Kenneth Olsen's Bonsai Blog

HOT TIP! - Web pages

2011-10-13T12:14:00.001-07:00

Most of you for sure know - but some of you might not....

Two GREAT GREAT bonsai sites:

http://walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com/

http://www.bonsai4me.com/

Brooklyn Botanical Garden - Bonsai exhibition

2011-10-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

This fall I visited New York again, and decided to visit the permanent Bonsai exhibition at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

The weather was excellent, so a walk over Brooklyn Bridge was the perfect way to enter Brooklyn.

The gardens extensive bonsai collection contains approximately 350 trees. It is the second oldest collection in the US. - NOTE that not all trees are on display at the same time.

I took pictures of some of the displayed trees as you can see below.

1000 Washington Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11225
(718) 623-7200

Hours: Sun, Sat 10:00am–6:00pm; Mon Closed; Tue-Fri 8:00am–6:00pm

Subway: Franklin Av

Elm shohin update!

2011-07-18T14:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a small update on my Elm shohin. It is doing quit well. All the details regading this little tree you can find in a earlier blog post - however I just wanted to show the development from 2007 till today. In a few years I might do a airlayering of the tree as the nebari is not that good. for the rest of this year I will let it grow to gain some more strength. Next spring I will do a hard trimming to get a better ramification of the branches.

Tree today

Tree april 2011

tree august 2011

Tree 2007

Sad story 2

2011-07-18T14:25:00.001-07:00

This little "root over rock" Birk I have had for the last 4 years, and I was thinking it could look very good in the future... well the future never came... this week I had to realise that I was not able to save it.

3 weeks ago I did some light wiring, and I decided to do a defoliation on it as well. I went on hollidays, and when I came back I saw that bugs had eaten the new shoots completely!

Damn it!

Of course I am imbarassed every time I lose a tree, but for me it is important in a blog, not only to post all the success stories but also the more negative ones.. hopefully it will be a reminder to myself in the future what NOT TO DO, and maybe for some of you as well.

Good luck with your trees - AND DONT RUSH THINGS! :O)

Kenneth

Tree today!

Tree last year well alive!

Sad story 1

2011-07-18T14:14:00.001-07:00

This small Juniper I styled last year, and this year I just wanted to let it grow to gain some strength. Last week I could see that it had died completely :o(

I am the only one to blame, as I was rushing things too quickly. I did a heavy styling and repotted the tree in a tiny tiny pot the same year... NOT RECOMMENDED!

Expensive lesson as the tree costed 180 Euros!

I am thinking to reuse the trunk and strip all the bark off, and add a small Juniper I have to it... Hopefully I will be able to make some interesting out of my 180 euros anyway.. LOL!

Tree today!

Tree 2010 right after styling and repotting!

The juniper I was thinking to add to the deadwood of the dead bonsai above.

I will do it next spring

Shohin update!

2011-07-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

This is a small update on one of my shohin bonsai. It is still very young, and I would even call it a pre-bonsai, but hopefully it will look nice in 5-10 years from now on. Now I will let it grow for the rest of season. Next year I will put it in a bigger training pot, as I want it to grow a lot bigger than what it is now (25 cm in height)

Shohin June 2011 (2 years after collecting)

Shohin after first styling June 2011

Shohin today! (after a good trimming)

Celtis tree Update

2011-07-18T13:30:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to show a updated picture of the Celtis tree I bought some months at Nordic Bonsai center. When I brought the tree home I started to style it straight away. Alot of branches had to be removed and also some wiring was done.

Last week I removed the wires and this week I gave it a good trimming.

Now I will let it grow for the rest of the summer to gain some strength. Next spring I will trim the tree to get a better ramification, re wire and repot for a better display pot.

Next year this tree will look nice I think!

Front of the tree

Backside of the tree

Tree right after purchase 11th of April

Tree after first styling 11th of April

Bonsai TV

2011-07-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

Dont know if you know this webpage - but there are very good videos about bonsai in Japan - but also good travel tips.

http://bonsaifarm.tv/

The Bonsai Art of Japan Episode 7

2011-07-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Bonsai Art of Japan - Episode 6.mov

2011-07-15T14:20:00.001-07:00

The Bonsai Art of JAPAN Episode 3

2011-07-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

The Bonsai Art of Japan - Episode 2.mov

2011-07-15T14:19:00.001-07:00

The Bonsai Art of Japan - Episode 1.mov

2011-07-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

SUMMER

2011-07-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hallo Everybody!

I have not been very good in upkeeping my blog for million of reasons/or excuses for the last few months.. but now I am back.

This last period I have been busy with my bonsais and pre-bonsais. Unfortunately I have lost a few of my trees due to different reasons. I will post some pictures of them here - alive and dead and give a explanation on what could be the reason to their death.

Keeping bonsai is a learning process, and killing trees/plants is part of it - though it is never nice to loose a tree that has been in your care for years. Last winter I also lost some trees due to the cold cold winter (minus 15), and the lack of good winter protection. - It was sad but I strongly believe these cases makes us improve our skills and know how for the future.

Hopefully I will loose less and less trees in the future!

This summer it is all about pruning, watering, fertilizing and a bit of wiring. Alot of my trees are growing strongly and I am happy about it.

Within the next few days I posts some pictures of the development of the trees.

Untill then I wish you a very happy summer and hope you have a bit more luck with your trees than I have had for the last year.

Kenneth

New Celtis Sinensis tree

2011-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is the tree I bought the other day at Nordic Bonsai Center in Denmark ( see blog posted below yesterday about my visit ) As we are getting into springtime in Denmark, it was highly time if I had to do some trimming of the branches this year, and this tree really needed it. It has been growing wildly the last two years, and there was a lot of branches that needed to be removed completly and others had to be shortend. Below I have posted some pictures of the tree during my work yesterday.

Front of tree before any work was done ( front will be changed slightly )

Tree before any work was done

Tree before any work was done Tree before any work was done

Tree before any work was done

Tree before any work was done ( maybe new front )

Tree before any work was done

Cleaning up the branches as it has been growing wild the last year or two.

Cleaning up the branches

The tree after branch trimming and before wiring. - Old front

New front of the tree due on the old front lowest branch came straight towards the viewer. Now it is a side branch. The movement of the trunk is also better now.

The tree after wiring.

My inspiration for this tree are some of Walter Palls trees. He is a VERY talented guy in Europe ( http://walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com/) and is able to create very natural looking trees witch I love.

There are still a lot of things to be done with this tree in the future. I need to thicken the two lowest branches as they are to thin for the tree. The branch structure will also be worked on more to get more dense. Some branches might also be removed in the future.

Finally the tree will go into a nicer pot (next spring)

Inspirational tree by Walter Pall

Final picture. The tree is about 55 cm tall

Visit at NORDIC BONSAI CENTER Denmark

2011-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited the NORDIC BONSAI CENTER located 1.5 hour drive outside Copenhagen. Though I have lived in Copenhagen for about 9 years now, it was the first time for me to visit this nursery. In the past I have been ordering things from their website http://www.nordic-bonsai.dk/ ( pots, tools, soil etc ) and always with a quick and good service from them, so I was exited to finally go for a visit. The sun was shining, and it was a perfect day to do some bonsai shopping. :O) We arrived late afternoon and the owner had just finished a workshop and was happy to help. If you have a chance to go visit the Bonsai nursery while you are in Copenhagen, you should do it. The nursery have a very nice selection of trees at different price points and qualities. Both indoor and outdoor trees. I think anyone would be able to find a nice tree to take home. They also have a quit big store with a big selection of pots, books, tools etc etc. At the nursery the owner also have an exhibition of his own trees ( not for sale ) but very nice to look at as well. We got the permission to take some pictures in the nursery for my blog by the owner and I have posted them below.

VERY nice big lark forrest at the entrance

Me next to the forrest to compair size

Privat owned tree

Sales area

The tree I purchased (Celtis)

Sales area

Me in sales area

Sales area

The tree I wanted to buy

Talking about the trees on sale with the owner

The store with a big selection of pots

Unique pots made in Denmark

The store

The tree I was purchasing

Needs a lot of clean up in the branch structure

The adress of the nursery is the following:

Nordic Bonsai Center

Solvangsvej 36

4360 Kirke Eskilstrup

Mobil: +45 2033 2079

Telefon: +45 5916 2079

Go visit them when you have the chance!

Repotting shohin Elm tree

2011-04-09T16:25:00.001-07:00

It was now time to repot my shohin Elm tree and for it to go into the final container. I found and bought the new pot from Nordic bonsai center in denmark over the internet last year. In the pictures below I have showed the development of the tree since 2007. The tree was bought in 2007 at a normal flower shop very cheap - like 10 euros, and I thought I could make something out of it. When I got the tree it was planted in this "clay". Most imported trees are in when they are beeing shipped ( unless you buy the bonsai from a real nursery). It is impossible to keep the tree alive unless you repot the tree straight away. Many people have bought these small commercial bonsai in a local supermarket, and they dye quickly due to the clay around the roots when they dries out. Thats why most people think bonsai are difficult to keep... witch they are not if repotted into normal soil. I normally hose down the tree so it is barerooted and remove ALL the cray from the roots. I give the roots a light trimming and then repot it in nice looking pot. I let the tree grow for it to gain some strength a year or two before I start working more on it.

2008 I removed all the branches from the tree as I needed to rebuild the branch placement and branch structure. I am sorry I dont have a picture from then I first bought the tree. Above picture the tree has started to shoot new growth.

Aboe picture show the tree late summer 2008 after some rewiring.

Above picture showes the tree 2009 after letting it grow wild all spring.

The above picture showes the tree after some trimming summer 2009

Summer 2010 the tree was cut back and rewired again. I also desided to remove the root that was sticking out towards the back of the trunk as it did not look natural to me.

The aboe picture show the tree late summer 2010 - starting to look decent!

April 2011 the tree before wirring and repotting.

The tree after repotting with a new front. There still needs to be worked a lot on the branch structure, but starting to look nice.

Different angels of the tree

Backside of the tree

Maybe new front in the future?

Repotting shohin Juniper

2011-04-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

I also repotted my small juniper that I bought at http://www.bonsaifocus.com/ last august. I repotted into a bit bigger container than it will go into in the future, but it needs to gain some strength for a couple of years now before I continue to work on this small tree. The tree is about 16cm tall.

Tree before repotting

Tree after repotting

Repotting Maple tree in training pot

2011-04-09T15:56:00.001-07:00

Now it was time to repot my maple tree that I bought in Paris last spring. I desided to put it in a bigger container ( training pot ) for a couple of years. I would really like to improve the branch structure and make the crown bigger. There are still some branches that needs to be removed in the future. For now I will let it grow for a season or two. The nebari also needs to be worked on, but that will be done in a couple of years.

Old front of the tree

New front and new training pot

Springtime close up

Some spring images

2011-03-20T14:46:00.001-07:00

Few of my trees that got out from the winter storage.

This juniper will be repotted within the next few days into a bonsai training pot ( the pot next to it on the above picture). I bought it some time ago at www.Bonsaifocus.com, and still need to be worked on a lot in the next couple of years.

This juniper I worked on a lot last year, so this year I will let it be, for it to gain some strength.

This maple will be repotted within the next few days. It will go into a bigger training pot, as I want the tree to develop even further the next few years. The planned airlayering I wrote about earlier, I will put on stand by for a few years ahead.

REPOTTING SOON!

2011-03-10T04:57:00.000-08:00

The trees are starting to wake up slowly.
Soon it is time for repotting wich is a cool time of the year. First of all, it is a clear inditification of spring time is on its way. Secondly, It is good to finally getting my hands dirty after a loong winter where I have only been reading other blogs and studying the bonsai art on the internet.
I will be posting some pictures of my repottings and explanetions in the near future. It has been too long since any updates on this blog.
Hope all my bonsai friends will have a great spring enjoying every step of it.
All the best
Kenneth Olsen

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2010-12-27T04:31:00.000-08:00

Another year have past, and many things have happend. At the moment, all my trees are in the greenhouse, and there are a thick layer of snow on the ground. It is nice to see how the trees are developing, and hopefully in the year 2011 I will have even more trees in my collection.
See you soon, and I will start posting more, when it is time to work on the trees again and make them ready for the spring.

All the best
Kenneth

Introduction to Wiring Part 2

2010-11-21T02:47:00.000-08:00

Peter Warren Introduction to Wiring Part 1

2010-11-21T02:46:00.000-08:00

Google - Bonsai stores on Manhattan - not succesfull!

2010-11-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

I was visiting New York City this month, and was trying to see if there were any Bonsai shops on Manhattan. I googled and found 2 places! I had to go visit them, though I knew I was not able to buy any trees and bring to Europe... but just to look.

The adresses were :

Bonsai-Living Sculpture - 127 West 24th Street, New York - (212) 255-7805

China Bonsai stedside - 131 Walker Street, New York - (212) 343-2805

NON of the placed were there any more.. so I have learned to call the stores the next time I go traveling before I visit them!

just a good advise!

Update Maple tree - winter look

2010-11-06T05:43:00.000-07:00

Now this fall, was the first time I saw the maple, I bought in Paris this spring, in its fall glory. Last week all the leaves fell off and I could see the branch structure clearly. I need to do some wiring and some branch cutting in the spring time next year.
This spring I also did a airlayering of the tree, but not successfull. I think the area where I removed the bark was too narrow, so I will give it a new try next spring as well.
I have posted some pictures below of the tree.

August 2010

October 2010

November 2010 ( new front )

The area of airlayering that did not succed.

Old front of the tree!

Walter Pall - About differences between European and Japanese bonsai/style

2010-09-21T04:27:00.000-07:00

Walter Pall - about his beginnings in bonsai

2010-09-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Walter Pall - About bonsai in Croatia

2010-09-21T04:22:00.000-07:00

Walter Pall - About early days of bonsai in Germany

2010-09-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

Saburo Kato - English subtitle

2010-09-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Bonsai interview Hiroshi Takeyama - English subtitle

2010-09-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Daizo Iwasaki interview - English subtitles

2010-09-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Masahiko Kimura interview - English subtitles

2010-09-04T01:27:00.000-07:00

Small Elm tree - step by step

2010-08-28T01:13:00.001-07:00

This small elm tree I have had since 2006. I bought it at a normal flower shop, and thought I could make some fun with it. I think in a few years from now it will be a nice little tree.

In 2007 I removed all the old branches and decided to rebuild the branch structure.

2009 the tree did not do so well, and had a lot of yellow leaves due to insects.

Juli 2010 - The tree are doing very well, and I decided to start working on it.

I trimmed the tree and removed all the branches I did not need in the future plan.

The tree was wired and I removed the root towards the back, as it did not look natural to me.

The tree today - late August. I will not do any more to the tree this year, so the new shoots can harden up for the winter. Think the tree will look good i a few years. I want to repot it next spring and think I will not go for a round pot.

Juniper styling before and after

2010-08-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show the Juniper I have been working on during this last month.. and the end result for now... It still needs to be worked on in the future, but the last photoshop pic shows the idea for the tree in the future.

Final look of the tree

Photoshop pic

Big Figus story in pictures

2010-08-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to show some pictures of the work I have done on the big Figus during the last 2 years.

This is how the tree looked when I bought it 2 years ago. The upper part of the trunk was very straight, and not interesting at all. However the lower part I could use in the future to create a nice tree.

I decided to cut off a big part of the top of the tree, and repotted it.

This June the tree looked like this, and I decided to do some work on it.

I defoliated the whole tree, as the tree had grown very big leaves the past year.

This also made it easier for me to wire and find out what branches I wanted to keep.

I changed the front of the tree and wired it completely.

Beginning of august the tree had started to regrow the leaves and a lot of new shoots.

I decided to carry on with the second step. I bare rooted the tree and repotted it.

I wanted to work on the nebari and removed the long root at the new front. I also worked on some of the other roots to get a good rootspread.

I am using a light creme colour pot as I think the light green leaves will look good with it.

Tree ready for new soil

The tree has been repotted..

... and a new layer of moss was placed on top of the soil. I think the tree is starting to look good, and will be great in a few years time.

The tree is about 70 cm tall.

Literati Juniper Restyling.

2010-07-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Chinese Juniper styling - nice video

2010-07-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Maple Defoliation. cool video!

2010-07-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

SUTEKI BONSAI BERLIN - more pictures

2010-07-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

I got permission from the owner of SUTEKI BONSAI Berlin to post some of his pictures on my blog.. so here you go:

Suteki Bonsai - Berlin - www.suteki.deUferstraße 11, Berlin - 030 50911236.

Suteki Bonsai - Berlin - www.suteki.deUferstraße 11, Berlin - 030 50911236.

Work on new Juniper SHARI & JINS

2010-07-27T15:57:00.001-07:00

I bought this small Juniper at the SUTEKI BONSAI nuersery in Berlin. I really liked this little tree, though there was some work that needed to be done.
I started to work on the tree and will show you pictures and step by step how I have done.
Next spring it needs to go in a real bonsai pot, and will staring to look great.

First I will explain a little about JIN and SHARI:

JIN
One interpretation of the Japanese jin is "Godhead", but its definition in bonsai terms is rather less spiritual. Basically i jin is a dead branch witch has shed its bark. in nature such branches are etched by the wind and rain and becomes bleached by the sun. They are often seen on old conifers and even on deciduous trees, notably oak.
By artificial creating jins on a bonsai you can impart a feeling of great age, and when it is done with great care, their form and colour can complement the foliage masses to great effect.
Get into the habit of creating jins every time you branch prune conifers, rather than removing the branch completely. If you dont like it after having lived with it for a while, you can always cut it off later in the process.
You can create jins in normal pruning time, but the best time is to do it in the summer, when the bark is full of sap and it is easier to heal.
Once you have made the jin, you can give it texture by tearing the grain or by carving and sanding it to the shape you want.
Another good point is to bear in mind is that on a developing bonsai the foliage masses will grow, but the jins will not. If your new jins looks a bit too big, they may well be in better proportion in a few years time, so dont be too hasty in reducing their size at first.

This is how the tree looked like when I bought it. It has been pre styled by the nuersery.

The tree has a great trunk base and a shari was done to the first branch. I will explain later what a Shari is.

Close up of the jin that was created by the nursery. The branch is black as it has been bent with a low flame.

Some images of the tree from different angles. This will be the new front of the tree.

View from the top

I started to clean up the trunk. I am using water and a tooth brush. The brush I used was maybe a bit too soft, but I will do it again later in the work process.

This is the area I started to work on.

Started to clean the trunk with the toothbrush and water. I peeled off some of the lose bark as well with a small knife.

Startig to look better already.

result after I have been scrubbing for a few minuts.

I wanted to remove some of the black left on the jin from the bending with a knife.

I also used some fine sandpaper

The black stuff comes off very easily with the sandpaper.

Starting to look really nice.

The tree had some wire on from the pre styling, but I removed it, as I will wire the tree completely within the next week.

Tree after the cleaning and removing the old wire.

I was looking closer at the shari by the trunk base and desided to extend the shari even more. It will look really good in the end design of the tree.

I will explain a little about what Shari is:

SHARI

Sharis are related to jins but reflect a much more dramatic struggle with nature, causing a loss of bark from the trunk. This could be the result of lightning, disease, the battle with elements, or it may just be the way the tree naturally ages.

Like jins, Sharis are more appropirate on conifer bonsai, but for inspiration on deciduous trees take a look at a old willow with a split trunk or accient hollow oak.

I extended the shari by using a sharp knife.

I desided to make the shari go through a second branch what I wanted to create a jin out of anyway.

Close up picture of my work.

The tree after the shari was created. I will extend the shari even more in the future. but next week I will be doing the wiring of the whole tree. I will post pictures of that as well.

SUTEKI BONSAI BERLIN

2010-07-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

I was more impressed with the second store we visited named SUTEKI BONSAI. It is located in:

Suteki Bonsai - Berlin - www.suteki.deUferstraße 11, Berlin - 030 50911236.

I was very happy to see the big selection of both indoor and outdoor trees. They also have a big selection of pots, tools, Suteki etc etc. It was really worth the visit. The owner was very helpfull to explain about some of the trees.
The store contains a big selection of high quality bonsai and pre-bonsai.
Some of the trees have won great prizes.
I took some pictures for you to see.

JAPAN BONSAI BERLIN

2010-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

I was visiting Berlin this weekend, and was looking for Bonsai shops to go visit. One of the shops I found was a small one located :

Japan Bonsai Berlin - www.bonsaiberlin.com Kantstraße 124b, Berlin - 030 3121358.

The store was focusing on indoor trees in different price range. I like the store the way there was low price rage trees, but there were only 2-3 trees in high quality I think.
I took a few pictures in the store with permession from the owner.

View of the store from the outside

Figus tree around 250 Euros

Small mony tree 45 euros

Bigger money tree

Overview of the store

Overview of the pots

Small figus 68 Euros

Maple cuttings

2010-07-27T03:43:00.001-07:00

I decided to do come cuttings of the small maple tree. It has been growing a bit wild during the airlayering I did last month. I wanted to collect some cuttings before it would be to late in the summer. The cuttings needs to develop new roots before the weather starts to turn colder.
I took some pictures of the work I did.

Mother tree before the "hair cut"

Starting to cut the new grown shoots.

Mother tree after the cutting was done

Cutting of the lowest leaves of the cuttings

Putting the cuttings in rich soil for them to develop new roots

Small forrest already :O)

Maple tree from Graham Potter will not arrive :O(

2010-07-27T03:03:00.001-07:00

I made a reservation on a Maple tree, and it was suposed to arrive to my home in June. I found the tree on YOUTUBE, as I was going through Graham Potter's great videos from his nursery. I really liked the tree, and saw it was now for sale on his webpage.... how lucky could I be...
However... I just recieved an email:

"Hi, Graham tells me that the Maple has had a setback due to a fertilzer accident. The tree is not in a saleable condition at the moment so he would like to refund your deposit. Next year when it has recovered he will let you know first before he offers it for sale again."

I was SO Looking forward to its arrival! It has great branch structure and nebari. I will wait another year for this tree.

BONSAI - step by step

2010-07-21T05:04:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous Bonsai Trees. 　盆栽

2010-07-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Japanese Boxwood Shohin Bonsai by Anibal Poublan

2010-07-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Air layering maple doing just fine

2010-07-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

The small maple tree I did the airlayering in june, I have let grow to let it gain strenght to develop new roots, and it looks like it is doing just fine!

tree before the airlayering was done

Small Cherry Tree first styling

2010-07-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

This small cherry tree I found 2 years ago as a Yamadori. I decided, as it grow very fast, to style the tree for the first time. I had to cut off a LOT of branches and shorten the ones left. The tree is very healthy and has a great nebari under the surface.

As Walter Pall said one time : "To make a very beautyful bonsai, you have to start making it look very very ugly."

Sooo true!

2010 2nd US NATIONAL BONSAI EXHIBITION

2010-07-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

Grandmums maple tree doing fine

2010-07-04T08:23:00.001-07:00

As I wrote earlier on this spring, I did not know if grandmums maple did make it. Here is a small updated picture. It looks like it is doing just fine, but I will not cut it or anything this year or maybe even next year to give it the strenght back. I am just happy it survived!

Repotting a small elm tree

2010-07-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Maple over rock video

2010-07-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

BIG figus - starting to look like a bonsai

2010-06-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

This BIG figus I bought 4 years ago in Copenhagen. I was actually bought in a normal store that sells food. It was very cheap, and I thought I could get something out if it. The tree had a thick trunk, but the top 2/3 went straight up with out any interesting features. I desided to cut the tree down to 1/3 of the original size to create a more compact tree and get rid of the "fault" of the straight trunk.

It has been growing wildly and today I desided to take it by its horns!
Next year I will find a better pot for the tree, and work on getting the lower branches thicker.

tree before styling today

was defoliationg the whole tree as the leaves were big.

new front of the tree

after wiring, starting to look good

view from the top of the tree

This big cut will be hollowed out next spring

Styling another tree

2010-06-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

This tree I bought in Oslo 3 years ago, and did the first styling right after purchace. Later I will post some pictures when I just got the tree. It still needs to be worked on a lot, and more brances needs to grow out from the trunk, but in a few years it will start lookig like a bonsai.. but hey.. what is there to stress about when we will have the trees all our lifes.

Yamadori tree

2010-06-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

This very small tree I found 3 years ago as a yamadori out walking. I liked the shape of the trunk and the root base. When I got the tree free from the ground there was not a lot of roots with it. I actually did not think it would survive, but it grew very strongly the last couple of years.

Yesterday I started to work on the tree. Did some styling, wiring, and created a jin and shari. Next year I will repot this shohin tree.

small Yamadori birk tree

2010-06-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

This small tree I found 3 years ago in the forest close to were I live, desided to make a root over rock style tree with it, as the roots was really nice for that type of style. I placed the tree over a rock I actually found in Greece 4 years ago, and planted it in a growing container. One branch I let grow freely for about 2 years and then cut it back to give the tree some tapper, as it was very thin.
Last year I lifted the tree a bit up, so part of the rock and roots became visible. I cut the tree back and left it.
Yesterday I worked on the tree again. Below you can see the pictures.
Next year I will remove more soil from the roots, and think it will end up looking quit good. The rock is a lot bigger than it looks in the last picture.

Fagus Bonsai update

2010-06-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

This fagus tree I got 2 years ago from a garden center. It was bought as a tall slim tree. I cut it down straight away after arrival to my home. Today I was working on it some more.

I cut some branches, took off all the leaves away leaving the stilk. In this way the tree will shoot out a lot of new leaves/branches for me to work on next year. This will happen within the next 3-5 weeks.

I re wired the tree also. Next year I am concidering a airlayering to get a great nebari.

Tree as it looked before the styling

Tree after todays styling and "de-leafing"

small maple tree update

2010-06-19T14:23:00.001-07:00

Today I have been working a bit more on this little tree I bought last year at a garden center.. have been cutting some branches and re wired the tree. Think it will end up looking great in a few years.

The day it was purchased maj 2009

Same day after first work was done

Today before styling

Today after styling

Airlayering - step by step

2010-06-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today it was time for the airlayering of the Maplet tree I bought in Paris last month. The tree did not have great nebari, and seemed very healthy, so I decided I would not wait till next year, but do it now as it is the right time. Below I have explained the airlayering method and step by step pictures... enjoy!

AIRLAYERING
This "trick" is used on bonsai all over the world. In this case the nebari of the existing tree was not good at all, so a airlayering was done. Overall a airlayering is a trick to make the tree shoot new roots out, to re-build the base of the tree. High quality trees have a fine rootbase comming out from the trunk, in many cases all around, and most people consider this to be a good quality of a bonsai tree.

Most woody plants can be airlayered. With a sharp knif, make two cuts around the trunk 1-2 cm apart. You have to cut through the bark and to the heartwood. Using the tip of the knif, remove the bark as a complete band, exposing the heartwood underneath.
Place sphagnum around the exposed area of the trunk, making sure it comes well above and underneath the exposed area. Cover the area with a plastic pot cut open, and fill with more sphagnum.
This trick can be carried out from early spring to midsummer, so the area has time for developing new roots.
Later I will post pictures how to remove the tree with the new roots from the rootball, and plant it into a container. Normaly it will take between 3-6 weeks for the new roots to develop.

The maple tree from paris I will work on, as the nebari is not very strong.

Close-up picture of the "missing" nebari.

Plastic pot to cover the airlayering.

Chop sticks to remove soil from surface.

Wire to secure/close the plastic pot

To cut the plastic pot.

A sharp knif to cut the bark/peel off the bark.

I am lifting the tree out of the pot to remove some of the surface soil. In this way I can work lower on the trunk to keep as much taper as possible.

I found out that there were no net to cover the holes of the pot, so I used some on the pot.

I use wire to secure the net to the draining holes

like this...

I put more soil in the pot to lift the tree higher in the pot.

like this...

Then I start removing surface soil with the chop sticks.

Here the surface soil has been removed and more trunk base shown.

I use a sharp knif to cut two cirkels around the trunk with 1 cm distance between.

I start to peel off the bark so the heartwood is exposed.

Clean cut around the trunk base has been done.

Plastic pot beeing cut to be placed around the airlayering.

Before placing the cut plasticpot around the tree, I make sure no air pockets are in the side of the pot by filling it with soil and using the chop stick to push the soil into the sides.

Tree is ready!

The plastic pot cuts are beeing pushed into the soil of the pot to create a cirkel.

I have used wire to secure the plastic cuts around the tree and filled with soil.

Now the tree is ready to be left alone for the next 1-2 month to develop new roots.

Winter death

2010-06-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

These trees did not make it through the hard and cold winter :-( Next year I will improve how I keep my trees in the winter, so they can stand the surprizing -15 degrees we had this winter.

This tree I tried to cut back the dead branches to check if anything was alive, but no...

Grandmums Mapletree - winter damage

2010-06-05T01:24:00.000-07:00

Due to the hard winter in Denmark - as there was minus 15 degrees, and me beeing on the other side of the world ( Brazil ) - some of my trees was damaged as they had not been protected good enough. I was affraid Grandmums mapletree had died, as all the branches had died. But it survived, and now I need to start all over building up the tree. I will leave it alone for a year or tow, and put it in a bigger pot next year, to let it get some strength again. I am just happy it survived.

New maple arriving in June!!!

2010-05-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

Santa came very early this year...
I just made a reservation on this Maple tree, and it will arrive to my home in June.
I found the tree on YOUTUBE, as I was going through Graham Potter's great videos from his nursery. I really liked the tree, and saw it was now for sale on his webpage.... how lucky could I be... Looking forward to its arrival! It has great branch structure and nebari. Cant wait to start working on it.
I will post pictures of the tree the day it is beeing unpacked!

Shelf idea for my balcony!

2010-04-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

I was surfing the internet, and was reading a few bonsai-blogs today. I have a balcony with my trees and I needed a good idea how to place my bonsais on shelves. I was looking at this blog: http://alfredobc.blogspot.com and found some pictures. I did not understand what he is writing, but got the idea.
I hope he dont mind me posting the pictures here and sharing the idea! . I will be doing this project within this next month and will post similar pictures for you to see. Think it is a good idea for people with little space to stock bonsais.

Very nice video about styling a Juniper.

2010-04-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

http://vimeo.com/4027284

Yearly bonsai meeting in Denmark

2010-04-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

Nice article by Yvonne Graubæk ( sorry it is in Danish)

2010-04-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

I read this nice article by Yvonne Graubæk at http://www.bonsai-danmark.dk/. I am sorry it is in Danish. I hope she does not mind that I am posting it here.

Jeg har en plan

De fleste medlemmer af DBS kender nok min mirabelle, som jeg for 19 år siden i 1991, gravede op af noget meget sandet og tørt jord, planten var den gang en 2 årig, meget tynd plante, og den hårde skal som havde omgivet spiren, sad stadig ved.

Træet har været på udstilling 3 gange, en gang i Tjekkiet, og to gange i Danmark, træet blev i 2005 " Årets Bonsai"

Mirabellen er 32 cm. højt, og er et af de første træer, som jeg har startet op fra bunden, og det har været utroligt spændende at planlægge kommende sæsoners dyrkning. I de første år, da jeg var uerfaren, har min dyrkning meget ofte været lidt meget på lykke og fromme, men heldigvis uden at træet er gået ud af facon, hvilket meget nemt kan ske.

For 4 år siden betragtede jeg træet med kritiske øjne, og fandt at der var nogle "fejl" der gjorde, at det aldrig vill blive et rigtigt godt træ, med mindre jeg fokuserede på, at fjerne de ting ved træet, jeg i første omgang ikke kunne lide.

Jeg ønskede mig en tykkere nebari ( omkreds af stammen nederst ) især på bagsiden. Der var også et par grene der havde en forkert tykkelse, dvs. en gren over en anden gren længere nede var tykkere, hvilket er uskønt, og en sidste ting, træet var for lige, og tomt for grene foran, set fra siden, i forhold til bagsiden, det skulle ændres.

Jeg har konsekvent de sidste 4 år arbejdet på disse ting, og meget er allerede meget bedre.......Til en start planter jeg træet om hver vinter, i en passende skål, når skålen er fuld af rødder (potbound) midt på sommeren, sætter jeg træet over i en temmelig meget større skål, for at få mere "knald" på væksten. Da træet i sin tid er lavet på det nederste øje på planten, kommer der aldrig skud fra stammen nederst ved roden. Så den tykkere nebari er opnået ved at lade rødderne få plads. De bagerste rødder er om vinteren, de sidste år, ikke skåret lige så meget tilbage som de forreste, det har allerede givet den ønskede gevinst, problem er løst, nu er nebarien er lige så god bagpå, som foran, og ved siderne ( næsten) ...

På fotoet kan man se, at der er en ny gren uden sideskud... Den er en gevinst som begyndte at gro ud for to år siden, sikkert fordi træet fik en stor potte og masser af gødning. Den har jeg ladet gro stærkt uden grænser, men har skåret den tilbage i denne vinter. Denne gren skal igen i år gro uhæmmet fra det yderste, og fra et skud midt på grenen ( dette vil give grenen taper, dvs. grenen smalnes udad til ), jeg vil vælge grene fra bagsiden, til at gro frit, da arret senere ikke vil blive set fra forsiden. Resten af grenen vil blive beskåret som de andre, for at give forgrening.

Grenen over denne nye gren, på den anden side, var sidste år tyndere, end den gren der sidder over den på den anden side ( altså grenen over den nye gren). Det ser ikke godt ud, og falder ikke i hak med de grundregler, der forklarer hvordan en ideel opbygning af et træ bør se ud. Sidste år fik denne gren så fri til at gro fra to skud, halvvejs ude på grenen, indtil den var tykkere end den gren der var nummeret længere oppe af stammen, som sidegevinst fik jeg ekstra stammetykkelse under grenen.

Sidste år var toppen af træet blevet for tungt, så jeg skar de 7 øverste smågrene, meget hårdt tilbage i løbet af sommeren, det satte træet noget tilbage i toppen, og mere krudt blev brugt længere nede af stammen, toppen var dog på intet tidspunkt i fare, og kom sig allerede samme år, som det ses på fotoet.

Den nye gren der i år får frit løb til at gro fra 2 knopper, skal gro så meget, at dens tykkelse bliver et sted mellem grenen før, og grenen efter, det vil som en sidegevinst give stammetykkelse, som jeg ikke kan få nok af. Samtidig med dette, vil jeg arbejde på at få flere kviste foran ved stammen, så træet bliver mere harmonisk set fra siden.......hvis jeg ikke får uheld undervejs, vil mit dejlige træ være blevet forbedret. Men jeg har nok allerede øje på noget nyt der bør rettes, en gren har en fortykkelse der skal minimeres. Der skal til stadighed arbejdes på at gøre nederste gren mindre lige, en fejl der er sket i træets tidlige udvikling, osv.

Bonsai er levende, og hele tiden en spændende udfordring som man ikke kan forcere. Pasning og beskæring skal være i højsæde.....Jeg ser på mine træer med kritiske øjne, og selv om langtfra alle mine træer er gode ( endnu), og ikke alle kan blive det, så ser jeg på dem med "udstillerøjne". Dvs. kan træet vises på en større udstilling?, hvis ikke, hvad skal så ændres, så grundreglerne tilgodeses?, og hvordan skal jeg komme til målet?, det er det sjove, og drivkraften i min tilgang til bonsai.

Mange hilsener Yvonne

Tekst og fotos: Yvonne Graubæk

New Maple ACER STISTIGASHIRA

2010-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

When I was visiting Paris this week, I went by the PARIS BONSAI store, and bought this little tree. The tree is a ACER STISTIGASHIRA and is about 40 cm tall. It is about 12 years old and imported from Japan last year.

Maybe the new front

The old front

I liked this tree due to the trunk and the hollowed out part of it. The branches are balanced nicely up the tree, and the leaf size matches the overall size of the tree. The negative things are the nebari could be stronger and the pot. The nebari I will work on next spring, maybe even a air layering. And the pot.. well that can be changed.
Later I will adjust the angle of the front of the tree, to show the hollowed out part better, to give the tree some age. Below you will find some pictures of this little tree.

Spring in Paris

2010-04-25T05:20:00.001-07:00

This last week I have been in Paris for vacation. The weather was really really nice, and all the trees in the city looked as green as they possible could. During our stay I went to one of the bonsai shops in Paris.
The store is called BONSAI PARIS, and is located at 91 Rue de la Croix Nivert, 75015 PARIS, France, 01 45 32 22 69. www.paris-bonsai.com. The store is not that big, but have a nice selection of quality trees in different price ranges. I took some pictures of the shop and some of the trees for you to see.

Windswept - FUKINAGASHA - Pinus Parviflora

2010-04-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

I bought this tree - Pinus Paviflora - 2 days ago at a nursery and it was about 55 cm tall. I started to work on the tree. I desided to go for a windswept style.
Windswept/Fukinagashi
Although this style is one of the more naturalistic styles of bonsai, it is also one of the most dramatic. The aim is to capture the dynamic shape and movement of a tree living high in the mountains or on a clifftop, where it is constantly exposed to high prevailing winds. There are no rules groverning the trunk shape or location of branches, but in spit of this freedom this is one of the most difficult styles to create successfully.
I still need to do some final adjustments to this tree and some of the branches , but the base has been created for the future look of this tree. I repotted the tree in a better pot, and placed small pieces of moss on top of the soil. Quit happy with the result.
Next year I will add a shari on the left side of the tree to give it a more dramatic look. The top need to grow more also.

Tree before styling

Finished result

A very nice small video about Marco Invernizzi

2010-03-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sr6b5ylDqQ

Restyled the small Pinus Parviflora

2010-03-27T03:16:00.000-07:00

After the first styling of this little tree, some of the lower branches died, so I had to re consider the design of the tree. i jinned the dead branches, and keept them long, as I was not sure what to do with them yet. - Yes, think some of them are a bit too long, but think I will try to remove them in photoshop in different length to get a idea. Will do that in the upcoming week.
I removed some of the old long needles to create small compact clouds of branches.
For the rest of the year I will let it grow to gain some strength. Next year I am thinking about adding a shair to the tree to make it look even more old.

Tree before stying

Tree after styling

Very nice inspirational drawing I found on the internet

Grandmums Maple tree design - future plan

2010-03-13T01:11:00.000-08:00

Regarding my Grandmums maple tree I found a inpirational picture from Walter Palls's blog. Below you will see my tree and the picture I have taken inspiration from.. hopefully i can make this maple as nice as his.
I am looking a lot on his blog every week as there are loads of pictures of some of his world famous trees.
http://walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com/
I hope he do not mind that I am posting one of his trees here.

My tree today

Inspiration picture by Walter Pall

Small maple tree - first draft! Spring 2009

2010-03-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

This Maple tree I bought at a garden center spring 2009, and saw some potential in it..These pictures is from that same day as I purchased it... however it has a LONG way to go, before it will turn into a great bonsai. I will keep posting pictures of this little tree as it develops.

Japanese Cemetery Sao Paulo Brasil

2010-03-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

This jan. I was visiting Brasil, and we went to the Japanese Cemetery outside Sao Paulo. Took a few pictures

Updated pictures of some of my trees

2010-03-12T08:31:00.000-08:00

Today I have been taking pictures of some of my trees.. they are at different develop states, and some will be worked on this spring and others I will be leaving alone for this year. To keep the trees healthy is the most important, as I want to enjoy them for many years in the future.
See some comments below each picture of the trees.

The big Elm tree I have cleaned up all the branches to make it ready for springtime. I took away all the old wires, and the branches are not quit where I want them to be, so will rewire the tree in the near future before the new buds starts to grow. Think it will develop nicely this season. Will be working on the thickness of the lower branches and the small lowest branch to the left needs to grow a LOT more. Also the lowest small branch to the right at the back needs to develop to one of the biggest branches of the tree. I will let them grow wild this season.I need to work on the trunk and hollow out some of the dead part. Will post pictures of my work when I have done it.

Regarding Grandmothers Maple tree I am considering an air layering this spring to improve the nebari. Think I will let it grow freely this season to improve the health and get the fine new roots to develop before fall 2010.
This big Elm I will be working on the next few days and start to clean up all the last seasons growth, and prepare it for this new season. I will repot the tree to show it from a better angle. Will keep the pot for now though it is a bit too big, but it will work as long as I am working alot on the tree.
Regarding this Birk, I will do an air layering this spring to improve the nebari. Then I will let it grow for a few seasons to develop the trunk and branches.

Pine tree as it looked 2009 after first styling

Pine tree as it look today!

My pine tree I will wire in a few weeks time. Last year I did some styling of the tree and was quit happy with the result... however the lower branches died, and I had to reconsider the design. I did some jins on the branches that died.. but are not sure if I will keep all of them yet. Think the tree will look good at the end. :O)

The small Elm shohin I will do some grafting this spring, as I need a few branches on the lefthand side of the tree. Other than that I will let it grow - maybe even in the grown, as it did not do that well last year (not sure why)

That was it for now, but will post more pictures of my work on the trees later on.
All the best
Kenneth

Springtime soon ahead!

2010-03-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

So.. long time no see.
I has been a while since I wrote the last time, but soon I will upload some new pictures.
Unfortunately I have lost a few trees due to the cold cold weather, but hopefully most of them have survived.
Looking forward to the spring.. the best time of the year.
Kenneth Olsen

Juniper beeing styled on youtube

2009-08-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78cOPZl0l44&feature=channel_page

Elm - now with "leaves"

2009-08-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

Tried to add some folie to the newly styled tree to get an idea how I want it in the future.

Big ELM tree

2009-08-10T03:50:00.000-07:00

Tree before styling

New front

Me working on the tree

Carving the holes

Starting cleaning up the branches

Not much let for wiring

Wiring the tree

I started to work on this tree few days ago. As you can see I have cut off A LOT of branches, as I needed to clean up the whole tree. It has been growing wild the last year or so. I need to treat/carve the holes left from the branches a lot more, but that I will do later. I wired the tree, and next year I will put it in a more suitable container. The nebari also needs to be worked on next summer. I did select a new front for it to show the trunk from a better angle.

Grandmums maple developing nicely

2009-07-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Tree today after rewiring and some trimming

Tree starting to bud out with new sets of leaves

Grandmother's maple have now leaves again after defoliation about a month ago, and I have done some rewiring of this tree. I have tried to bring the lower branches closer to the ground, and readjusted the placement of the top branches to create a more 3D crown, and not too 2D. Furthermore I have shortened a bit of the top of the tree to make a more compact crown.
Cant wait till next year to plant it in a better pot. The nebari of this tree is not that good, so I am also considering a airlayering next spring.

Elm - Ulmus Paviflora

2009-07-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

Trre after purchase in 2001

After first styling 2001

Tree gone wild with new growth after removal of ALL branches 2005

Tree after styling and final branch selection 2007

Tree gone a bit wild in 2008

Ulmus Paviflora June 2009

This Elm tree I bought back in 2001 at a local flower shop in Denmark. It is about 60 cm tall.
I really liked the nebari of the tree and saw great potential in it. I dont know about the age of the tree or where it came from.
When I came home I started styling the tree. After restyling of the tree I was not too happy about the branches and the placement of them, but left the tree alone for a few years and only did some small trimming. I had keept it as a indoor tree and in about 2003 a lot of the leaves started to fall off due to the indoor dry clima I had. I desided to take to my parents place and put it in the ground for a year or so.
The tree started to do well, I desided to put it back in a training pot in 2005 after I had taken off all the branches completely as I was not happy with the branch structure of the tree. My mom thought I had gone MAD! I dont have pictures of the tree with out any branches unfortunately. It showed great growth and I started to take off all the branches I did not want in the final design.
The tree have done quit well ever since, but still need some buildup of the crown. I am not sure about the pot yet, but I hopefully find the perfect one for it later. Any suggestions?

This tree I have had the longest and even in the time I was not that interested in Bonsai in about 5 years I still liked this tree.

10 ways to improve your Bonsai - By John Matsubonsai.com

2009-07-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

10 ways to improve your bonsai
Posted on April 18th, 2008 at 9:50 am by admin

We’re constantly trying to improve our trees, individually and as a collection. Below are 10 (because, thats the recommended amount to have in a list) surefire ways to improve both your collections and your individual trees …in no real order of significance:

Cull - Simply, the quality of your remaining collection as a whole improves immediately since the worst trees aren’t “bringing down the average”. We all have trees we shouldn’t have bought, that we don’t know what to do with, or that are years from developing into bonsai. Having fewer, but higher quality trees will force you to learn the new techniques necessary to bring your pre-bonsai to the bonsai stage, and your bonsai to the finished show-ready stage. You’ll also be able to afford each tree more individual attention and time. You’ll be glad you have less trees when it comes time to mix (and sift?) soil and repot all your trees before they’ve leafed out.
Fertilize heavily - A healthy tree is a well-fertilized tree. Different times of the year dictate different approaches but in general, we probably underfeed our trees. A healthy, well-fertilized tree is able to recover from the stress inflicted by bonsai culture, and you’re able to work these trees harder. I prefer to rotate a series of organic and chemical fertilizer.
Wire often and completely- Deciduous trees grow incredibly fast and wire may cut in and scar branches much faster than with conifers. Plan to wire your deciduous trees throughout the season, thus preventing scarring. Nothing improves the look of your bonsai than wiring it completely to the tips. Start with the largest guage wire necessary and step down to the 1mm aluminum for the details. Your trees will thank you and you’ll have a growing sense of satisfaction.
Repot - Young trees tend to need repotting more often than older ones, but bonsai tend to be repotted on a 1-3 year scale. This will invigorate your trees, especially if they’re in an appropriately draining (very fast, yet moisture retentive) soil mix and well-fertilized. Another aspect of repotting involves the removal of crossing roots, thick roots, and roots growing down instead of laterally. Proper repotting technique will begin to dramatically improve not only the health, but the appearance of the tree by promoting taper and nebari growth.
Prune - Pruning can direct growth and help reclaim the silhouette of a tree. Learning the appropriate times to prune for proper (fastest?) healing and energy redirection will result in healthier, better looking trees that are easier to manage the following years. There are also special techniques for pruning, such as Japanese Black Pine candle pruning in summer. Learning which trees need concave cutters and which don’t (generally the thin-skinned trees like crape myrtle and azalea) will allow you to help manage scarring as well.
Insecticide - Healthy trees are more resistant to pest attacks but from time to time it may be necessary to help your trees fight off an attack with a dose of insecticide. I’d suggest treating the trees after you notice the insects rather than as a preventive measure to avoid the insects you’re targeting developing resistance to the insecticides. Check labels carefully to avoid harming your trees.
Fungicide - As mentioned above, a healthy tree is more resistant to disease, but sometimes we leave them susceptible due to pruning, candling, needle plucking, and any of the numerous techniques we use that stress our bonsai. Fungicide, especially in spring, can be a necessity for some species. A light spray can go a long way in eliminating black spot, petal blight, etc. Again, choose carefully to avoid harm to your trees.
Pinch - Some species, such as Japanese Maples and to a lesser extent Junipers, should be pinched regularly during the spring growing season. This applies mainly to finished trees, as the pinching action will slow down any elongating growth creating a denser silhouette. Careful timing and proper planning should be used to determine when best to pinch, if at all.
Ramify - Ramified branching certainly improves the appearance of age on any bonsai. Well-ramified branches also offer interest after the leaves have fallen providing enjoyment of your trees during the slow winter season.
Clean - Keeping the bonsai soil free of weeds and other debris, particularly fallen leaves, will help maintain the appearance and health of your bonsai. Staying on top of the cleaning chores will decrease the amount of time spent in preparing for a display, and also makes it easier to send your trees into winter storage.

I want to give credit to John of matsubonsai.com who was kind enough to let me steal his ideas and some of his writing. You really ought to check out his blog regularly as he’s doing some neat things and offering practical tips. Seriously, check him out.

About sealing wounds on Bonsais - by Walter Pall

2009-07-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

One would think that the question of wound sealing is something that can easily be solved by listening to professionals who trim trees for a living and to scientists who do the research on which the horticultural practices are based. As one can see it is not that simple. There are fights about this in garden clubs. There are fights about this on the local side of newspapers when trees are trimmed in a park. In bonsai circles this is like a religious war. How is it possible that something which should leave no doubts because of obvious simplicity causes such aggravation?

The main reason in my eyes is that folks in general have no or almost no clue about functioning of a plant but they have a general clue how a human functions. They know that if a person has a large wound which is not treated it is not so healthy. They know that it must be avoided to rot from within if you are a mammal. If KK hates me so much that he cuts my belly open and leaves me without treatment it would be just but not healthy. If I told him that any would treatment would be detrimental and it should be left as it is he would call me nuts or an ignorant; and right so. And the same should be true with trees - the earth is flat. Wound sealants were and still are based on this huge misunderstanding. Then along came Dr. Shigo and he revolutionized the horticultural world. His research found something that is called codit (because most folks could never spell or pronounce the word compartmentalization). In a nutshell it says that trees do NOT rot from within as common sense tells as. They form compartments with chemical and physical boundaries. These compartments are started in the center of a trunk and there are several in rings to the outside. While the center compartment will rot at some time the rot will not continue into the next compartment easily. It will eventually, but on the outside the tree will grow and form new compartments. Even if all inner compartments rot there will still be an outer one where the living root will keep growing. This process normal is so slow that a tree will grow away from the rot successfully for many hundred years, even thousand years. Almost every very old conifer in nature rots from within. But due to compartmentalization the don't die.
Dr. Shigo found that humans who 'help' trees more or less professionally make two mistakes:
1) They cut branches off flat to the trunk and by doing so they make big open wounds across several compartments. Thus they create the danger that otherwise healthy compartments will be easily invaded by all sorts of critters, mainly fungi and to eventually rot.
2) Wound sealants as applied conventionally are meant to prevent rotting of the inner parts of the tree. He found that exactly the opposite is the consequence of this. First out in nature there is no way to prevent some sort of fungi or bacteria getting onto a fresh wound. If some innocent landscaper thinks he can prevent this he simply does not know enough. If you seal it you are creating an ideal environment for these critters to do their work. They need warmth and moisture which the get much better with a sealant than without one. So Dr. Shigo revolutionized horticulture by stating that wound sealants are superfluous and can even be dangerous.
Dr. Shigo is considered an eternal landmark in horticultural science for his findings. A student of horticulture who has never heard of him is an ignorant. A person who think he can fight decades of scientific study of the best capacities in the world with just common sense is a silly ignorant. A landscaper who pretends to not have heard of Dr. Shigo and cannot pronounce compartmentalization is at best a very simple person or a charlatan.

But the world has not changed too much. It is accepted mainstream horticultural practice by now to follow Dr. Shigo, but many don't. Well, fact is that one gets away with it because it takes years before the results show and then one can make money with ignoring Dr. Shigo. How that? Well, cut off big branches in a public park an do not treat them with something and you will see that people jump all over you. They 'know' they you are doing something wrong. Folks ask you to treat their trees in the garden and you live big open wounds. They will think you don't know what you are doing. So there are many charlatans who do put wound sealants onto big wounds to make money and to make people shut up. These charlatans know that they should not really doing this, but it is good for them and not all that bad for trees; a least not immediately. And then there are some who have not bothered to continue learning after basic horticultural education. They are doing things the way we used to do them thirty years ago. The problem is that the public would rather listen to them than to science.

What has this all to do with bonsai?
Well we do create big wound on trees all the time. Should not all the findings of Dr. Shigo apply.? My take is that they certainly do.

So far to science. Now to practice. What do I personally do after decades of study?

I know that I am endangering compartments if I do cuts as they are the norm in bonsai; which means close to the trunk and even with a concave cutter which is even worse as Bill V. has pointed out. I choose to still do this because it will not kill the tree. It will create rotting compartments but it will NOT KILL the tree. Trees can be all hollow and still be very much alive. Large trees in nature can be endangered because the loose stability. With bonsai this is not an issue. When I do big cuts I usually make sure that the wound is NOT regular like it is recommended in bonsai. There will be callus and with very big wounds there will always be hole. With smaller wounds there will always be a scar. I want to make sure that the hollow or the scar look natural, meaning never round like done with a knob cutter. I make crude indentations on the edges of a would on purpose.

As far as sealant goes there is a huge difference between conifers and non-conifers. Conifers in general will not rot easily because they have the best protestant already, which is raisin. Deciduous trees will rot much easier, but I know holes will rot even more when 'protected' Well, much to the surprise of many I generally want my hole to rot. I want big natural looking hollows in my bonsai normally. So I could well use sealant to make the holes rot. But since I know that sealant is superfluous I just don't use any. IN GENERAL.

I do use sealant on some cuts where I see the danger of drying out quickly. This is on some tender maples sometimes. Sometimes I brake branchlets accidentally and think that they still have a chance to heal. Then I put some sealant to the wound to prevent dehydration. I use sealant that will disappear by itself after a few months and that is inexpensive and not very visible: COW MILKING FAT. I have a farm supply store very near by where I get this fat for almost nothing. (Yes, it is fat that you put on your hands when you stroke the tits of the cow). It is almost invisible, works like Vaseline and stays on for about a year before it disappears. and is certainly not poisonous.
And I do hide obviously fresh wounds sometimes by putting some camouflage onto them.

What do I tell people who insist in still sealing every wound on a bonsai? Well, go ahead if it makes you feel good but be aware that it is more for YOUR soul than for the tree. And do not believe that the one who is telling you that he does use sealants is the better person.

Amen. Posted by Walter Pall

Feeding again - by Walter Pall

2009-07-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting blog comment by Walter Pall about Feeding your trees.

"I wrote this mail to a friend and thought this could interest many others. The friend had asked why I would feed a lot more than other folks.
Normal feed mixtures are for normal plants. Normal plants grow in soil which already has nutrients. They just grow and should not grow too much anyway. Like house plants.

Bonsai sit in very well draining substrate and are watered aggressively. The minerals are washed out quickly. Bonsai have to grow MORE than other plants during development phase. 99 % of bonsai are in development phase. They have to grow much to make it possible to style them quickly. They have to grow lots that can be cut off several times during a summer.
I definitely use three times the advised strength of fertilizer. I definitely use regular cheap fertilizer for normal plants. That is 10-10-10 or 20-10-10 or similar, anyway lots of nitrogen. And I feed every ten days to two weeks throughout the whole growing season. Compared to regular bonsai folks I feed about 20 to 60 (sixty) times more.
My trees look as happy as trees can look like. Yes, they grow much stronger than in other gardens and I have to cut off lots and lots. I think this is great because my trees can be developed much faster than others. My trees have no pests because they have very strong immune systems. So far I have not realized any damage from my super-feeding-program.
I feel that in America the following happened: During the past fifteen years the overwhelming majority of bonsai folks have changed from soil to modern substrate with their trees. But they are still applying the old wisdom concerning watering and feeding which was correct with soil. As a result many trees are suffering from drought and are starving. Nobody is telling people that with the new substrate they RADICALLY have to change watering and feeding schemes.

I hope this helps
Walter

Root rod and overwatering by Walter Pall

2009-07-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

This a interesting blog comment by Walter Pall about overwatering.
See his blog link to the right hand side of my blog page.

To a thread at bonsai talk overwatering myth

Walter wrote this:

"The subject is close to my heart since many years. Bonsai don't die of root-rot. The roots of bonsai die because of some problem, then people continue to water as before. The roots cannot take up the water because they are dead. The soil or substrate as a consequence becomes more moist than before. The tree shows signs of death. The bonsai is taken out of the container and it is clear that the roots are rotting. One can see it and one can even smell it. Also it is obvious that the soil is too wet. So the gardener comes to the conclusion that the tree was overwatered and died of root-rot.
WRONG!
The roots have rotted because they were dead. Trees don't die of root-rot like people don't die of FEVER. Fever is a symptom of a disease. It can be many different diseases but the symptom is the same. Root-rot is a symptom and can have many different reasons.

In general bonsai are UNDERWATERED most of the time. Our literature warns so much of overwatering that most bonsai folks underwater their darlings. Many trees suffer or even die because they are not watered enough.

Modern substrates have created a very different situation than what is described in most bonsai books. What is a modern substrate? Well, anything like akadama, pumice, crushed lave, baked loam, turface, Styrofoam flakes, coconut crush, seramins and hundreds of other materials. They all have a couple of properties in common: small particles of even size which don't decompose or decompose slowly; ability to work as water buffer - take on water and and release it alter; due to the coarseness drainage is good and aeration; OXYGEN gets to the roots easily.

Consequences if you use modern substrates:

1) You MUST water aggressively and frequently. Meaning everything must be wet whenever it is time to water. During the main vegetation period this is EVERY day. Overwatering is not an issue! It is not possible to overwater. Whatever is too much will flow out of the pot through the drainage holes. Underwatering is very well possible.ANY FOOL CAN WATER WELL! Al that one has to do is to maike eveything dripping wet. If al trees are in modern substrate ther is no such thing as individula wateing anymore!
2) Yo MUST feed aggressively and frequently. During the active vegetation period this means about every ten days to tow weeks. You should feed much more than you used to. I feed about 30 (thirty) times more than I used do in the old days when we used soil instead of substrate. You can use chemical fertilizer. The danger of chemical fertilize (namely burning roots) is not present when you water aggressively. Whatever is too much will be washed out soon. You should use organic fertilizer a couple of times during the vegetation period besides chemical. Organic is everything that smells. (BTW: it is absolutely NOT necessary to use feed cakes and to mix you own feed. Any agricultural store has everything you need for bonsai.)

As a result your trees will grow much better than they used to.
I treat all my trees including ALL my world famous trees exactly in this way. I water about 500 trees in 30 minutes. Or my wife does when I am not there. She has no clue what she is watering. And she does not need to have a clue.

Don't trust you literature! Most bonsai books were written long before we started to use modern substrates. The information in bonsai books about watering, feeding, soil is antiquated most of the time. The information is even very dangerous if you use modern substrate.

Posted by Walter Pall at 3:27 PM

more about over-watering

The Rhine in Germany as many rivers here gets the usual spring flood in May or June or both. The water is very high for a few days and then pretty high for many weeks. There are quite a few forests and hundreds of thousands of trees alongside the river which are under water for weeks. Many are almost swamp-trees like willows, but many others are just ordinary trees which will grow in the forests on the hill too. According to conventional bonsai wisdom they all MUST die because they are standing in water for weeks. Why don't they die? Well, the water is full of oxygen and the banks of the river are of pure sand and grit. The tree standing in this sand will get a constant flow of fresh water UNDER the soil surface right where the roots are constantly. All this water is full of oxygen. while there are lots and lots of organic matter which decompose and use up oxygen they don't do harm because the water is moving.

Can we learn a lesson here for bonsai culture? it is NOT about water in the soil or substrate. it is all about oxygen getting to the root tips or not.

Posted by Walter Pall at 4:05 PM

Root rot can be two things. A rare fungus can infect the roots and kill them at least partially. They die and rot. This is a rare thing and has NOTHING to do with over watering. The fungus kills anyway, whether over watered or not, but it can be much more aggressive when the roots are all wet. Bonsai practitioners should NOT worry about this. It is very rare.

So what is the famous root rot that trees die off when over watered? Well, trees (apart from the 'real' root rot) don't die of root rot! And root rot is not necessarily a consequence of over watering with bad soil. It can also be under watering or many other things. It is simply this: For some reason roots die and then in a moist environment they will rot. When the bonsai enthusiast then finds that something is very wrong with the tree and takes it out of the pot he finds rotted roots. and He 'knows' that this caused the death. The truth is that rotted rots are a symptom, like fever. In the old days the would say of early settlers 'and they died of fever'. well, this was simply an acknowledgment that they had no clue what they had really, but they had fever anyway.
bottom line: TREES DO NOT DIE OF ROOT ROT! Trees die and then the roots rot. The gardener has to find out what was the cause of death when he sees the symptoms. you have to find the cause of fever.

When do trees die from over watering? When one uses an old-fashioned bad soil then there is not enough drainage. Water cannot flow off easily. Water will stay in the root ball and not keep it moist but wet. As a consequence the entry of new air with oxygen is blocked and roots suffocate. Roots must have oxygen in the air otherwise they will suffocate and die. Thus over watering in combination with bad soil can well kill trees and when they are dead they show root rot as symptom. Under watering can kill roots by simply drying out. When you then later on water again the dead roots will rot. it is the same symptom, but a radically different cause.

Modern substrates are very well draining and aerating. It would be difficult to over water. One can pour water into a bonsai with modern substrate for several minutes and all the superfluous water will flow out of the drainage holes and there will be free access of new air and thus roots will get oxygen to breath. If you insist you can over water still, of course. Just pour water in for hours. But who would do that?

Root rot is a bonsai myth. Posted by Walter Pall at 7:28 AM 9 comments

New buds after defoliation on " Grandmums maple"

2009-07-09T03:32:00.000-07:00

White Pine Pinus Parviflora

2009-07-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Picture 1

Taken after purchase

Picture 2
Taken after first styling

Picture 3
Taken after second styling this spring

Picture 4

Taken this afternoon as it looks now

This pine I bought from a Bonsai nursery in October 2008. I really liked this tree and wanted to style the tree with a compact crown.

I did some pre-styling on the tree as I wanted to kind of find out on the way, what to do with it. Some of the branches died this spring, so I had to think differently about the final result of the tree. I actually think I now got a tree that looks a lot older and have more character. Regarding the Jins I am not sure if I want to keep all of them or if they should be shortened a bit.

I wanted to create a pine where dead branches are kind of almost breaking off and long as I see in nature. The crown still have to be worked on; but I will leave the tree alone for a while now.

Grandmums Maple tree

2009-07-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Picture taken after first styling Spring 2008

Picture taken June 2009

After defoliation and wirring June 2009

This Maple I have had since summer 2008. I was actually growing in my grandmothers garden for many years, and I have always seen some potential in it. Sadly my grandmother past away last summer. The house was sold but I got the permission from the new owners to dig up this tree as I wanted to have a nice memory of her. She had always been fasinated about my trees.

The tree was planted into a bucket, and let for a few month. As it was starting to grow further and looked healthy I desided to do the first styling.

The tree when it was located in the garden, had a big side branch that died. This made the tree trunk very interesting to me as there was natural shari.

Already one of my favorite trees in my collection.

The pot will be changed next year during repotting. Maybe for a round flat pot

Bonsai development from Nursery tree

2009-03-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

Final result

Tree before styling

This little tree I have had since august 2008. It was bought at a Bonsai nursery in Denmark. I saw great potential in this small tree, and started to work on it as soon as I got home. Here is a few pictures of how it has developed. This fall I was repoting it for a more dramatic and rough pot, wich I feel goes great with the style of the tree.

The size of the tree is about 15 cm tall.

Welcome to my Bonsai blog

2009-03-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Now it was time to start a blog about my bonsai collection. To keep track my self about the development of the trees and also to show to other bonsai people what I am doing. You are more than welcome to give comments about my work or suggestions for improvements.
I will upload pictures thats shows the development of my treese on a consistant basis.
All the Best

Kenneth Olsen

Kenneth Olsen's Bonsai Blog

HOT TIP! - Web pages

Brooklyn Botanical Garden - Bonsai exhibition

Elm shohin update!

Sad story 2

Sad story 1

Shohin update!

Celtis tree Update

Bonsai TV

The Bonsai Art of Japan Episode 7

The Bonsai Art of Japan - Episode 6.mov

The Bonsai Art of JAPAN Episode 3

The Bonsai Art of Japan - Episode 2.mov

The Bonsai Art of Japan - Episode 1.mov

SUMMER

New Celtis Sinensis tree

Visit at NORDIC BONSAI CENTER Denmark

Repotting shohin Elm tree

Repotting shohin Juniper

Repotting Maple tree in training pot

Some spring images

REPOTTING SOON!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Introduction to Wiring Part 2

Peter Warren Introduction to Wiring Part 1

Google - Bonsai stores on Manhattan - not succesfull!

Update Maple tree - winter look

Walter Pall - About differences between European and Japanese bonsai/style

Walter Pall - about his beginnings in bonsai

Walter Pall - About bonsai in Croatia

Walter Pall - About early days of bonsai in Germany

Saburo Kato - English subtitle

Bonsai interview Hiroshi Takeyama - English subtitle

Daizo Iwasaki interview - English subtitles

Masahiko Kimura interview - English subtitles

Small Elm tree - step by step

Juniper styling before and after

Big Figus story in pictures

Literati Juniper Restyling.

Chinese Juniper styling - nice video

Maple Defoliation. cool video!

SUTEKI BONSAI BERLIN - more pictures

Work on new Juniper SHARI & JINS

SUTEKI BONSAI BERLIN

JAPAN BONSAI BERLIN

Maple cuttings

Maple tree from Graham Potter will not arrive :O(

BONSAI - step by step

Gorgeous Bonsai Trees. 盆栽

Japanese Boxwood Shohin Bonsai by Anibal Poublan

Air layering maple doing just fine

Small Cherry Tree first styling

2010 2nd US NATIONAL BONSAI EXHIBITION

Grandmums maple tree doing fine

Repotting a small elm tree

Maple over rock video

BIG figus - starting to look like a bonsai

Styling another tree

Yamadori tree

small Yamadori birk tree

Fagus Bonsai update

small maple tree update

Airlayering - step by step

Winter death

Grandmums Mapletree - winter damage

New maple arriving in June!!!

Shelf idea for my balcony!

Very nice video about styling a Juniper.

Yearly bonsai meeting in Denmark

Nice article by Yvonne Graubæk ( sorry it is in Danish)

New Maple ACER STISTIGASHIRA

Spring in Paris

Windswept - FUKINAGASHA - Pinus Parviflora

A very nice small video about Marco Invernizzi

Restyled the small Pinus Parviflora

Grandmums Maple tree design - future plan

Small maple tree - first draft! Spring 2009

Japanese Cemetery Sao Paulo Brasil

Updated pictures of some of my trees

Springtime soon ahead!

Gorgeous Bonsai Trees. 　盆栽