#bonsai training

[freshtendril]

She’s a little ugly, and sore from the trim. Now to add wire and some simple training, the Breynia will find herself 🪴

[freshtendril]

My bonsai of Japanese maple and Lady fern, with a background of a twin European larch.

A decade ago a friend gave me the maple seedling from underneath parent maples, while the fern grew voluntarily from a spore in the same pot some time later.

Arranging bonsai is almost as fun as creating and tending to them. It's not like herding cats though. They are more like living green art-pet rescue sculpture creatures.

[freshtendril]

Bonsai: Japanese Apricot

In training and it’s structure is forming. Although still lovely in bloom.

[freshtendril]

Japanese Apricot Blossom // Snow and stone

They are the first flowers of the season in the garden.

[kfighter]

#盆栽 #剪定 #bonsai art #bonsai training

（Via： fukubonsai.com）

よくは解りませんが盆栽の枝の広がりをコントロールできる手法があれこれあるようです。 google翻訳レベルですが、翻訳ページを貼っておきます。

化粧砂にK砂をよろしくです。

[mindyourdirt]

  A beautiful and well developed cypress bonsai nebari. Via

An amazing and beautiful design element in bonsai is the root flare or nebari. Also known as buttressing, this method is a perfect way to make a bonsai appear ancient, grounded and well anchored to the growing medium. Without it, bonsai tend to look like you just stuck a stick in the dirt and the viewer is not awed and their mind remains un-blown.

The Ficus macrophylla or Moreton Bay Fig (shown in the feature image) is an inspiring specimen when it comes to root flare. A powerful beast that is in the business of taking over it’s environment. This strangler fig typically germinates in the canopy of a poor innocent host tree. It remains there until it can send a long skinny root all the way down to the earth. Then it grows. Fast too.

Once the roots get established it out-grows the host tree, completely engulfing it until it becomes a mere skeleton. Forever buried in the core of this beastly banyan tree. They can grow up to 200 feet in height and have an impressive canopy and nebari in older specimens. Like all figs, the fruit can only be pollinated by fig wasps and those fig wasps can only reproduce in the flowers of the fig tree.

This one is in a valley in Balboa Park and is over 100 years old. There’s also one in a grave yard near my home that was foolishly planted amongst the graves many decades ago. It has upturned and engulfed dozens of headstones and I shiver to imagine what it’s done below the ground! Creepy huh.

Moreton Bay Fig. Via

With bonsai, creating a realistic root flare takes many years to accomplish but there are a few tricks to get you heading in the right direction. When you’re planting your tree you can lay the roots on top of a waterproof and non-porous surface and bury it all in the soil so the roots grow over the surface of this object. Use a saucer, a piece of pottery, a smooth rock or whatever you have on hand. Over time the roots will grow sideways to avoid the object and give you that flare shape you want later. the smaller feeder roots will grow below and around the barrier object as they stretch down towards their water source.

Once this is achieved, you repot the tree but allow these horizontal roots to be above the surface of the potting material and make certain there are plenty of feeder roots below. Eventually the roots will form a nice bark and look like a true bonsai should.

Another amazing example of a developed nebari. Via

Here are some examples from a bonsai show I went to recently. These are from members of the San Diego Bonsai Club who meet in Balboa Park where I work. An eclectic bunch of rabble-rousers to be sure. I like to observe them from the safety of my museum for fear that I will be pruned, wired and demoralized if I get too close.

In addition to an exaggerated taper in the trunk and the good development of branches, or ramification, creating a realistic root flare is an important style aspect when training bonsai. Ignoring it’s creation will greatly take away from your design so plan ahead! And if you find that a young Ficus Macrophylla has somehow formed on your body, get rid of it before you are completely engulfed! Seriously. That would be insane and wholly inconvenient.

Bonsai Style Inspiration: Ficus Macrophylla (Moreton Bay Fig) and Developing Root Flare An amazing and beautiful design element in bonsai is the root flare or nebari. Also known as buttressing, this method is a perfect way to make a bonsai appear ancient, grounded and well anchored to the growing medium.

[freshtendril]

Bonsai - Japanese Maple

Another one newly trained, just a young sprout only a few years old. This seedling was recovered under its parents and is likely a hybrid, Acer palmatum x pseudoseiboldianum.

[mindyourdirt]

Q&A from my readers...

Q&A from my readers…

“I’ve been toying with the idea of getting into bonsai. Is it ridiculous to start from seed? If so, how old of a starter tree should I get, and do you have any suggestions for where to get one? What equipment do I need? Do you have any book recommendations on the subject?”

-Nikki

“Hi Nikki. It’s not ridiculous to start with seeds, but it will add time to the already lengthy process.

Here’s…

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