zach’s personal collection
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progressions
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Read About the Bonsai in Zach’s Collection
bald cypress
Flat-Top Bald Cypress Design Work
This flat-top Bald cypress is coming along really well for a single year of training. With that said, the design can stand some tweaking and fall is a perfect time to do it. All of the foliage will be off this tree within the next few days, so knocking some off...
Fall Color And Flower Buds – BC And Huckleberry
Here's one of my landscape Bald cypresses that I've grown from seed since 2000. It gets bigger and better each year. Isn't the color just terrific? This one is just starting to put on its bronze for the year. Once the colors start, you've got maybe a week...
A Few Rules For Slip-Potting
Those of you who have been with us for a while know I love to slip-pot trees. Why? Well, I guess the biggest reason is I'm impatient to see a tree progress toward its best self. Another reason is that a lot of trees pass through my hands, and often it's just...
Read About the Bonsai in Zach’s Collection
huckleberry
Don’t You Love Spring Growth? And Check Out A Blueberry Bonsai-To-Be
It's just the best time of year for bonsai, spring. Everything is putting on a fresh set of growth, meaning opportunities for the bonsai artist to make his or her trees better. No matter if you're styling or restyling or refining, these next four to eight weeks are...
No More Really Big Trees For Me – Just This Last One
I have always loved really big bonsai. No matter where you see them, either in a show or in someone's collection, your eye is invariably drawn to them. They're so ... big! And yet they're a small representation of something that's super big, which is a little odd...
Allen’s Crape Gets A New Pot – More On How To Make Your Bonsai Better
I mentioned recently that it was time to repot this nice old Crape myrtle bonsai, Lagerstoemia indica, that was gifted to me by my late friend Allen Gautreau. In addition to the needed repotting, this tree is also seriously overgrown and needs to be brought back in. ...
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riverflat hawthorn
Here’s A Pretty Reliable Bonsai Tip You’ll Need Someday
You may recall the hard-pruning I did to Allen's Crape Myrtle back in February when I also repotted the tree. At that time, I pointed out that there was a branch up near the crown of the tree that had grown so heavy it was as thick as the trunk itself. ...
It Was A Happy Hawthorn Hunt – Check Out The Cool Parsleys
Collecting season 2017 is drawing to a close. One species I wanted to be sure to have some stock of is Parsley hawthorn, Crataegus marshallii. Today I took care of that chore. Here are a few that I brought home. This guy isn't much to look at, having only slight...
How To Make A Parsley Hawthorn Bonsai Better – A Cut And A New Pot
Creating a bonsai is a step by step process that goes roughly like this: Select, buy or collect a piece of raw material Prune away unneeded branches and excess trunk to create a single trunk line (for formal, informal, slanting, and cascade...
Read About the Bonsai in Zach’s Collection
willow oak
Don’t Feel Bad When You Get The Front Wrong
Oaks make great bonsai. They grow quickly, meaning you can get fast development. And they're fairly easy to collect. This Water oak, Quercus nigra, is a good example. I collected it this past January. The trunk has good character and taper, and it proceeded to...
Bald Cypress In July – How To Speed Up Development
Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, is one of the best species for bonsai and one I believe every beginner should have. They grow very fast, even in a small container. And the fast growth makes them quicker to train to showable condition. This specimen was...
I Just About Killed This One, But It Taught Me A Good Lesson
Who can forget this image? Back In March I lifted this Live oak, Quercus virginiana, from my growing bed with the intention of putting it directly into a bonsai pot. The tree had a nice structure with a good set of branches that would allow me to create a...
we love your input
Hi Zach,
When is the next availability of Bald Cypress. I live in Michigan.
I would like to get one booked.
I am retired from the bonsai business, Aby. Sorry.
Is bald cypress Cypressbonsai20 available for sale?
so this is the 1st time in a while I’ve been to the site just showing it off and im super impressed.
Thank you, Josh!
Zach, I see you train bonsai BC in flat top style but am not sure what to picture. Is it supposed to mimic a tree that lost its conical top from wind damage or lightning? Does it look like a bald head with hair/branches growing out from the sides only? Do you have finished ones like this to show as an example?
Thanks, Danny
Danny, the so-called flat-top Bald cypress is simply an older tree that has lost most of its lower branches as it’s grown taller and older, and having reached its genetically limited height the growth in the crown spreads laterally. Check out this post to get an idea of one in training.