Bonsai Files
Chinese Elm Forests
Can you guess what this is? Some background first. I field-grow Chinese elms for bonsai, and frankly you'd be hard-pressed to name a better overall species for bonsai. In fact, it's not hyperbole to state that Chinese elm is the single best deciduous species...
read more
A Water-Elm Gets More Interesting
I potted up this Water-elm that we'd collected last July back in February. It's a pretty cool little twin-trunk, featuring dead wood on both trunks as well as a "flying root" on the right side. You wouldn't ordinarily want a root like that, but I thought it...
read more
A Dwarf Yaupon Gets Styled
Last year I had the hedge in front of my house taken out. It had been planted when the house was built in 1982, so simple math says this specimen is at least 40 years old. The base is 6" across, and I knew there was bonsai potential when it came out of the...
read more
Fourth Of July Bonsai Odds & Ends – Cedar Elm, BC, Chinzan Azalea
I potted this small Cedar elm earlier this season. It's been growing away, minding its own business. Recently we had a couple of storms and somehow this tree got picked to be blown off the bench. It stayed in the pot and no branches were broken, but the second...
read more
Summer Progress – Cedar Elm, Sweetgum, BC
You've been following along as I've developed this Cedar elm, starting in 2017 when it was first collected. The tree is filling out well, and the ramification is getting tighter with each pruning/pinching. All in all, time and technique are working their magic....
read more
Its’ Shaggy BC Time!
I started working on this Bald cypress last year. It's progressing very well, as you'll see when you compare these photos with the one from last year I included below. We're into summer now, and you can generally count on cypresses to take on a "shaggy"...
read more
See A Fast Water-Elm Evolution ….
Subject: Water-elm Date: 8/4/18 Stage: Big stick in pot Input: Lift, chop, wash, trim, dust, pot, pray Issues: None, if it lives Date: 3/17/19 Stage: Big stick with twiggy shoots Input: Select branches, wire and position branches, remove branches that serve no...
read more
Bonsai Odds & Ends – Hawthorn, Water-Elm, Trumpet Vine
Today I did a one on one workshop with a new bonsai enthusiast. One of the specimens we were worked on was a three-tree Parsley hawthorn composition, very similar to this one. I love bonsai forests. The three-tree planting is the smallest expression of this...
read more
Bonsai Odds & Ends – BC, Sweetgum, Water-Elm
Here's a nice, slender Bald cypress from this year's crop. I had planned from the start to hold the tree and make it into a flat-top style. It's grown out enough now that I can do the initial styling on it. About 20 minutes later, this is what I ended up...
read more
Don’t Take Your Eyes Off A Privet
I lifted this Chinese privet, Ligustrum sinense, in Winter 2019. Here is it in late March, just pushing new shoots. Here we are, two and a half months later. Privet is very vigorous. You literally can't take your eyes off them for long. Time for a...
read more