Amazing pines at Michael Tran’s garden

One of several side trips on my recent visit to Germany took us to Heidelberg to see Minoru Bonsai, the garden of Michael Tran.

Michael Tran

Michael, who studied with Udo Fischer, among others, founded the garden in 2009 and hosted several high-profile events featuring international bonsai professionals known as Generation Bonsai.

Michael’s garden features a fun mix of juniper, larch, and oak, among other species, but is best known for its pines.

Mugo pine

It was really fun to see the mugo and Scots pines as they both have unique characteristics that make them great candidates for training as bonsai. Both have relatively short needles with sturdier, darker needles on the mugo and airier, pale green foliage on the Scots. The natural movement and deadwood on both is fantastic.

Mugo pine

Mugo pine

Mugo pine

Scots pine

Michael was a fantastic host, showing us his favorite trees despite some light rain.

Mugo pine

Mugo pine

Juniper

Sabina juniper

The juniper above was jaw-dropping. It takes Michael 2-3 days to clean the deadwood by hand!

After wrapping up our tour, we headed off to the Bonsai Zentrum Heidelberg. More on that in next week’s post.

News & Updates

[California Convention]

• The 2025 Bonsai Rendezvous will be held on October 24-26 in Santa Nella, California. There is still time to register, and there are spaces available for several of the workshops, plus there are lots of opportunities to volunteer (please consider helping out for a free t-shirt!). Come see presenters Mauro Stemberger and Suthin Sukosolvisit, watch the Rising Stars competition unfold, shop in the vendor area, and enjoy the exhibit. Learn how you can take part at the Rendezvous website.

[Seattle Area Workshops]

• If you’re in the Seattle area, I’ll be leading workshops on Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1, at Bonsai Northwest. Friday’s class will focus on trees in early or middle stages of development. Saturday’s session will focus on fall work for black pine bonsai. Learn more and sign up at the Bonsai Northwest website.

[Recent Podcast Episodes]

• Tyler Sherrod and I discuss the bonsai scene in the Southeast US.
• JD Côté and I discuss why we grow bonsai and look at the Canadian bonsai scene.
• Lots of new episodes on the Bonsai Builder’s Podcast.