Bonsai Today

Online magazine for Bonsai lovers

grafting

Air layering

Repairing a damaged maple

When leaf pruning a trident maple, mistakes and faults can become more noticeable. A comeback is planned as we go back to square one.


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Grafting

The last Giant

Taking a mega juniper from raw material to masterpiece bonsai
Mr Hirokatsu Iura and his son Takashi Iura took quite a risk in creating a marvellous juniper of amazing proportions.


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Masterclass

Father and Son

The Sanriku junipers: Father and Son Omachi work on yamadori trees


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Technique

Silvery bark

The challenge to grow bonsai from scratch: Betula


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Grafting

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…...


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Technique

Bjorn’s approach

Bjorn Bjorholm demonstrates scion grafting for foliage replacement of junipers.


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Autumn

Red alert

A twin trunk becomes an elegant moyogi style.


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Workshop

The rough type

The arakawa maple is one of the most popular trees in the bonsai world. Andrea Meriggioli shows why.


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Grafting

A ‘needle wrap’

Grafting is a very useful technique for conifers such as junipers and pines.


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Report

Power Bonsai

A trip to Shanghai’s botanical gardens and the Garden City of Rugao Ofer Grunwald travels to China to be part of the emerging bonsai scene. The invitation of Sae Won Kim, of the Korean Bonsai Growers’ Association and sponsorship of Prof. Amy Liang made this amazing trip possible. Rocked to…...


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Grafting

It has to be perfect

Katsushi Miura (Miura Baijyu-en Osaka) shows us a number of grafting techniques for improving material.


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Grafting

Walking branches

When Andrea Meriggioli dived into the fascinating world of the Japanese maple, he learned all the techniques of how to prune, grow and maintain.


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Propagating

A corky type

The challenge is to create bonsai from scratch How to create bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods using interesting and unusual species. With the help of illustrations we will see how to take a piece of material through to completion. This time we work with cuttings of the Nishikimatsu,…...


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Technique

A wooden base?

A practical case study of trident maple by Andrea Meriggioli Andrea: I want to show you how correct timing and techniques may turn initially poor material into a good tree you can work on over a long period of time. In practice, when you have a real plant in front…...


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Technique

Like Frankenstein?

Shigeo Ebihara’s unbelievable method of trunk shortening This operation on an old maple took more than four and a half years to complete. The tree has one major fault that is impossible to solve using ordinary techniques. It needs new skills developed in order to remove the straight, leggy section…...


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Masterclass

Can it grow upside down?

To get the best results Masahiko Kimura flips a juniper upside down Just turn it upside down, a brilliant idea, which for many would be an impossible option; not so for Masahiko Kimura Another upside down tree, but this is quite different. When we were in the garden of Mr…...


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Technique

The branch doctor

Master Oota is the expert on grafting new branches on junipers From grafting branches to finishing a tree and his selection of famous needle junipers, these are trees that have been created by Nobuharu Oota over the years using natural material. Using his expert skills he creates a bonsai that…...


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Technique

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…...


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Masterclass

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…...


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Technique

Mind the gap!

The problem of poor roots on a pine can be solved Can you improve the root base of a pine, just as you can with deciduous trees? A good question, so it seems a good idea to have an article on the improvement of a piece of material with poor…...


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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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Tree guide

Pyrus pyrifolia

How to create bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods with interesting and unusual species. With the help of illustrations we will see how to take a piece of material through to completion The pear A large deciduous tree in the pear genus of the Rosaceae family. It is found…...


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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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Masterclass

Did it snap?

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 styled and refined over a period of a couple of years, not created in just…...


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Propagating

The Edo cherry

The challenge is to create a finished tree starting from scratch. In this series we look at creating bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods from interesting and unusual species. With the help of illustrations we see how to take a piece of material through to completion. Common in the…...


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Propagating

Thuja

The challenge is to create a finished tree starting from scratch In this series we look at creating bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods using interesting and unusual species. With the help of illustrations, we will see how to take a piece of material through to completion. Oriental Thuja…...


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