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There's a secret cabal out there. They influence the direction of the art to meet Their own agenda. Worse, They use bonsai to advance a political agenda. Before They shut down this thread or have me silenced for suggesting They exist, what have you heard? Will you dare to speak out about Them...

Scattered a few dozen pond cypress seeds across potting soil and watered them into the soil. The two pieces of uranium glass are fairly radioactive. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe it'll screw with the DNA of the seedlings. The odds of that being something useful are about 0.000105 : 1 Seeds...

At just over 39 inches by 24 inches (1m x 61cm) and weighing in at I-Can-Barely-Lift-It pounds, this is my largest pot. Should I be repotting this while the tree is leafing out? Most likely not. The tree was collected in Fall of 2022. Like everything else, it was placed into a non-draining tub...

This is on the side of a large bald cypress I collected in September of 2022. A large dead area developed beneath the bark. When I removed the bark, I found a gray mass. Anyone know what it is? Bald cypress, especially larger ones, will develop significant dead zones on their trunk. Once...

Conventions are great for trading tips and tricks. This is a trick I picked up last year in Denver. I met a fellow artist, Oscar, and somehow we ended up talking about developing better radial roots. After discussing a particularly ugly tree of mine, Oscar mentioned pouring concrete around the...

Found this in Georgia, I think. Zero modifications to the stone. It spoke to me. Can't wait to put it in a show.

Friend asked me to create a larger planting stone for his forrest. We traced the existing forrest stone onto paper and made some choices for how to size it up. Negative space will be added to the left and a visible stone margin will surround the trees. Stones that have a large surface area and...

I had a fevered dream where I was styling a rotted stump. When I woke up, I ordered this from Amazon.

I'd like to get ahold of a few bowl-shaped slabs; cup, saucer, concave... The ones I've seen come out of Arkansas. Does anyone know any locations I can go to get these? I'm in New Orleans, but will be up near Arkansas later this month. Driving a few more hours wouldn't be difficult for my...

Catahoula Lake is drained and dry at this time of year. Not the best time to collect bald cypress, but this is when they’re available. The trees here are seriously stunted for their age and that’s what makes them interesting. It gets hot here. I camped on the playa to get an early, cooler...

It was the best of sales, it was the worst of sales, it was the age of wiseguys, it was the age of tomfoolery, it was a web page of incredulity, it was a shipment of doubt. we had nothing to lose, we were all going to Home Depot, we were all going to Customer Service. For those of you who...

"Texas holey stone" The price has not been set as of yet. I will not be shipping this stone as it weighs 74 pounds (33.5kg). The stone is 24" (60cm) across at its widest and the same length from front to back. The stone is approximately 8 inches high (10cm). This would make a great base for a...

Saw this today. I can’t think of much to do with it just yet. Maybe put a dwarf crape myrtle in the center with smaller crepe myrtles in nearby holes. The smaller would be cuttings from the larger. Maybe some accent plants. Any ideas? Damn thing weighs about 75lbs (34kg). I put it up on...

Hulk no carve. Hulk smash. What if the heartwood of a trunk was pre-shattered when it came time to carve it out? What if I didn't CUT off the top of a bald cypress and instead, smashed the cut line to a pulp using a sledgehammer? What if I had access to quarter sticks of dynamite? Trees, wood...

Kaoru Ito pot. Potter name "Bunzan". He is currently retired. From the Fukui prefecture on Honshu Island. Pots from here are called Echizen yaki. This was not made on a pottery wheel. You can see the impressions of the artists fingers all along the pot. Yeah, well, I'm not sure if I got all of...

@Bob Hunter pot I picked up Saturday night at the ABS banquet. It rings like a bell when thumped. Handmade. 31cm X 8.5cm It was too beautiful not to bid on it. Sadly, everyone at the banquet were Philistines and I was the only bidder. ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME? I have no idea what to put in it...

Conventions! You need to go to conventions. This is where you meet new friends and learn new techniques. As a way to have fun, I made up several shirts with different designs to give away semi-randomly. This is Oscar wearing the Mountain Division shirt of the Midnight Bonsai Society. He lurks...

As a branch grows from bud to limb, the beginnings of the branch can be found deep in the trunk. As the center of a tree rots out, it can leave behind evidence of the beginnings of branches or branches we no longer see. This particular tree got me thinking what all of this means with respect to...

Pretty much the title says it all. Who will be at the ABS convention starting on June 8?

Original price was $129.99. Sale price: $32.50 I brought the trimmings back to the nursery man. He was laughing and said he would take them to the dumpster for me.

New location for digging bald cypress. Two things make this a great area; No clay in the roots; Odd genetics causing early deep flutes and rapid taper; Good trees are close to the road; Area is far enough out there to limit competition for material; Cops only care about speeders and don't care...

Cars going off into the trees can help us pull larger trees faster. This was our caravan: First thing I saw was tracks going into the trees. Into, not through. If you don't see it above, I'm using the caution tape to flag my find. Evan said it was funny how were there only five seconds...

I'm going to the ABS Bonsai convention in Denver this June. Our plan is to be camping before and after the convention. The problem is the roof-top luggage pod, the inverter generator, and gas can. The carrier won't fit in the underground garages at the hotel and botanical garden. Would anyone...

Milwaukee tool number 3004-20 Just came in today. I used to use the Lancelot chainsaw disc from King Arthur Tools. I had a great run using the tool on my angle grinders. Despite being a very dangerous thing to do to an angle grinder, I never had a single incident. Guy Guidry put one in his...

A client of Underhill Bonsai wants to create a dense forest of elms. I was asked to carve the slab for the project. The finished width is 46". Depth is 21". It's a piece of Pennsylvania Bluestone. The stone has. Good spirit and cooperated with the commissioned design. The second photo is a HUGE...