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This photo is in a retirement home in Wisconsin that I frequent. My mother lives there. The complex is so huge that I often forget which hallway it is on, but when I do find it I stand in front of it as if viewing a painting in a museum.

This week’s tutorial dives into one of the most foundational—and often overlooked—aspects of bonsai artistry: the nebari, or surface roots.

The major season of work on Satsuki azalea is after blooming. Remaining flowers are removed. The ovaries are cut off. And the shoots are selected, shortened, and the leaves reduced to 2, a technique known as fishtail. 

Seeing photos ahead of time didn’t adequately prepare me for the literal wall of bonsai that greets visitors at Peter Macasieb’s garden.

Hello Subscribers!
This week I have a question for you: What would you like to see here?

I think the bold feeling of Ponderosa looks great on big trees. On smaller ones, I’m not so enamored. So for 20 years I’ve explored, like others, grafting Japanese Black Pine onto Ponderosa Pine.

Black pines are one of a number of species that don’t naturally produce balanced growth. These pines are likely to produce strong shoots near the apex or at the ends of lower branches and weaker shoots everywhere else.

Some temporary changes for members of Kisetsu-en the next two weeks.

A “Champion Tree” is a specimen that has been measured to be the largest of its species (see “Champion Tree Registry“). The findings are based on a points system that considers tree height, trunk circumference, and average crown circumference (there’s a manual that spells out the details).

A few projects from the 2025 June Seasonal workshop—with notes on Styrax, Black Pine, Red Maple, a ground-layered Beech, and a magnificent flowering carnivorous plant.