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 Collecting
The water-elm collecting season is typically in July of each year in the spot I frequent. The area is intentionally flooded each winter to support water fowl and other wildlife, with the water being released beginning in June. Due to high water levels on all of our...
Bald Cypress – Last Edits For 2015
Here's where we left off with this bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, a couple of weeks ago. I had made mention of the fact that defoliating a healthy bald cypress in early July leads to a new flush of fresh growth within two or three weeks. It's common for BC to get...
Updates On A Few Sweetgums
We're about six weeks away from the end of the 2015 growing season. There's still some growth left on my bonsai, though the rate has slowed for most and we're seeing typical signs of summer heat stress. Sometime in September will come the fall thickening in our...
Bonsai Fun
Okay, while I admit to enjoying everything associated with bonsai, the fact is it's not necessarily all hysterical fun. Sometimes it can actually get to be a bit of a drag. Don't get me wrong, the wiring, pruning, pinching, unwiring, rewiring, and so on aren't bad...
Yaupon Clump Development
You may remember this yaupon clump, Ilex vomitoria, collected in Winter 2014. I collected the specimen because of its neat root structure. I like clump-style bonsai, provided they're designed and developed well. In the case of this one, I knew there was a good...
Bonsai Odds & Ends 2
You'll remember this trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, from a couple of weeks ago. As I noted, vines are extremely vigorous growers. I more or less knew this one would come back, and sure enough here we are two weeks later and it's throwing shoots. Now, I don't have...
Loblolly Pine – Next Step
I've been working on this nice piece of loblolly pine stock for a while now. In the last round of pruning, wiring and shaping, I wired up a new leader in order to continue building taper into the crown. I've left the tree alone for a while, but now I can't put off...
Bald Cypress – Next Step
You'll remember this bald cypress I defoliated on July 5th. As I noted at the time, for established cypresses you can defoliate in early July in order to get a fresh new set of foliage for fall. Summer heat often causes stress on these trees, which shows up as...
Yaupon Update
We've been following the progress of this yaupon, Ilex vomitoria, for a while now. Hollies grow well in summer, and you can see in the photo that this one has been no different. Today it was time to do some more development work. ...