The Kaizen Bonsai Blog by Graham Potter
Whether you are looking to master the basics of tree health or perform advanced structural styling, use the sections below to navigate our decades of experience in the art of bonsai.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Scroll down for the latest updates, videos, and ramblings from the nursery.
Bonsai Tree Care
The foundation
Bonsai Tree Creation
Bonsai Restoration
Bonsai Technique
Video Masterclasses
Graham's Bonsai Trees
Going Around In Circles
Our fragile existence seems to be an exercise in going around in circles. At this particular moment in time some would have us believe we are circling the plughole. The Eeyore in me would concur. Bonsai, as it turns out, is the art of going around in circles. I guess, seeing as we live on a big ball that spins, a circle is the appropriate geometry for the passage of our lives and existence. Our plants lives are intricately linked to the passage of the sun and the turning seasons. That passage drives all life on earth. Our bonsai endeavours and technique are also dictated by the seasons. To...
Easy Bonsai. Seriously!
Recently I have spent too much time ranting and raving about things unrelated to bonsai. I assume that's why lots of my loyal readers come here, to find out something about little trees. So, in the interest of balance here's a tree story about just how easy bonsai can be. I'll do my best to stay on message, but first..... When you attain a certain age it becomes apparent that anything worth achieving is a lot harder than it appears. I have spent endless time over the last decade of writing blog posts talking about just how hard it is to master the creation and maintenance of bonsai trees....
Top Posts
Recent Posts
A Brilliant Little Carving Tool
I am forever on the lookout for useful new products to add to our not inconsiderable range. Trouble is there's a lot of old tat out there. I have no interest in selling junk, the juice ain't worth the squeeze. Carving tools are a prime example, there are a lot of...
A Bonsai Master at Work
Brit's, by and large, are an angry bunch. If you live here you will largely understand why. If you don't live here you will know us by reputation. If you were thinking about moving here I would certainly think again. There is a reason why, as soon as we are abroad,...
Warning – Here Be Monsters!
I live out on a limb, nobody knows that better than me. I live exactly eighty nine miles from the nearest motorway. Personally I like that, ninety percent of traffic holdups I become entangled in are on motorways. However the way most folk talk you would think we were...
Heathrow Bonsai Show 2017
4am Sunday saw me up and out the door for our annual autumn trip to Heathrow. Now, I have a rule by which I live my life which involves me not entering the inner circle of the M25 (London ring road/long stay car park). I was 13 the last time I purposely visited my...
Thieving Bastards
This year we have been the target of an unusually high number of attempts to nick our stuff by thieving bastards using stolen cards and the like. Sadly one of these low life scum bags got away with it. In August we sold a juniper to Mr Darren Deschauer of Clyde Vale,...
Hats off to Uncle Albert
They always told me when you get older time seems to pass much faster. I have no idea what constitutes ‘older’ but time now seems to pass me by like money slipping through a politicians hands. Bonsai is very good at marking time for us or, should I say bonsai is very...