Todd Schlafer works on a Ponderosa pine

Todd Schlafer works on a Ponderosa pine
Restyling a famous tree into something new is difficult work and an artist must stake their reputation on it
Masahiko Kimura restores a very old juniper
Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, is one of the most popular pine varieties and one of the most commonly styled tree.
'The tree featured here is an eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), which is native to Eastern Canada and much of the north-central and north-eastern United States'
Bjorn Bjorholm works on a juniper with hidden qualities
Learn professional techniques: wiring a juniper
Creating a literati red pine by focusing on the dropping branch
The pine called 'Okou no kyosho' is brought back into shape by Master Kunio Kobayashi
Mauro Stemberger works on a yamadori pine
Developing a giant gardenia into an orthodox informal upright over three years.
Manuel Germade re-styles an Itoigawa juniper This very compact juniper, grafted with Itoigawa foliage, has grown out of proportion. The shape of the trunk with its deadwood is very attractive. The main task for Manuel…...
Massimo Bandera wants to work unhindered by convention For Massimo Bandera bonsai is very much an art form. The bonsai artist should be free from conventions and rules. In the process of creating an extraordinary…...
Masahiko Kimura rearranges the foliage around a dancing shari Exploring the artistic sensitivity of Mr Kimura, we take a look at the material he will work on. The transformation is not tremendously dramatic, however the…...
Alexsandre Escudero works on a tiny Itoigawa juniper An average juniper can be changed into something interesting, you just need to have a vision and opt for doing something different to make it less regular…....
Bjorn Bjorholm works on a pine grown from seed Bjorn gives an initial styling to a more than 50-year-old pine, grown from seed. This classic informal upright bonsai has a long and much told history…...
Jan Culek copes with a tree that is almost impossible to style The pine Jan has chosen to work on (Pinus sylvestris) hasn’t the most ideal branch setting and trunk shape. It is a clump…...
A very bushy juniper for Mauro Stemberger to style It was January 2020 when I arrived at the small city of Marostica at the foot of the Italian Alps for a demo with Mauro Stemberger…....
Nobuichi Urushibata shows how you can use juniper cuttings In Japan, material for shohin is mostly grown from cuttings, seed or by air layering. The junipers shown here come from cuttings, which is one of…...
A juniper masterpiece more dead than alive, is totally restored ‘Garyuu’, the history and Kakuryu-an. The oldest photographic record of this tree is from 1962 when it was featured in the auction catalogue for the…...
A semi-cascade for this oak was so logical René Alber: ‘This huge, but compact cork oak (Quercus suber) is ready for styling. The trunk is massive, has a wonderful curving movement and a fantastic corky…...
Andrei Bessonov’s final work as an apprentice to Master Kimura After six years of apprenticeship under Mr Kimura, this is the ‘final test’ for Andrei, with a tree that was obtained specifically for this purpose…....
Elsa Boudouri styles a Juniperus sabina rastrera Greek enthusiast Elsa Boudouri is self-taught and became inspired by bonsai when she was 14. She mainly works with native varieties, like the medium-sized sabina juniper. At a…...
Rebirth of a juniper that survived the Tohoku earthquake The Sanriku Coast is a dramatic, rocky shoreline with countless bays, cliffs and coves that stretches for over 300 kilometres along the Pacific Coast from just…...
Garden material can be an interesting source for bonsai. It can also be very challenging because it was not really grown for the purpose. Bruno Wijman checks out a garden yew. The yew (Taxus baccata)…...
We all know that wiring is essential, so you had better learn to love it if you want great results. Let’s make wiring enjoyable! We will look at wiring with aluminium wire for the benefit…...
Enrico Savini twists, bends and turns a sabina into a graceful cascade Enrico’s garden, close to Bologna, Italy, is where he meticulously works on all kinds of ingenious techniques. With these techniques his trees are…...
Isao Omachi’s creates the bonsai his father envisioned Solving the problem with a new styling on a Juniper by turning the tree upside down using and making the most of the twist in the trunk…...
Winding wire around a branch is easy; effective wiring is more difficult Wiring is an indispensable skill in bonsai; it is something that needs to be used at many stages in tree development, from the…...