Recent content by tamakwe

I collected a Utah Juniper a while back that was growing on a steep hillside. The tree is about 8 inches thick at the base, and right now about 2 1/2 feet high. Its trunk was buried in mud over the years, and as a result, the roots start about 12 inches below the soil. The tree is awesome above...

It's funny you mention ink paintings. One of the ABS directors I met years ago recommended I look at the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden. It's a Qing Chinese manual for landscape painting that was used to train artists in Edo Period Japan. John Naka wrote that most bonsai styles and the words...

I've been doing bonsai for a long time, and I've gotten great at the horticultural and technical aspects. But advanced styling is still largely a mystery to me. I know all the basic rules and can style a decent tree, but I'm always impressed with what more advanced members can do with the mature...

Actually, this spot has gotten a few inches of rain above average this year. The area was very green with lots of new grass, even though its hard to see in the photo, and I saw a lot of new growth on some of the trees. Many had berries too. How important are the roots in collecting CA...

I started bonsai when I was a kid about 15 years ago and had a lot of great mentors. Within a few years, my entire collection was made of of mature trees I had collected in the Northeast from the wild. Most of the men in my family were hunters and a couple were foresters, so I knew a lot of...