My bonsai journey really started to take off when I began to understand the basics of design. I've written about David De Groot's amazing "Principles of Bonsai Design". Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be widely available. If you come across a copy, I'd highly recommend a purchase. Until then, I'm going to try and impart some of the thoughts and "ah-ah" moments I've experienced the last few years when it comes to bonsai design. Scalene Triangles are an important part of art and design. A scalene triangle is defined where all the sides of the triangle are different lengths. Let's start with ..read more

My sister & mom have recently discovered the art of bonsai. I guess they're regular readers of the blog! Interacting with them over the last few weeks has taught me how far I've come in my bonsai journey. I take for granted so many lessons I've learned. I'm going to make an effort to share some bonsai 101 posts for those PLB readers that might be new to the amazing hobby we call bonsai. Today, let's tackle watering. It's often said that watering is the hardest thing to learn when it comes to bonsai. At first glance, that might sound absurd, yet after 7 years of practicing bonsai, I can tel ..read more

If it's Thursday, it must be time for another bonsai progression. This week will be a little different. Instead of a tree that I've worked on for years, I'm going to share a tree I recently acquired and take you through my initial styling. In this case, a pinyon pine from the deserts of Arizona. Before Work I chose this piece of material for a couple of reasons. I was inspired by the pinyon pines I saw on a trip to Arizona last year. I wanted to recreate those trees in my garden. The needles are naturally short, which I like. I felt the triple trunk would be something different. I also knew ..read more

Since I start­ed writ­ing the PLB blog, the most com­mon ques­tion I receive is “What’s it like be­ing a stu­dent at Bjorn’s”? I just com­plet­ed the first week­end of cour­ses since the pan­dem­ic. It’s hard to believe, but we were off for two years. It was great be­ing back, so let's answer all your Eisie-en intensive class questions! How much does it cost? This is pret­ty much what every­one wants to know, but doesn’t want to ask, so let's start there. Be­fore I do, let me share with you the struc­ture of the classes. We meet for four days over two week­ends a year. Once in the spring and ..read more

Happy Thursday to all the PLB readers! I hope you're having a great week. It's time for another bonsai update. Be sure to check out all my previous progressions here. This week, a Japanese black pine (one of the first I owned) grown using a sacrifice branch. I hope this progression will help you visualize how to grow JBP from seed or seedling material. 2016 Here's a photo of when I first received this tree. I wired and put some movement in the trunk. I'm actually impressed with myself, considering how little I knew at the time about wiring or bonsai in general. 2017 Ok, not much going on her ..read more

Every once in a while, a bonsai photo goes viral. It's usually in reference to the tree that survived Hiroshima or a famous person will show a bonsai in his home. Poof! It’s all over the world; generating the type of interest that comes to bonsai once in a blue moon. Search the comments section of any of these posts and you’ll find a bevy of ethical questions. For many, seeing a bonsai tree for the first time conjures up a sense of cruel and unusual punishment for the innocent tree. And I can understand why, between the trunk-suffocating wire and raffia bent branches, it can seem like we are t ..read more

Hey, Hey, Hey all you Bonsai Boys and Girls! Welcome to another Bonsai Progression Thursday. As always, you can check out my previous progressions here. This week, a field grown Hinoki Cypress. The hinoki is the tree that started it all. I remember seeing ancient hinoki’s in magazines and thinking, man I HAVE to have one of those! Little did I know they were slow growers and somewhat difficult to maintain. I bought a small one early in my bonsai journey. It died shortly after. In the fall of 2019, I attended one of the intensive courses at Eisei-en. I noticed Bjorn had purchased close to 100 ..read more

The most underrated way to improve your bonsai skills is to take great pictures. You should share photos of your trees and solicit feedback, but the feedback you receive will only be as good as the photos you take. All too often I see new enthusiasts share a photo of their tree, asking for help, only to see the photo filled with so much background noise that providing good advice is not possible. Here’s 3 quick tips for taking better photos of your trees. 1. Use a Clean Background In order to see the details of your tree, you need to place it in front of a clean and crisp background. Taking ph ..read more

I love bonsai progressions! Each Thursday, I give an update to a tree in my garden. This week, a shohin black pine I've had since 2018. I first highlighted this tree last fall. If you’d like to see the initial progression, you can check it out here. I’ve taken this tree through the basic black pine process. Which, for many, can seem intimidating, but I assure you, once you have the basics down, it’s not difficult. Be that as it may, I’m not a black pine expert, but I did write a post on where to find the best black pine information on the web, so if you have questions, you can check that out ..read more

Six years ago I starting messing with little trees. Unfortunately for me, bonsai is not my full time gig. I’ve also ran a small business for over 20 years. Since I started practicing bonsai, my productivity & capacity have increased immensely. I believe that can be traced to practicing bonsai on a regular basis. Here’s 5 ways practicing bonsai has taught me to be a better leader and some ideas on how you can do the same. 1. It Will Give You A Creative Outlet Practicing bonsai is a right brain activity. Wiring, pruning and designing trees is an art akin to sculpture. When I’m working on a t ..read more