Bonsai Art » Styling & Pruning

A Well Set Out Bonsai Garden

Adam — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:07:43 +0000

Heres an example of a well set out bonsai garden. This is at Du Fu’s Cottage In China. The guy in the video says that it is a topiary garden but it’s actually a bonsai garden! Click read more to see video… Found on youtube

Repotted My Oak

Adam — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:30:59 +0000

Today I repotted my oak tree. I put it back in the same pot as before but gave it a little trim. I gave it a new soil mix and covered the soil with grit and fertilizer. I think it could do with going in a ceramic pot now but that will have to wait until next year now.

The person I bought this tree and a few others thought that it was a very clever idea to screw them down to the wooden pot… What a fool. I thought I’d got rid of all the screws but then I found a screw in the root of the tree holding it to the pot!

The stone is there to bend the large root upwards slightly. It was on a strange angle where it was, heading straight across the top of the pot and chopped off at the end.

The tree has been raised slightly in the pot to expose the roots a bit more.

Weathered Bonsai

Adam — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:21:11 +0000

Fantastic Weathered Bonsai found at Loren Webster’s blog.

Willow Leaf Ficus

Adam — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:59:33 +0000

Here is a fantastic tree I’ve found online created by Ed Trout which is a willow leaf ficus.

It is a great design which is a root over rock. It looks like he’s grown it over the rock for a good few years to increase the root size and then switched it onto it’s side. It’s an amazing feat to undertake and is a very natural looking result also.

Ed Trout’s “Willow Leaf Ficus”

New Yamadori Hawthorn – my biggest yet (part 3)

Adam — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:12:39 +0000

Today I carved my hawthorn using hand tools including a stanley knife and a large penknife. I tried to tear off as much as I could to give it more of a natural look but it is so thick it took a long time to remove any amount of wood. I am happy with the largest branch on the right hand side but I might go back and carve the one on the left a bit further later on.

It’s been painted with lime sulphur to preserve the deadwood.

Part 2

Accent Plants For Your Bonsai

Adam — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:57:27 +0000

Heres a video I’ve found on youtube showing good accent ‘hosta’ plants to accompany your bonsai.

Bonsai Display/Monkey Poles

Adam — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 14:32:05 +0000

I finally got round to completing my bonsai display today as of the 1st Jan 2008. It was a lot more difficult than I suspected it would be to make but it was definitely worth it. I used as much free materials as I could get hold of to reduce the cost. The posts were free as was the concrete post mix.

COST

Here are the materials I used to make it.

1. Posts – free
2. Concrete post mix – free
3. Wooden tops – £14
4. Nails – £3
5. New Saw – £6
6. Corner brackets – £4
7. Green slate – (4 bags) £10.50
8. Screws – £2.50
9. Forest Oak Paint – £7

Total cost = £47

WHAT WENT WRONG

Theres always a few things that go wrong in a project. With this one I had one problem which was the wooden tops bent in the rain. They are actually made of indoor shelving and because of this they are pieces of wood which are glued together and aren’t waterproof! It was an easy fix which was to screw in extra wooden supports underneath.
It did take a long time to rectify however as I needed to remove each top and screw in an extra 12 screws and two batons to each one.

Happy new Year from Bonsai Art!

Root Over Coal Style

Adam — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 06:00:47 +0000

Here’s a new style I’ve invented called root over coal…

OK so Adam’s lost it, perhaps he’s just been working too hard or maybe he is actually going mad.

Well actually I think it’s pretty cool looking. I am developing a root over coal tree which is a crab apple. My soil at the back of the garden is stacked with coal because it used to be next to an old train track which transported it. It normally shows up in small quantities in my pots when I make fresh potting mix. So I thought why not use some of this stuff while styling a tree?

At the moment you will not be able to see the coal which I am growing the roots over as it is just underneath the soil to keep the roots growing. I feel the crab apple is beginning to show signs of being an impressive bonsai in itself already but thought it needed something extra.
It is potted in a 12″ ceramic pot.

Crab Apple ‘root over coal’

Carving Bonsai With a Dremel (part 2)

Adam — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:12:27 +0000

Yesterday I used my dremel for the first time on my Yamadori Ash. Today I pruned the roots a bit and uprooted it from it’s training pot and repotted it into it’s final ceramic pot. I am pleased with the results but it definitely needs a bit of time to grow new branches as it’s a bit bare at the moment.

I kept the carving at the top quite simple. Partly because this is my first effort at carving and secondly I think it looks better simple. The photo makes it look quite small but I assure you this is a big tree!

Part 1

Carving Bonsai With a Dremel (part 1)

Adam — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:00:52 +0000

I received a dremel for christmas which I was very pleased about. I gave it a go today and carved the top of my yamadori ash which I have spoken about previously. I carved a jin in the top of the trunk and also attempted to give it more of a taper towards. I was not able to take a photo i’m afraid because as soon as I finished it the sky went black and the rain started hammering down.

It was harder than I thought it would be but I think I may need a few extra specialist tools for the job. It was quite slow going with the tools I had. I need a tool which can rip a lot of wood off at the start before I refine it afterwards. I’ll be having a look on ebay and maplin very soon to find some!

I am very pleased with the result and will be taking some photos of it tomorrow to post here. I also still need to paint on the lime sulphur to create the jin at the top of the trunk.

In a way I’m glad it rained afterwards so that the moisture could be replenished in the tree.

Here is the ash tree before carving back in the summer

Part 2