literati

Just put this in blue and white porcelain pot. It's a yardadori I collected a few years back.

Collected this oak a few years ago and it's still hanging around.

Juniperus Virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar) penjing after some wiring Sept. 2023

110 cm (44") tall. It was difficult to get it entirely in the picture and focused. Needs many more years of age and development.

Hi all, I’m looking for some tips on long term progression of red maple saplings. I harvested this sapling from a field last year and it’s overwintered wonderfully buried in this plastic pot. Because of the angle that it’s growing, I want to eventually show this as a shohin semicascade, but at...

Repotted in February into a pot that it could be wired into place better. Also made it a little more upright. It's 22 inches tall but was around 10 feet tall when collected in 2020.

I got this 40+ year old boxwood yamadori rescued from an old seawall on a lake about 2 years ago. Base is massive and partially rotted away. I cut hard to try and get backbudding down the trunk a bit with not much success. Needs wiring down and building an apex. Any tips or thoughts?

Eastern Redcedar Literati 45 cm tall

30+ years old with added growth and blossoms in 2022!

38 inches tall - 30+ years old My father planted this tree in the back yard in the early 90's. It was slowly dying. I fertilized it for a year and eventually collected it when it seemed to be healthier in 2021.

Two versions of this tree, as it is now and a virtual, taking off the lower left branch. I think it feels lighter and more elegant without the branch, but my concern is with the health of the tree; too little foliage and junipers struggle. Should I jin it anyway and hope for the best? As it is...

So I recently purchased this rather large Escambron that was collected from Puerto Rico about 8+ years ago from a gentleman in Florida. I do really like it (even if it doesn't follow the rules of Bonsai all the way), but could use some styling advice. I have gone ahead and started on some of the...

One of my favorite books purchased last year was Zhao Qingquan‘s “Literati Style Penjing”. The forms created are so wonderfully elegant and has largely made up my bonsai tastes of late. Slender trunks with aged branching and live veins feel more appropriately natural for me here in northern New...

Got this little shimpaku last year. When I bought it, it wasn't in very good shape. Very pot bound, lots of yellow foliage. I repotted it last summer and nursed it back to health. The branches are getting a bit leggy. I just cleaned it it up a bit, opening the canopy to get some more light and...

Did my first literati on a Japanese black pine. The main branch was split vertically all the way to the point where the raffia wrap ends. Diameter of the trunk is 2 inches and I used 6 mm wire. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Hey all! First off I'll just say I know it needs better soil, but Ive been wondering if I need to ground layer new roots a little higher. Just did my first major styling work of this Loropetalum. I got it as a gift from a landscaper friend about a year and a half ago and started working toward...

My girlfriend has heard me drone on about my love for the american beech and how I’d love one in my collection. An early xmas present arrived today. Fagus Grandifolia! So incredibly excited (also have several scoped out for collection in spring) ... however, I’m not sold on the literati approach...

@MACH5 started a maple literati thread and many of us, myself included, didn’t notice that it was a maple only thread! Thought I’d start a Literati thread for all tree types. Once again, let’s keep it similar to “the tree thread” or “ the shohin tree thread”. IF YOU COMMENT YOU'VE GOT TO...

I have several plum trees that I’ve collected and this is one that I collected last March.It has interesting shari. I’m just letting it recover for now but I put a little wire because when these branches set they are rock hard so I have to wire early. The branches are also very easy to snap. The...

Hey everyone. I bought this at a nursery where it had been moved to the back and not cared for. There were about 4 others that were dead, but this one showed new growth so i was interested. The trunk has movement at the very bottom, as well as some dead wood. With only some pruning, minimal...

I currently only have three shohin sized Juniper chinensis. I may get more in the future if I spot something nice at the right size and price. Here is my shohin literati. I got it in 2014 and grew it to make sure it was healthy. In 2015 I wired the whole tree like this. After it had grown like...

Thought I would start a thread I will periodically update. Not regularly. Sporadically. I have a few ficus that now have pots or will be getting soon. Some that I need help choosing a direction on and some that are just starting out. The first one is my Literati cascade. I like this one. It...

The May 2017 - finally heathy and vigorous. I pruned for structure and pulled down some branches. I'm glad to see other bnuts posting up their Rosemary's

I bought this needle juniper (Juniperus rigida) from Owen last December; as my annual "big tree buy". It was collected in Japan years ago and imported to the US at some point. I don't like working with trees that bite back, but I like Tosho. This rare find had a dynamic trunk, and nice ribbon...

I started out with three very, very similar junipers in one container hanging down in three different directions. They all basically looked like this about 2-3 three years ago. Just all straight with no movement. After deciding how to make them all look different. And facing the fact that the...