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A visit to the Chinese Garden at the Huntington
After visiting the Bonsai Collection at the Huntington, I carved out time to visit the adjacent Chinese Garden. It was an eye-opening experience! Taking its inspiration from 16th and 17th century...
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Highlights from the 2025 Atlanta Bonsai Society Annual Show
Earlier this month I made a trip to Georgia to participate in the Atlanta Bonsai Society’s annual show. Held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the two-day event featured vendors, critiques, a workshop,...
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A visit to Kenji Miyata’s garden
When I found out I was going to Atlanta, I immediately made plans to visit Kenji Miyata’s garden. Kenji is a Japanese-trained bonsai professional who spent the majority of his career in the US, first...
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A look inside The Essential Bonsai Book
I’m writing on a Tuesday this week as the release date for The Essential Bonsai Book has arrived! It’s hard to sum up all that went into the book over the last three years – four major drafts, eleven...
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Separating a ground layer on a shohin olive
Last summer I started an ground layer on a small olive (see “Shohin olive ground layer” for details). The lower part of the trunk was unattractive so I figured layering the upper part of the trunk...
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Right-sizing a bonsai collection
One consequence of writing a book about bonsai is that I’ve really started to take some of the lessons to heart. For years I’ve known I have more trees than I can adequately care for. When I take on...
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A visit to the Bonsai Pavilion at Safari Park
Last weekend the San Diego Bonsai Club held their 60th anniversary celebration. The event was held at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park, home to the Bonsai Pavilion, a beautiful garden and bonsai...
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Spring work for deciduous bonsai
Not long after my deciduous bonsai leaf out, I start thinking about when the perfect time would be to prune and partially defoliate them. In general, the more dense the branches, the earlier in the...
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Hitting the reset button
If you’re not happy with a tree’s structure, you can always hit the reset button and remove any branches you’re unhappy with. This process looks different for different species but the basic idea is...
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Decandling a field-grown pine
I kicked off this year’s decandling season by working on a pine that had been left to grow freely for a few years. Black pine with long shoots When decandling, we have the option to simply remove the...
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