Last week I wrote that it’s important to look for the surface roots when evaluating bonsai (see “Check the surface roots“). What is it that we’re looking for? We want to see the connection between trunk and roots. Surface roots on corkbark elm When we see surface roots – nebari, in Japanese – we can […]
Judging
Analysis of Results from the 2015 Artisans Cup
Assigning scores to trees is one thing – selecting a winner based on these scores is another matter altogether. By publishing the judges’ scores from the 2015 Artisans Cup, Ryan Neil shed light on a process that doesn’t get as much notice as it deserves – the process by which exhibited trees are recognized as […]
Artisans Cup judging rubric
It’s hard to know where to begin. From the concept, to the outreach, to the staging and execution of the event, Ryan Neil did a great job with the Artisans Cup. For all of your effort, thank you very much! Thanks too to the exhibitors, vendors, volunteers and visitors without whom the event could not […]
Judging bonsai at Bay Island Bonsai meeting
This month’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting featured some of my favorite activities – evaluating bonsai and bonsai display. Boon regularly gives members opportunities to hone their understanding of judging by bringing trees for us to evaluate and having us score them. Scoring trees forces the viewer to look closely and think about a tree’s characteristics in […]
Evaluating bonsai
As we prepared to begin a judging exercise at this month’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting, Morten asked a good question. It was something to the effect of, “Is the highest scoring tree the most valuable tree?” I knew the two were closely related, but had to think for a moment before coming to a conclusion. […]