It’s customary, for bonsai displayed indoors, to cover the surface of the soil with moss. Moss, however, isn’t always readily available. What can a bonsai artist do? Here are some solutions from the East Bay Bonsai Society’s 50th Anniversary Show. Moss – nice when you can get it Scotch moss Lava rock Bonsai soil with […]
Display
Bonsai is meant to be displayed. The Display posts cover how to present bonsai at exhibits, the Accents with which bonsai are displayed, and the criteria we use when selecting Bonsai Pots.
Bonsai Stands
Bay Island Bonsai maintains a tradition of putting its newest members in the spotlight. Since the organization got its start back in 1998, new members have been subjected to the bonsai “stand exercise.” A group of stands are placed on a table and new members are given the instruction to “arrange them from least formal to […]
Spring bonsai display
Bay Island Bonsai’s annual exhibit is held in January each year. It’s a great time to show bonsai, but it’s not always the most colorful time of year. At a recent BIB monthly meeting, we worked on a display that included a Japanese black pine and a Japanese maple. In winter, the maple would be […]
Moss technique
It’s common, when displaying bonsai at indoor exhibits, to cover the surface of the soil with moss. The alternative – dirt – doesn’t really compare. Scott decorated his Ponderosa Pine with a great arrangement of mosses and lichens at this year’s BIB exhibit. Moss on ponderosa pine Depending on where you live, you may have […]
Pass the sock
You know a bonsai show is close when someone asks you for the sock during workshop. “The sock,” in Bay Island Bonsai parlance, refers to a sock filled with crushed walnut meat. Walnut oil is great for cleaning bonsai pots and juniper bark for bonsai exhibits. And the effort required to apply it is well […]