Just cut all the branches? - How to deal with upward-growing branches on a pine Impossible material with all its branches growing upwards becomes a fine bonsai. Toshio Ogawa notes the superb movement of the lower trunk and solves the problem […]
Heavy bending - 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 […]
Puzzling it out - Manuel Germade shows us how he solves the puzzle of this juniper. You can read and watch him working on the tree. This is all about making choices. Which branch is too long, too much, […]
Hungry to learn - Salvatore Liporace reworks one of his finest bonsai. The first styling of this Juniperus chinensis ‘Sargenti’ has a long history which goes back 20 years when its top was 40 cm higher. Gradually it was […]
Where are the roots? - 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 […]
Tough to work on - The birch has many virtues, it can prosper in the harshest environments, but as bonsai you need to be a little more patient and gentle to achieve good results. Harry Harrington gives us his hands-on […]
A perfect fit for kengai - Giacomo Pappalardo shows the many variations of the cascade style One of the most dramatic styles in bonsai is the kengai, or cascade. It has many variations and its style options are almost endless. Trees […]
Can this become a bonsai? - Garden material can be most interesting for bonsai. It can also be very challenging because it was not really grown for bonsai purposes. Bruno checks out a garden hinoki cypress to see if it can […]
On the edge - Creative genius, Ryan Neil, turns bonsai upside down You can give Ryan Neil almost any kind of material to work on and he will create something special from it. Here Ryan is confronted by an […]
5 becomes 2 - A boring forest is divided up and receives a fresh remake Harumi Ishii (Ueharu-En) shows us how to transform an uninteresting mountain maple forest into two stunning new creations We are separating the trunks into […]
Too dominant at the top - The charm of the Japanese beech The Japanese beech is always an exhibition eye catcher. Its smooth grey-white bark and muscled trunk give the tree a most majestic appearance. Easy to work on, as seen […]
The masterplan - An impossible pine is just perfect for a cascade, but it takes a little time Giacomo Pappalardo likes the dramatic moves of the cascading pines you encounter in the mountains. An unsightly pine with a […]
Rocking the pine - Todd Schlafer works on a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) With a background as a rock musician Todd’s career as a bonsai artist is a big hit. We met Todd during Michael Tran’s Generation Bonsai event […]
The little gem - Reworking a small juniper Alexandre Escudero is crazy about shohin bonsai. At the nursery of his teacher Hiroyuki Tanibata, he found a little gem of a juniper. Let’s together find the beauty lost on this […]
Nature guide - Inspired by nature, Kenichi Abe shows us how to work on a pine. Styling a pine into a bonsai is a balance between pruning and wiring, as Kenichi Abe, Master of pines from the Azuma […]