Bonsai Today

Online magazine for Bonsai lovers

deciduous

Fundamentals

The choice

How to choose a plant suitable for creating a Bonsai.

Styling

Make a forest look natural

The late bonsai Master Takeo Katsumata left behind a great number of works that exhibit his trademark natural scenes. He had a unique obsession...


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Case History

So Immature

Harry Harrington explains the progression of a Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)


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Spring

When and how to repot

Finding out for yourself the best time to repot deciduous trees isn't easy. Our smart guide to varieties and their cultivars gives you the answers you need.


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Step by Step

Bonsai in disguise

Under the guidance of Hiroki Miura, the Japanese popstar, Ayaka Yamamoto, creates the impression of a willow bonsai by using a different species.


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Case History

Out of the box

Harry Harrington works on a very bulky elm that has no tapering. By carving the trunk the problem is solved.


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Step by Step

A solid foundation

The creation of branches on deciduous trees does not happen overnight, it is a long-term process ...


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Shohin

Would you dare?

Chojubai, the dwarf variety of the Japanese quince, is cut in half.


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Technique

Amelanchier

How to create bonsai from cuttings; the Korean juneberry.


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Seed

Turbo grower

Harry Harrington's story of an oak grown from an acorn


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Technique

Pruned by bacteria?

Using beneficial bacteria for stronger, better ramified and disease-free bonsai.


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Summer

In the Palmatum of your hand

Leaf reduction helps to protect and to gain more ramification. One important technique to help deciduous trees during the heat of the summer is leaf reduction, or defoliation. This protects the internal branches. Here we look at several techniques that can be used. Partial defoliation and shoot pruning to improve…...


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Propagating

A good omen

It is a deciduous tree of the Fagaceae family and grows naturally in the mountains of various parts of Japan, also on the coastline on the side of the Sea of Japan. The oak’s local name is ‘Kashiwa’ and is mainly planted as a windbreak in those areas where it…...


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Autumn

Talking trees

What can autumn in deciduous trees tell you about the health of your bonsai? ‘The hidden life of trees’, a book by Peter Wohlleben, has transformed our views of the way trees work. For Harry Harrington it was a real eye opener. This article is based on his understanding of…...


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Profile

A better me

The bonsai passion of Guido Pozzoli Almost like the Karate Kid, Guido came in contact with bonsai through his ju-jitsu instructor. What was your professional education? I studied engineering, which gave me the right tools for organization, control and the management of my company. How did you get into bonsai?…...


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Profile

From father to son

The bonsai passion of Lukás Sirotný It was Lukás Sirotný’s father who taught him the basic bonsai skills. While still a student preparing himself for a career as an engineer, his life changed after attending a big bonsai congress. What was your training? I was born and raised in a…...


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Styling

On the scrapheap?

Harry Harrington recovers a crab apple (Malus sylvestris) raft bonsai with a new design. I think many of us, as bonsai enthusiasts, will be familiar with the phrase ‘a bonsai is never finished’. However, I suspect that some people do not necessarily understand exactly what that means. Some bonsai can…...


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Profile

Fan of naked trees

The bonsai passion of Sergio Cuan A huge fan of deciduous trees, Sergio Cuan, at first thought that bonsai might be just too difficult to grow. Sergio Cuan Born in: Havana, Cuba Married to: Laura Cuan Children: Isabella and Madeleine Education: Bachelor in Fine Arts, the Pratt Institute, New York…...


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Tree guide

Vitex rotundifolia

Jerome Kellerhals has his bonsai garden in sunny Florida, where he mainly works on semi-tropicals. This time he explains the virtues of the Vitex rotundifolia, which has many varieties. The Vitex rotundifolia contains about 60 species, tropical and subtropical. The Vitex featured in this article is the Rotundifolia, the round…...


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Case History

Chronicle of a Mop Top

Martin Nielsen tells his story of the broom style The broom style or whatever you would like to call it – maybe ‘Hokidachi’, as the Japanese say, even ‘mop top’. It is up to you to decide. You could also refer to it as the style of The Tree. The…...


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Autumn

The last flush…

Harry Harrington sums up the tasks for late summer and early autumn July in the Northern Hemisphere sees the last flushes of growth in most of the broadleaf and deciduous trees. After the vigorous growth of spring months and a pause for midsummer, these last flushes of growth are typically…...


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Technique

Is it natural? (2)

Harry Harrington’s helps you to create and use deadwood features on deciduous and broadleaf bonsai As discussed in part one my favoured approach to creating deciduous and broadleaf deadwood is one originally pioneered by UK bonsai artist, Kevin Willson. The deadwood is given a blackened hollow core surrounded by a…...


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Technique

Cherry on the rocks

The challenge is to create a finished tree starting from scratch How to create bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods withinteresting and unusual species. With the help of illustrations we will see how to take a piece of material through to completion. Prunus lannesiana A deciduous broad-leaved small or…...


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Spring

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…...


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Autumn

Increase the effectiveness of fertilisation

Why do we fertilise and with what? Where do we place fertiliser and what is the most effective NPK mix available? What other methods can we use? It is not simply a case of placing fertiliser on the soil without thinking. The amount and type of fertiliser, as well as

Spring

A date with spring

Spring tasks for native deciduous bonsai Repotting is the primary focus for bonsai enthusiasts during spring. However, there are a number of other tasks, often forgotten, that are worth carrying out at this time of year. The beginning of spring and start of the growing season when deciduous trees come…...


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