The Kaizen Bonsai Blog by Graham Potter
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Defoliation – What You Need To Know
There are many mysterious techniques used in the world of bonsai tree creation and maintenance. In my experience, many of them are misunderstood and therefore incorrectly applied. In my own case it certainly took a long time to understand what defoliation of deciduous trees was all about. Over the last few years we have been so busy it's been hard to find time for elective techniques. Thankfully life has settled down a bit of late and I'm back on the tools so here's Defoliation - What You Need To Know. What is Defoliation Defoliation is the act of removing leaves from a tree. In this context...
I Got Off The Subject
I sat down to write a diatribe expounding the virtues of defoliation. As usual I got off the subject and never got back. However what follows has proven to very cathartic. Please forgive the self indulgence but rather than consign this to the folder of a thousand unpublished articles on my Mac I am hoping it will help someone who just might be losing their way as I have of late. What’s more stressful, having too much to do or not having enough? I always thought I was stressed out by being so busy, particularly over the last few years. Now, and I am thankful for this, I don’t really have...
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Coventry Bonsai Show
If you had the misfortune to get my attention over the last couple of weeks, which hasn't been easy seeing as we largely stopped answering the telephone, you will know I have been a bit grumpy. However if you had the extreme misfortune to bump into me over that same...
Bonsai Dates for April
It's been a crazy year here so far. I have never worked so hard, we're on our knees, my last day off in January seems a very long time ago now. Sitting here in a waist high pile of parcels and a hundred still to do it seems unlikely we will be getting caught up any...
New Bonsai Workshop Dates 2016
Just put up new dates for our bonsai group workshops for 2016. Places go fast so don't hang around! Here's a recent juniper I did with a friend of ours.... G.
Special Bonsai Coming Soon
It's silly season around here and it's tough to get much done from beneath your avalanche of orders. Not that I am complaining it's just an insanely busy time and I also have to run around buying and moving our new seasons stock too. This year we have a lot of...
Noelanders Trophy 2016
Just got back from our annual gruelling, but ultimately rewarding, trip to Belgium for the Noelanders Trophy. Too many years have passed by with us visiting this event but it never ceases to surprise in one way or another. This year the buzz around the trade was a...
Trust Your Instincts
If you stick at bonsai long enough and do enough work there comes a time when the doubt and uncertainty disappears. In relation to styling trees a lot of folk seem to struggle when it comes to dealing with the initial basics. A few years back I was regularly running...