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Where good bonsai come from

May 23, 2014 by Jonas Dupuich

One of the benefits of visiting bonsai nurseries in Japan – apart from seeing so many great trees – is getting a better sense of the person who maintains the nursery. Do they like conifers or deciduous trees, a large or small number of varieties, trees in development or well-refined bonsai? How long trees remain in their care may reveal whether they enjoy long-term projects or high rates of turnover in the garden.

Upon visiting Chiharu Imai’s garden in Kanagawa prefecture, it became immediately clear that Imai enjoys developing all kinds of material into high quality bonsai. The trees in his garden ranged from barely developed to wonderfully refined. For these last few posts from my recent visit to Japan, I’ll present some junipers, pines and deciduous bonsai from Imai’s garden in roughly descending order based on relative stages of development. First up, the junipers. And wow – what fun trees they are!

Procumbens juniper

Procumbens juniper – looks like an established tree

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – young branches, good silhouette

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – good, young branches

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – another well-established tree with less manicured branches

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – wow!

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – young branches create the right outline

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – basic silhouette in place

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – the silhouette reveals the ramification

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – interesting single branch tree

Needle juniper

Needle juniper – primary branching in place

Shimpaku

 Shimpaku – young branches

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – basic outline

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – rough outline

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – very young branches

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – what a fun project!

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – more great fun

Shimpaku

Shimpaku – fresh carving, branches just getting started – fun project!

✕

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Imai, Japan

Previous Post: « More conifers and deciduous trees in Shiino’s garden
Next Post: Pines in Imai’s garden »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. joshuabertetta8306 says

    May 23, 2014 at 5:04 am

    These are amazing! How I miss my bonsai.

  2. zack Clayton says

    May 23, 2014 at 6:57 am

    Jonas, this post, and the last few from Miyazaki, Mr. Adachi, has highlighted something I was only beginning to understand about my collection. I love yamadori and contorted specimens, but I also gravitate toward development. I love striking cuttings and seeing where I can take the resulting trees. This may be what I do when I “retire” in a few years.

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