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I have a friend who emigrated to New Zealand from South Africa in Nov 19. He asked me to take over his bonsai collection and one of the trees was this olive yamadori that he had dug out in the Eastern Cape. I wasn't too sure on which direction I would take it as the lower branch was really...

Hi All. In February 2019, I was invited to my bonsai club to do a demo and I had decided to make a rock slab for my Serissa. https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/making-a-rock-slab-for-my-serissa.37106/ Due to the overwhelming response to that demo, I was asked to do another one at our quarterly...

Hi All This Saturday I have been requested to do a demo at my club and I decided to show everyone the benefit of adding rocks into your bonsai to assist in improving the overall look and the best rocks to use for ROR. I am also going to be showing them the rock slab that I made for my...

Hi All. I have had this Silverberry for just over 10 years when I got it as a birthday present. Sept 2008 In 2014, I tried to bend the left branch inwards but even after trunk splitting it, I realised that was a bad idea and the bend did not look natural at all. Eventually in 2015 I...

Hi All We recently had our regional bonsai association meeting at the Suikerbos Bonsai Kai in Heidelberg South Africa and this was the main tree on display. It is a small leaf privet done by Hannes Fritz. Hannes Fritz was the African Representative at the World Bonsai Convention last year...

I was on my way to see a client and I was fairly early so I stopped into a orchid / bonsai nursery. The nursery is known to have mass produced trees (almost all in the same style from China) but I thought lets have a look and see if there is anything that might catch my eye. They were selling...

Hi All. I was wondering if anyone had judging forms that they use at any of the shows. I am interested to see how and why trees are judged and the formats used etc Thanks in advance D

I recently received this Black monkey thorn (Senegalia burkei) from a friend who is emigrating to Australia. She can unfortunately not take it with them when they go so she entrusted it to me. According to the tag on the tree, it was started in 1995 making it 22 yrs old. Over the next...

My father gave me this tree in Sept 2008. It is a Common Coral Tree - Erythrina lysistemon and it is very common found tree in South Africa although not so common as a bonsai. Sept 08 October 08 February 09

A friend of mine has recently started selling bonsai material and he posted this image of a bougainvillea that he had for sale. It immediately caught my eye because of the great deadwood. I took a drive out to his place over the weekend to have a good look at it and to decide if I wanted it...

I bought this tree in Nov 2015 off a guy who was reducing his bonsai collection. I saw some potential in it as it got a good start and I knew I could take it further. Sorry for some of the bad images He got the material in June 2009 The big problem with the tree was the large wound on the...

So this morning there are 2 posts on bonsai Facebook pages that I follow here in South Africa. They were both posted by the same individual "Bonsai King" and this is what the post said How to Make 70 Years old Bonsai Within 90 Days, Hello Dear Friends, This is a very Exclusive World class...

So recently I went to visit a friend on his farm to go a have a look at his bonsai. Whilst walking around I found out that he is starting to sell bonsai stock too. So I asked him to show me what he has (Always on the lookout for new project). I found this little Crepe-Myrtle and its trunk...

Over the last weekend, I got myself a small Celtis. It appealed to me because it was different and it didn't break the bank - R230 (SA Rand) = $16 US. I really liked the way the roots are above the soil and they are twisted together.

I received a Juniper seedling in Nov 2015 and was told that it Sargent Juniper Variegated Seedling. (It could be wrong) Over the last year I have left it to grow and it is coming along nicely. My end goal for the tree is a formal upright as per the image below that I found on the net. This is...

I inherited this Wild Olive in 2014 when my father in law passed away. It was his oldest tree and estimated to be from 1940. Its whole life had been in a pot and I do not think that there was much styling done on the tree ever. Nov 2014 There had been some new growth right in the base of...

In 2009 I planted 10 JBP seeds and I had 3 sprout and grow. Over the years, 3 became 2, and 2 became 1. I will be the very first to admit that I really struggle to understand the growth habits of JBP. I read up about it but I always find so much contradicting information. Then to add on to...

So I have had this rock in the garden for quite some time and I decided that I was going to use it for a fun project. Firstly the rock from the side looks like the head of a dragon lying down (well I see it) Right on the top of the stone is a very nice hollow.

In July 2015 I got this Crepe-Myrlte from my father. He had it growing under a bush in the yard. The branches were all growing towards the light and had become very long. He did not want it anymore and asked if I would like to try and bonsai it. I first thought it was a galpinia-transvaalica...

It is with great sadness to say that Charles Ceronio passed away this morning 5 September 2016. Charles Ceronio started growing bonsai in 1968. He was a founder member of Pretoria Bonsai Kai in South Africa . He attended many local and international conventions, giving demonstrations and...

I bought this TM forest in the beginning of 2008 In Oct 2008, I added a few rocks into the mix By 2012 I had still not re-potted it and the tree was clearly starting to raise out of the pot. By March 2014, I had still not re-potted the tree and I knew that in the spring of 2014 it...

So I spent my Saturday at a regional bonsai club meeting where one can take your trees and enter them into one of 13 categories for the competition. These 2 trees were entered into the competition in the division Cascade / Semi Cascade. Which tree would you vote for and some critique on why...

I have been ground growing 2 Trident maples to assist with trunk thickening and because of the lush excessive growth, I wanted to try my hand at rooting cuttings. Winter is just around the corner so I got stuck in. After cutting off long shoots, I cut these down to 2 bud segments, dipped them...

Yes. Weird title I agree. I have a cascade Juniper Procumbens Nana that I want to create a Shari running down the length of the cascade. Ultimately I need to decided if I say with a cascade or a cascade literati but that is another discussion...

I purchased a Celtis Sinensis from someone who was busy getting rid of some of his bonsai. This bonsai was actually a thick root that was thrown under a bench which then started grow. He was planning to portray a very big old tree that has fallen over and this all that is left after most of...