Good morning
I've long had a soft spot for redwoods, the world's most magnificent trees, in shear height if nothing else. Then there's redwood bonsai... just the notion of the raw force of the world's tallest trees caught in a bonsai container amazes me
Continued below...
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Part of a Redwood bridge saikei planting
that belongs to Dave De Groot
from today's Bonsai Bark post
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Continued from above...
Not too long ago I read (actually listened to while traveling) Richard Powers' The Overstory, a vast novel that startled me in its vividness and mastery of the art of story telling. The kind I won't soon (or ever) forget.
Part of the story is about how 2500 year old redwoods play their part in the struggle for survival against human greed and shortsightedness. But least you think it's just a story about environmentalism and tree huggers (though they're in there), it's really about a whole lot more, including much that is basic to who are and how we could shift our view to better understand just how deep our dependence on the natural world runs
I heartily recommend The Overstory to anyone who loves trees and loves a great story
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Available at your local bookstore & online book sellers
including Green Apple, a family* owned business
(*as in the parents of my grandchildren)
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Here's another of Dave De Groot's trees
though it's most def not a Redwood, it is impressive
from a post we did in December of 2017
Here's Dave's caption... "In honor of the approaching holidays I posed a cotoneaster that is decorated with its own red berries before a celebratory gold screen. The bonsai was originally developed by the late Ann Spencer of Portland, OR. The pot is by Sarah Rayner."
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A piece of the Pacific Bonsai Museum
from when Dave was the curator
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Dave's Korean Hornbeam in full fall brilliance
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A page on holes & crevices (sabamiki)
from Principles
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A page on trimming for good results
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Here's one from the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
the appeared in a 2017 Bonsai Bark post
Here's what we wrote at the time...
Though the trunk on this two header monster expresses sheer power, the branches and foliage are surprisingly delicate and graceful. The tree is a Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), a species that happens to be the tallest tree on this planet (there are a few hidden in the wilds of far northwest California that tower to as high as 400 feet - 122 meters)
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Why are the tallest Redwoods hidden?
Not too many years ago small groups of people who specialize in climbing and measuring redwoods found some exceptionally tall ones in a very remote, inaccessible place. The decision was made not to publicize their whereabouts because they don't want people disturbing them.
Redwood have lots of surface roots and too much tramping around a tree can cause damage. The same goes for climbing or attempting to climb them if you don't know what you are doing. And then there's always the threat posed by chainsaws
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Another one from the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society
we originally found this one and the one above on Pinterest
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Just in case you missed it
the next few items are from our last newsletter
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This remarkable broom style Ginkgo
from today's Bonsai Bark post is a good example of how
the branches grow straight up and all bunched together.
The photo is from Classic Bonsai of Japan
(Nippon Bonsai Association, now out of print).
50 years old, 33 inches tall (82cm)
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Going with the flow
this columbar shaped beauty from today's post
is a good example of how you might work with
a Ginkgo's natural growth tendencies
It belongs to Dan Barton
I found the photo at ofBonsai Magazine
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Would you believe 270 million years old?
The following is from our friends at Wikipedia
"Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta, all others being extinct. It is found in fossils dating back 270 million years.
Native to China, the tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history. It has various uses in traditional medicine and as a source of food.
"A combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos long-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old."
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Here's an impressive full size Ginkgo
It resides at Dargent in Luxembourg City
Photo from Wikipedia
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Not many people know about root kill temperatures including me, until i just read about it in Micheal Hagedorn's Bonsai Heresy.
Virtually all sources for winter hardiness are for trees growing in the ground where hardiness is determined by cold tolerance of the tops of trees (as opposed to the roots)
However, with potted plants, including bonsai of course, what's important is how tolerant the roots are to cold. And for most varieties of plants the difference is shocking. For example Taxus media tops are consider hardy down to -30F, while according to chart in Bonsai Heresy, roots are only hardy down to 15F (that's 15 above zero, a difference of 45 degrees!)
There's more to it than this and Michael fleshes it out in his usual thorough way, by providing more evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, along with his own experience and insights. For me, the Winter Kill chart alone is worth the price of the book many time over
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Speaking of...
It's here! Michael Hagedorn's long awaited
Bonsai Heresy arrived one week ago
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Michael Hagedorn's Other Book
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Some More Books
We Think You'll Like
and just in case you think you've seen them all
we change them up regularly
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One of the only Western bonsai books dedicated to the major principles of Japanese aesthetics as applied to bonsai. Practical and simple, yet full of ideas which will inspire and challenge your bonsai skills and understanding
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Bonsai Deadwood
by Francois Jeker
learn how to create authentic looking beautiful deadwood
from genuine deadwood carving and aging master
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Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai
by Saburo Kato the Grand Master of the Art of Bonsai
Absolutely one of the best bonsai books ever
Everything about it speaks of beauty
& love of the art of bonsai
176 pages, 17 Pages of color photos of Mr. Kato's Bonsai
9 1/2" x 6 3/4". Hardcover
List price 34.95
NOW ONLY 24.95
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Principles of Bonsai Design
by David De Groot,
former curator at the Pacific Bonsai Museum
Principles of Bonsai design is the most complete
how-to bonsai design book we've seen in over 25 years
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Masters Series Bonsai Books - Set of Three
Now you can save on these three definitive
how-to design techniques & care bonsai books
Each with striking full page bonsai photos as well
These thorough and complete books will provide
a big boost to your quest to design, style
and maintain beautiful bonsai
List Price for the Set 98.85
NOW ONLY 79.95
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MOST OF OUR BONSAI TOOLS
ARE NOW MARKED DOWN
THEY'RE BACK!
We just received a long overdue shipment of tools
most of which have been out of stock
for weeks and even months
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NOW BACK!
after several months
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We may run out of
Akadama Bonsai Soil
We're waiting for another shipment from Japan
but because of the unpredictably of shipping
we don't know when it will arrive
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Dave De Groot's Redwood bonsai bridge in saikei style
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