I had the opportunity to touch base with Bertie B, another NIBS member, earlier this week. We enjoyed a good chat over a couple of cups of coffee, solved a few of the world’s problems and had a look at his trees. I really enjoyed the time together and took a few pics while I was there.

Just like the rest of us Bertie’s trees have had a slow start this year because of the late cold spring but they are really starting to develop over this past week or so.  Some of his shohin trees are just delightful

Earlier this year I had the amazing opportunity to spend a week with Ryan Neil at his bonsai garden just outside Portland, OR.  The week consisted of being surrounded by some of the most awesome native material I’ve ever seen.  Each day was spent in the workshop with Ryan and his French apprentice JP, styling one ancient tree after another.  Here are just a few of the photos from my week.

Day 1: Amazing bonsai and rain, welcome to Portland.A combination of jet lag and excitment led to this first photo taken at 4 a.m. The workshop was filled with tress with many others on-deck.

A massive California Juniper (right) and Sierra Juniper (left) dominated the workshop. The Sierra Juniper became my main project tree for the week. The dead wood on the Ca Juniper was unreal.

Day 2. The Garden

Day 3: Project tree

Before we started working on our…

At last my mountain maple is opening.

I don’t know if you can see from the photo, but the tree is extending.

This show the growth a little better.

Over the next few days I will trimming the new growth as it appears.

Once again let’s wade into the deep waters of writing about the basics of bonsai. This time, watering. Of course, there are many methods of watering…

This method seems a bit erratic. Watering bonsai should be more uniform, with the timing less related to our own needs. The rule of thumb we are taught is that we want to wait until the soil dries out a bit before watering again. And in rough strokes, this is accurate.

But let’s refine that idea a bit. To start with, those trees we’ve recently repotted:

• A tree you’ve repotted that has a dense root mass—such as a well-established bonsai—will likely dry out very rapidly. Keep a careful eye on the interior, that solid root mass that you put back in the pot (which should be showing a little bit on the surface, so you can see it). You may end up watering those very…

Momiji moyogi