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 Hackberry Bonsai In One Year
In my opinion, the pursuit of bonsai can be roughly categorized along two lines: One is the "any old tree in a shallow pot that's been trimmed up" approach to the hobby (I emphasize the word hobby to make the distinction between this concept and true art, which we...
More August Bonsai Fun
This bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, was one of the last two BC I collected this past February to bud out in spring. Unsurprisingly, the growth was sluggish throughout spring and into the first part of summer. It didn't bud as prolifically as BC usually do, but it...
Bonsai And August
Do those two words actually go together? Can you do anything in August besides water your trees and watch them endure the heat? The answer is a qualified yes. To be sure, you don't want to go root-pruning and repotting your deciduous trees in August. Though I...
Bonsai By The Numbers
When learning how to create bonsai, we're confronted with some obvious questions about how to make them look right. My previous three posts covered the basics of design, mostly from the standpoint of composition and key "tricks" we use in fooling the brain. All well...
The Basics Of Bonsai Design – Part 3
In Part 1 of this article we took a look at the principle of non-static (asymmetric) stability, the overall shape of a bonsai and how it conforms to a visually pleasing silhouette represented by a scalene cone. In Part 2, we explored how the bonsai artist uses...
The Basics Of Bonsai Design – Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, we briefly explored the concept of artistic design first as it may be expressed by the landscape artist, and then expanded that same concept to bonsai design. In bonsai, our goal is to make a small tree look like a much larger and older...
The Basics Of Bonsai Design – Part 1
The typical bonsai enthusiast is initially captivated by seeing either a real-life bonsai or a photograph in a book or magazine (or even on TV!). These tiny trees seem almost to jump out at you. But what is it about them? Why do they instantly amaze? The secret,...
Water-Elm Collecting – Season Ends
Today I collected my last group of water-elms for 2015. The season came late this year due to high water issues. Nevertheless, I got some good specimens that will appear on our sales page perhaps as early as late next month. All in all, I have a good crop for the...
Riverflat Hawthorn Fall Work
We've been watching the development of this riverflat hawthorn, Crataegus opaca, since it was collecting this past January. With the exception of two existing branches I decided to keep since they were in scale, there's nothing here but a trunk. It's obviously an...