Bonsai Today

Online magazine for Bonsai lovers

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Case History

Broken sails

Masahiko Kimura restores a very old juniper


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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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Technique

Gardenia

You can propagate and create bonsai from seed, cuttings and by grafting


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Styling

Just drop it

Creating a literati red pine by focusing on the dropping branch


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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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Masterclass

Wired up?

Improving your wiring skills with Chiharu Imai


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Technique

Wisteria from scratch

How to create bonsai from cuttings, grafting and other methods . This time we work with Wisteria


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Styling

Jack & John

British artist, John Milton, works on a white pine in Japan.


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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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Styling

Is it just one blob of green?

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 Germade is to discover the best front and to split up the dense foliage dome…...


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Shohin

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…...


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Styling

Is this worth spending time ?

Prunus spinosa/blackthorn as bonsai Harry Harrington explores the virtues of the blackthorn with its white flowers contrasting beautifully against its dark black bark Prunus spinosa is a tree species native to the UK and Northern Europe and incredibly desirable for bonsai. Wild blackthorn flowers profusely in March/April each year and…...


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Styling

Why does he want to break free

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 olive (Olea europaea sylvestris), Massimo found much inspiration in the Japanese aesthetics and Zen philosophy,…...


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Masterclass

Can Kimura dance with a shari?

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 work is of the highest quality in order to accentuate the best characteristics of the…...


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Styling

How to ‘crack’ a white pine

Masayuki Fujikawa transforms a white pine by changing the angle and compacting an elongated trunk. One of the best characteristics of this tree is the aged appearance of the bark, making it look as though it was just collected from the mountains. Additionally, the leaf characteristics and the power in…...


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Shohin

Regular fit

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. The tree I will work with is very commonly seen as bonsai, a purpose-grown juniper…...


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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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Spring

A fruitful day

How to pollinate flowering bonsai Under the guidance of Hiroki Miura, Japanese popstar Ayaka Yamamoto tries her luck with fruiting fruit-bearing trees. The fruit of a tree is not always produced when it flowers. If left untouched, some species will not produce any fruit at all. Some species are easy…...


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Styling

All-American pine

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 in the United States, dating back to the early 1970s in Rochester, New York. At…...


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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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