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I am not that active here anymore. A lot has changed in the last 12 years. NEBG still imports but for their own trees for sale. i do not know if they would do it for an individual - I doubt it). You would have to contact them (email address at the website). I think Jim Doyle at Natures Way...

I just got some from Karen. I email her directly. She is still making it and it is very good fertilizer.

Vin. Good question and why I hesitate to post much on these groups. I primarily prefer to work with students in person (groups or individually). It's just my personal preference. There is SO much to say and I don't have the time or patience to type a lengthy explanation that makes sense AND...

Hi Vance, Once the tree is healthy, you can trim back pretty good to style. I've often cut back/styled and left a few runners - so basically style it a bit gradually. I remember having a nice itoigawa with good foliage that I took to a workshop 10+ years ago with a japanese shohin...

Shimpaku itoigawa have a tendency to sprout juvenile (needle type) foliage when weak. Over pruning, over feeding, over watering, heavy root pruning, etc can throw the tree out of balance and its reaction is to sprout this juvenile foliage. Allowing the tree to grow a lot of foliage can restore...

Tom, you've done the right thing. Letting itoigawa to get 'bushy' with numerous runners allows it to maximize it's 'metabolism' and form a predominance of mature scale foliage. Next spring will be time to style it. You're on the right track. Feed well this fall as also. john

I would listen to Lord Vader as he has experience sifting a LOTof sand on Tatooine searching for Obi wan.....

If you saw them side by side, it is not that hard to tell the difference. Here is a very good photo blog of the differences (though still easier to tell if shown in person): http://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/more-on-differences-among-itoigawa-kishu-and-shimpaku-junipers/...

I would second Al's evaluation. We have had many of this individuals trees come through New England Bonsai (some we still have and still have tags like this - most of his trees were tagged). I would make an educated assessment that this is a shimpaku grafted onto prostrata as well. We have...

Rob, I remember visiting Johns with you and you finding that tree, ruminating for a while over it (and hiding it from the rest of us! lol) and then buying it. Great find and history. john

oyakata looks good! love that place. Thanks for sharing pictures. I haven't been in a couple of years now.

I know I have a better picture on my computer somewhere but this is all I could find. It took Nick a few years for the grafts to take but very nice result. john

some interesting things can be found in this article: http://bonsaiunearthed.com/refinement-techniques/pseudocydonia-sinensis/ john

Erodium make awesome mame. I had this one for 12 years until it succumbed. I didn't know that even lived that long. trunks up well and leaves reduce great. Also can do root over rock with them.

Elegance is what I prefer to focus on in this regard. After a long discussion with a bonsai friend in Japan, I wrote an article on elegant shohin bonsai for International Bonsai a few months back. Harder to achieve (as Smoke said), more challenging to maintain but quite beautiful when done...

I'll second Adair on this. On vigorous black pines, you can wire out the ends with the strong buds horizontal. The sunlight will bring them to a vertical position. It's also another little technique to slow down the vigor on strong black pine buds. White pines, you point the end buds in a...

One that is not mine but I was asked to wire at Taisho-en when I was there. A very classic style bunjin-gi white pine.

And here is one that I helped one of my students create in the Kaikou School. The student made the pot as well though I think, at the proper time, a better (and smaller) one would be more appropriate.

This is one of my black pines. The photo was before it was needle plucked and thinned out last month so it looks a bit heavy. I planted it this year in an antique Chinese nanban pot, I purchased in Japan, that is approx. 100 years old. John

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthread.php?5842-Incredible-Japanese-Maple

it's www.californiabonsai.com and they are still in business.

ABS has reprinted it due to popular demand. You can buy it from their website. I highly recommend it to my students when we discuss design. Also, Francois Jeker's book 'Bonsai Aesthetics' is also a good basic bonsai design book. John

I'm not sure where China Trade is at the moment. They were pretty active a few years back but I haven't heard much from them in the past few years. If you send me a PM, I can send you the email of someone who was active in the club back then. There are 4 other active clubs in Ct if that one...

Haha Dave, I miss those Wednesday night Open Workbench workshops at New England Bonsai when you'd truck down about 10 trees (large!) for some work. Those were fun nights with you, Robert and a few others. ;-) john