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
New Bald Cypress for Training
I love training bald cypresses to sell to collectors wanting their own specimen of the King of American Bonsai. For the most part, this work proceeds along a pretty routine path. I collect a tree, wait for it to bud out in early spring, watch the shoots extend, do...
Starting An American Elm Bonsai
I found this American elm, Ulmus Americana, growing as a volunteer on my property. I dug it this winter and potted it directly into this beautiful Paul Katich oval. It responded as expected - American elms are very easy to collect - by throwing buds right on time...
Awesome Willow Oak – First Bonsai Pot
You may remember this Willow oak, Quercus phellos, from past posts. I collected it in Winter 2011, and it responded very well to its new home. After just four years, it had put on branches of decent thickness and more importantly produced a nice new apex that I let...
Time To Start Wiring New Trees
Well, the time has come. Spring budburst has more or less passed, and while quite a few of my trees remain at the budding stage and others are just pushing - this is generally species-dependent - others need to be wired. I had posted this hawthorn when I first...
Spring Is Awesome!
I love when my trees begin to bud in the very early spring, especially the new arrivals, but I'm just awestruck when spring really kicks in. Shoots start extending, and you get a glimpse of the health of each and every one of your bonsai and pre-bonsai. The photo of...
Coming Attractions
Spring isn't quite here officially, but the vast majority of my trees think it is and are popping buds to prove it. Here are a few trees that will be hitting the sale pages in the coming weeks. Bald cypress - Taxodium distichum Check out the buds on this one! And...
How To Make Bonsai Lemonade – Part 2
As many of you know, in the winter of 2014 I lost a number of trees including most of my specimen water-elms. Of the water-elms that were on benches during the snow/ice storm and 15 F deep-freeze for a couple of days after, exactly four survived - but in the case of...
The Humble Bud Turns Powerful
Many of you read my post from a few weeks back, "The Humble Bud - Sign of Things To Come." The bud is the means by which any plant grows to its genetic limit and is able to remain alive for the duration of its lifespan. Most of them begin as a very small thing -...
Are You Getting Our Notices?
I've just learned that not everyone on our email list is receiving the blog post and new tree alerts. If you stopped getting emails from me a few months ago, it may be due to the switch of hosting service and email accounts that happened then. Please check your junk...