I recently picked up a couple of large hinoki cypress with the aim of developing them as bonsai. They seemed healthy and had good sized trunks so I thought they’d warrant the effort. Hinoki cypress – Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Tempelhof’ Adding new trees to my collection never seems overly burdensome. I simply remove a few branches and […]
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Omoshiroi red pine forest
“Omoshiroi” means “funny” or “interesting” in Japanese. It can be used to convey respect or mockery – which makes it a useful term for bonsai. During a Bay Island Bonsai workshop hosted by Daisaku Nomoto, I brought in a red pine forest I’d grown from seed. Nomoto found the grove to be omoshiroi. He took […]
From landscape tree to bonsai – part 2
There are only so many ways to make a bonsai smaller – and cutting and bending seem to do most of the work. As my newest pine was almost two meters tall, some cutting was in order. Although I have yet to decide on the future of the tree, it’s clear that I don’t need […]
From landscape tree to bonsai
As most of you know, it can be hard to find good material for black pine bonsai outside of Japan. This forces a certain level of creativity. Growing seeds is one good approach. Another is converting landscape trees to bonsai. I recently purchased a couple of black pines developed as landscape trees in the hope […]
Developing young pine bonsai
A number of my black pines are turning eight this year. Some are starting to look like young bonsai. Others simply look young. As none have grown to the size I have in mind for them, the work at this stage is straight forward. I’ve trained the tree below in the exposed root style. This […]