stick" in a pot, a neat little parsley hawthorn, Crataegus marshallii. Although you can see the terrific trunk character in this small...
Dogwood Work – 2016 – Part 1
You may remember this roughleaf dogwood, Cornus drummondii, from last spring. I had gotten off to a good start on a broom-form specimen following the initial collecting of it, in 2012, and the subsequent recovery. With a good branch set underway, I had potted the...
Making Your Bonsai Better
You may remember the story of this water-elm clump, featured in the blog post "How to Make Bonsai Lemonade - Part 2." I had taken a nice raft-style tree I'd been working on for years, that got almost killed off in Winter 2014, and gave it new life as a clump-style...
American Hornbeam Work – 2016 – Part 2
Today it was time to perform a chore I've really been anticipating - and not in a good way. My very big American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana, has been in its training pot now for three years. Hornbeams root vigorously in a bonsai pot, so this chore could not wait...
Hawthorn Work – 2016 – Part 2
I collected this riverflat hawthorn, Crataegus opaca, in February of 2015. This is a photo of the tree a few months later, after it had put on a first flush of growth. With plenty of new branches to choose from, the initial styling was not difficult. ...