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Hiroaki Suzuki becomes as one with the tree during the styling of a pine Young artist Hiroaki Suzuki takes on the challenge of transforming and displaying a five needle pine. The aim is to change the front to enhance the natural, and rustic beauty of a white pine. It has…...
How to bend thick branches Sometimes wire is simply not enough to bend the branch in the desired position. Here we sum up the proper techniques to make things bend smoothly. Lower a branch by pulling a guy wire Even though you wire it from the base, if a branch…...
Air-layer experiment. What works best: Sphagnum or a tourniquet? Yukio Hirose (Yamato-en) is up for an experiment. Which of the air layer techniques gives best results, the one that uses sphagnum only, or the technique that uses a wire, or so-called tourniquet? Air layers are most usually performed between March…...
Learn the basic technique of candle cutting by Master Nobuichi Urushibata Nobuichi Urushibata of Taisho-en, Japan, guides you through the work of candle pinching and needle pulling pines. The basic technique of candle cutting does not change dramatically from tree to tree, so we will look at the basic techniques…...
Japanese elm is ideal for bonsai and easy to grow Being a rapid and very vigorous grower makes it possible to have quick results with Zelkova. The downside is that the elm can overgrow very quickly and so it needs regular pruning and re-styling to stay in shape. Here we…...
learn how to make a bunjin How does one get the branches right? Using the bunjin-gi, or literati style, as a guide, we give an insight into how the branch placement works This can be a difficult topic since, in literati, creativity plays out in our imagination while at the…...
Ken Fujiwara dares to take the risk Here’s a very strange, fantastic-looking white pine, where the lower branches have died and the top has been allowed to grow wild. There are few enthusiasts who would be interested in this material if they saw it at a bonsai garden. It has…...
One can find great strength in the depths of winter from the dignified beauty of the white flowers and luxurious fragrance. The beauty of Prunus bonsai is imbued with a sense of wabi. In Japan, wherever one focuses on the tree there is a sense of an ancient Prunus, the…...
As bonsai enthusiasts we’ve all heard about mycorrizha, which is supposed to be beneficial to the root system of our bonsai. Is there any truth in this claim or is it just another commercial hoax? A misunderstanding The name mycorrhiza originates from the Greek words mykos and rhiza meaning fungus…...
