The twistiest of junipers

Amazing junipers, I love looking at these photos.

Black Pine Repotting : Part 1

Bonsai Focus uploaded this video to Youtube, Its an old video, but good to watch a video by Toshinori Suzuki.

Bonsai Techniques : Air Layering Part 2

A new video from Graham Potter from Kaizan Bonsai showing Air Layering techniques. Enjoy

The Moss Myth

Michael Hagedorn

I remember the days when moss was the enemy. The idea was that moss impeded water penetration, or kept the pot too wet. So it was a surprise when I was an apprentice that Mr. Suzuki encouraged moss to grow on the soil, and I discovered there were some advantages to having it there.

Shredded sphagnum moss on top of volcanic soil (akadama/pumice) at 1/8-1/4″ thickness, with shredded live moss added to inoculate. I often add ink to it so it’s not straw colored while the moss gets established. Be sure you use true sphagnum moss, not peat moss. Peat moss is rotted sphagnum, and tends to be water repellent when dry. The best sphagnum to use is sold often as ‘orchid’ moss, and is straw colored and is like a sponge when sprinkled with water.

If applied in the early spring around repotting time, a carpet of live moss…

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Spectacular Sierra junipers

amazing

BSA 2014 Exhibition Part 2

Bonsai Eejit

Here’s Part 2, this time Valentin Brose takes us on a tour of the exhibits. Valentin has got to be one of the nicest artists in the European bonsai scene.

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BSA 2014 Exhibition Part 1

Bonsai Eejit

Finally I’ve got around to putting together all the little bits of video and photos from the British Shohin Association Exhibition at Willowbog Bonsai back in March this year.

This is part 1 of 6 showing Mr Peter Warren on one of his wanders around the exhibits. I only got a small portion on video as I was crowded out by the hordes in attendance 🙂 Not a bad thing at a show I think.

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20 Days to Go!!

Leinster Bonsai Club

Only 20 days left to go before the first meeting of the Leinster Bonsai Club. You can even follow the countdown in the sidebar 🙂

We hope to have a good turnout at the first meeting at Ballbriggan Community Centre on 27th June @ 7.30pm. We have quite a few people already confirmed as attending.

Owen, John and Elisa all made the trip up the the NIBS School at the end of May and have set the ball rolling for a close working relationship with both the Northern Ireland Bonsai Society and the Munster Bonsai Club all under the umbrella of ‘Bonsai Ireland’.

Are you coming to the first meeting? If you haven’t been in touch already or haven’t been in touch for a while, please let us know if you can make it. We have about 10 so far confirmed via email and Facebook Page but feel free to

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Artist Profile: A Bonsai Prelude Exclusive Interview With Marco Invernizzi

very interesting interview. Great read. Thanks again

Bonsai Prelude

So to start out with, a “grazie mille!” to Marco for taking the time to answer a few of my questions and diligently run over a couple drafts to provide the most complete answers possible!

As I mentioned earlier, out of my own ignorance, narrowing my bonsai knowledge to the blog-space, Marco seemed to have slipped past my radar. When I met him at the Rendezvous a couple weekends back, I couldn’t help but think “damn, this guy knows whats up.” And after listening to his demonstrations and work shops all weekend I can see why he’s truly a gift to bonsai in the West (as well as the rest of the world). Having been through an apprentice-type learning environment myself (in the world of fine dining) I can’t help but respect his constant drive for self improvement. We could all learn a little bit from Marco, even…

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Himalayan Ceder progress

So this is my Himalayan Ceder, which i bought last summer 2012 from a local garden center. It was there for quite a while i say. It was a lot taller than what it is now and decided last year to cut it back, Since then i just shortened the branches. Next job is to decide what branches to select and allow it to grow freely untill next season as it could do with a repot then.

Here is the ceder when i acquired it last year before i shortened it.

This is it now, after being shortened and is growing quite well.

Still has a lot of filling out to do.Especially as one side is quite bare compared to the other

I was thinking as there is practically no movement in the trunk as going with formal style. There is quite a lot of work and time will be spent on this tree but i can see the end product in my head, nearly 😉

So in march 2014 i decided to bring the ceder along to our club meeting to give it some wiring.

 

As it turns out i only got half the tree wired that night, me taken my time as usual 🙂

So i have been looking at it since march and haven’t gone near it except to water it. So in June 2014 i decided to finish the wiring. This is the way it has been on the bench for nearly 3 months.

So get wiring

I could tell the top was sucking all the energy from the lower branches. So gave it a small haircut also. And finished off the wiring

 

So thats how the tree stands in June 2014, just want to get plenty of ramification on the branches now. Will keep an eye on it 🙂