The Art of Bonsai

Category: Twists and Turns, shaping trunks

  • How to thicken a branch

    Often a branch on a bonsai is too thin. To thicken it allow it to grow wildly without trimming it back. Keep the rest of the tree trimmed as normal. Once the branch is of the proper thickness it can be shortened back and proper taper and ramification can be developed. z The definitive reference…

  • How I grow a bonsai from a cutting

    There are many ways to acquire a bonsai tree. One way is to take a cutting from a suitable material and to propagate it. In this case the mother tree is a Ficus rubiginosa grown form a seed from Australia. The mother tree has great bonsai characteristics so a piece of the mother tree was…

  • Developing a bunjin/literati fig

    Starting with this rather young rooted cutting of Ficus ‘Mystery’ I hope to one day develop a bunjin or literati style bonsai. The rooted cutting is now about two years old. Which of the designs seems to be the best to your eye? To learn more about bunjin/literati styles see https://suspicious-pike.51-195-201-14.plesk.page/bonsai-culture-and-care/general-bonsai-information/the-bunjin-or-literati-style/   The definitive reference work…

  • Root-over-rock design

    One of the most popular designs is the root-over-rock design where a tree or trees is growing draped over a stone. In this example a Ficus ‘Mystery’ was placed on a rock about 9-10 years ago. It was a piece of a larger plant see http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/BreakingUpIsEasyToDo.html This section was frankly quite ugly and I almost discarded it. Rather…

  • Bar branches, yes or no?

    One of the most basic beginner rules is to avoid bar branches. That is to say remove one of two branches that appear on the same level but directly opposite each other. This rule as all rules for bonsai or any art form is often helpful in designing a basic bonsai for a beginner. In…

  • Fusing figs

    One way to get larger bonsai material is to fuse smaller figs together. Basically tieing together several figs that are genetically identical can produce larger trunks. Growing a tree in a larger container or in the ground will produce faster trunk growth but is often not suitable for indoor growers. Fusion is a useful technique…

  • Ficus ‘Mystery’, piece 4

    Ficus ‘Mystery’ is an unknown fig given to me in 2004 by friend David Fukumoto of Fuku-Bonsai. The first shot shows one of the pieces of the tree that was initially sectioned into 5 pieces. The second shot shows the piece #4 in 2014. This material is vigorous and aggressive and shapes up into beautiful…

  • Two of my Ficus ‘Mystery’, #1 and #2

    Ficus ‘Mystery” is so called because its exact scientific name is unclear. No matter what this fig is called it is one of the best figs for bonsai that I have cared for. You can see how these two figs were created from a tree given to me by David Fukumoto of www.fukubonsai.com by clicking…