Like many bonsai enthusiasts, I’ve long dreamed about studying bonsai in Japan in a formal apprenticeship. After hearing tales from Kathy Shaner, Boon Manakitivipart, and Michael Hagedorn, I’m both excited by, and somewhat afraid of, all that the experience entails. Recently three more bonsai students began apprenticeships in Japan: Tim Gardner, Peter Tea, and Tyler […]
Bonsai Blog
Search
(Enter search terms and press 'Enter')
Recent Posts
Restoring a Japanese black pine bonsai
A Japanese black pine caught my attention in a Bay Island Bonsai workshop a few months ago. The tree perfectly exemplified the signs of recovery common to pines that have been struck with pests, poor care, or general neglect. Weak pines typically take on a yellowish color, the buds become weak, and interior buds wither […]
Thinning a red pine forest
The best time to thin pine bonsai is between late fall and early spring. I didn’t get to the red pine forest below until early April this year. Because I was working on the tree late in the season, I kept the work simple. I cut back each branch to two shoots, removed old needles, […]
New bonsai tweezers
Many people who work a lot with black pine bonsai develop a special relationship with tweezers. Fall, winter, and sometimes spring and summer offer opportunities to remove copious amounts of needles from pine bonsai in later stages of development. I like tweezer work because it leaves pine foliage looking clean and even – balanced, in […]
Cutback – Korean hornbeam
An important theme in bonsai: to develop or maintain a tree of a given size, we need healthy interior shoots. Without interior shoots, we have few options during cutback. Now that the sun is appearing with some regularity in Northern California – and some timidity as it’s still cool – bonsai are beginning to grow quickly. […]