Menu
air layering
Creating shohin from faulty material
Use dull material to make impressive bonsai helped by grafting techniques. Here we show you how easy it can be. Pyracantha is in the Rosaceae family in the subset that contains Crataegus. It provides bright orange berries during the winter, a time lacking in colour. It is a very robust…...
A clever operation
Getting rid of faults and improving good characteristics Hiroki Miura works on a Chinese quince. It’s too heavy at the top, so that it is not entirely suitable for becoming an interesting shohin. It has, however, some very good qualities which, with the aid of air layering, can be used…...
One became two
Martin Nielsen divides a Japanese maple into two new trees Martin describes his work with a Japanese maple where one tree becomes two. It’s a tree with a fine nebari grown from a seed in Japan. A tree that came to Europe almost 30 years ago, during which time it…...
Trick of the master
Grafting techniques taught by bonsai Masters to improve your bonsai These techniques can all boosts the quality of your bonsai. Grafting, approach grafting and some simple bending are are just a few of the options available. Let these Masters inspire you to change the level of your trees. Transformation by…...
Is it a gamble?
Masahiko Kimura is challenged by a huge yew. In a corner of Masahiko Kimura’s bonsai nursery is a yew planted in the ground. The trunk is slender and of a feminine appearance. The top section has great potential as bonsai, both from a deadwood perspective and branch placements. If air…...
A distinctive taste
Making the best out of defective material Hiroki Miura (Miura Baikyu-en, Osaka) shows how to improve material that is defective. Two trees are thoroughly analysed and new possibilities are discovered. Hiroki then applies the correct techniques to a Siberian pea and a Chinese quince to give them more distinctive shapes…....
Is crataegus ideal for shohin?
Harumi Ishii (Ueharu-En) will guide you through the techniques of creating shohin from hawthorn Material 1: Japanese hawthorn (large tree) All the branches are focused in the top section of the tree and there are none at all further down the trunk. Initially it was thought to create this in…...
Larix
This is a tree whose beauty is legendary, yet it suffers from some neglect as bonsai. There are many species of larch to choose from and available in Europe are Larix decidua, the European larch; L. kaempferi, syn. L. leptolepis, the Japanese larch and L. Eurolepis, the Dunkeld larch: a…...
Potentilla
Potentilla, a plant that is often overlooked as a ‘serious’ Bonsai because of its shrubby nature. It does however have excellent characteristics for Bonsai, with its interesting bark and fresh yellow flowers. SPECIES Common Name: Cinquefoil Genus: Potentilla Higher Taxon: Rosaceae Species: Fruticosa Skill Level: beginner to advanced Soil Type:…...
Summer is coming
Late spring (May/June) tasks for native and deciduous bonsai Harry Harrington: ‘May is always a very busy month for bonsai enthusiasts growing deciduous bonsai. After a long winter and early spring of dormancy, our trees explode into growth and it can feel like it is impossible to keep up with…...
Zelkova
JAPANESE ELM 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. SPECIES Common name: Elm Genus: Zelkova Higher taxon: Ulmaceae Species:…...
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 that uses a wire, or so-called tourniquet? Air layers are most usually performed between March…...
Malus
Crab apple Malus sieboldii is a member of the apple family, a deciduous tree that can be found growing throughout Japan. Botanically speaking, ‘Miyama Kaido’ is the same, the difference lies in the colour of the fruit, either red or yellow. In the world of bonsai, yellow fruiting trees are…...
The first cut is…
If the branches only have twigs at the tips it is time for drastic measures. Andrea Meriggioli, author of ‘Bonsai Maples’, explains how to create a denser ramified maple using graft techniques A Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Arakawa‘) is in need of improvement. At first sight everything looks good, but…...
A double life
A JUNIPER IS SPLIT UP TO CREATE TWO SEPARATE BONSAI Minoru Akiyama is well-known for his refined work. In summer 2017 he was invited by Frank Busch, of Bonsai Park Nursery, to carry out some workshops and to do a special demo with us on a very unusual juniper. Minoru…...
