Bonsai Today

Online magazine for Bonsai lovers

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Case History

Revisiting famous bonsai creations

Articles have long been a way of recording the dramatic transformation of trees, showcasing the skills of professionals and giving an insight into the process of bonsai creation ...


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Step by Step

A moyogi juniper

This less than pretty juniper has hidden potential; its almost bare trunk has enough foliage to make an elegant bonsai


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Shohin

Are they twins?

Miura Hiroki (from Miura Baijyu-En nursery) is a specialist in shohin bonsai. Here he improves a double trunk pine that has a hidden quality.


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Masterclass

Can you restyle a Bonsai masterpiece?

Masayuki Fujikawa takes things further by transforming a masterpiece

It is said that a tree displayed at Kokufu has reached a point of completion in a long journey. As the tree grows, finds a new owner, or an artist to care for it, the viewpoint of the tree will gradually change

Masterclass

Does a yew need a main branch?

Bjorn Bjorholm solves the problems on a Japanese yew (taxus cuspidata) And answers the question if it does need a main branch..


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Technique

Split in two

Yoshihiko Moriyama's transformation of a juniper by using an electric saw


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Masterclass

At your own risk

Italian, Alessandro Bonardo, now 24, has been an apprentice under Mr Kimura for 6 years and in May 2022, it was formally announced that he had graduated. Within the garden he is affectionately known as Aless. Mr Kimura prepared a tree, an unusually shaped Miyajima white pine for this demo,

Styling

Taming the wild

It is really easy to create a magnificent bonsai if you start from raw material with great potential. There are those trees that at first glance already have the right look. You only have to use the appropriate techniques to make that tree into a high-level bonsai.


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Spring

The key branch

The material used here is a Satsuki. It is a twin trunk and there are two apicies, but without a clear and obvious overall direction. The first thing to do will be to determine the front of the tree and work from there.


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Masterclass

The crazy rock

Something completely different: Mauro Stemberger creates the rock pine


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Shohin

Is this all?

Hiroki Miura works on a Chinese juniper

At first glance, the featured juniper has great looks; however, Hiroki Miura shows us that when we take a closer look, the tree is really a bit dull . . .


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Masterclass

Time for change

Restyling a famous tree into something new is difficult work and an artist must stake their reputation on it


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Styling

The Grim

Bruno Proietti Tocca philosophises about his work on a savin juniper


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Case History

Broken sails

Masahiko Kimura restores a very old juniper


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Masterclass

A Pine Puzzle

Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, is one of the most popular pine varieties and one of the most commonly styled tree.


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Design Sketch

Spokes of a Wheel

Jean-Philippe Hoareau sketches options for Marnix Bomon's pine.


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Masterclass

Father and Son

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


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Styling

An offer one can’t refuse

'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'


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Workshop

Pop or rock?

Pop star Shintaro Akiyama jumps into the deep when creating a rock planting in cooperation with Kunio Kobayashi and Osamu Fukudate of Shunkaen


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Masterclass

THE GIANT LOOP

Mauro Stemberger styles a massive Scots pine with a loop shaped trunk


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