Tag: bonsai
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Our Trees Tell Two Stories
There’s another story that each tree tells.. Bonsai artists always talk about designing a tree so that it tells a story. We want the movement, the bark, or the deadwood to tell us a story of survival. We want the tree to tell us that it has lived many more lives than us and has…
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Watering
Watering is the single most important topic in bonsai. Many trees will survive being chopped in half or even if we forget fertilizer for a full year. No tree will survive forgetting to water them. Trees need a balance of water and air in their root system. If you picture fully submerging a tree’s roots…
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The Year of the Upgrades
Bonsai people tend to get a bit carried away with things. It seems to be in the nature of bonsaists. We end up with too many trees, too many pots, go too hard on a collecting trip and need to take a quick “nappy” (this sounds very specific but nevermind), etc. We all seem to…
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I Think I’ve Become a Potter?
A couple of years ago I decided to get into pottery. In typical fashion, I just decided to go all-in with no second-thought. I scoured Facebook Marketplace for a kiln for a few months, and when I finally came across a perfect kiln at a good price, I decided to purchase it on the spot.…
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Bugpocalypse..
This has been a tough year in my bonsai adventure. Towards the end of last year, I felt like I was starting to get to a point where I was comfortably competent in my skillset. Repotting has become second-nature, I’ve mostly memorized seasonal maintenance timings, my wiring is where I wanted it to be, and…
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Visiting Black Dodge Bonsai
There are three major parts to visiting Black Dodge Bonsai. There is the man, the art, and the goods. I know that everyone wants to hear about the goods, but I’m saving that for last so that you listen to why you really need to make a stop there. Black Dodge Bonsai is a two…
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Collecting Trees: Prelude
My goal is to learn every aspect of bonsai. I want to learn the art, the horticulture, the specifics of every tree that I can get my hands on, the patience, and finally collecting. Collecting is what’s on my mind right now. Collecting is a massive topic and is considered controversial sometimes. In my head…
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The Student of the Copper Wire : The Two Trees
This weekend marks the first trees that I have ever fully wired in copper wire. I subscribe to Mirai Live (Ryan Neil’s training site) for the majority of my training, and another viewer commented that they are afraid of copper wire and always use aluminum wire because it is so much easier to work with…
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Create a Bonsai: Wire Theory and Application
So you purchased (or placed) a tree in a pot.. Now what? Depending on the season of the year, the type of tree, and the health of the tree, the fastest and most satisfying answer may be to put wire on the branches, and to form the branches into the shapes that you are envisioning.…
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Re-Start
There is one up-side to killing your trees in pots.. You now have free pots! When I moved into the new place, it came with a bunch of spindly little pines sticking up out of the lawn. Since I had free pots, I decided to make a little forest planting in a (way over-sized) pot.…
Bonsai NH 