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.
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Life Can Hit Us All Pretty Hard Sometimes
Bonsai is not easy! For many just keeping a little tree alive seems to be impossibly hard. It might be because they are over-complicating things, who am I to say. I am of an age where I likely have a longer past than future. I have been involved in bonsai for more years than not, thirty odd as I recall. There are two very important things you will need in order to succeed in bonsai. Patience being the primary one. Trees move at a pace inconsistent with the 'modern' world. The other is perspective. I remember telling somebody that he needed to prune new shoots back to a couple of leaves. His...
The Reports of my Demise are Greatly Exaggerated.
* The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated. I have now been involved in this bonsai lark longer that not. My dad was retired four years when he was my age. Here I am working harder than ever. Whilst I have been around bonsai for the larger portion of my life now I am socially challenged, lubberly, stolid and particularly uncomfortable around other folk. Being a clod-hopper from the wetlands of deepest Norfolk I missed the social graces class at school, too busy pulling beet in the fields don’t you know. As a result I have tended to keep myself to myself. I have few friends (those I...
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Recent Posts
Bonsai Show Date
I remember the first bonsai show I attended back in 1998. It was called Bonsai Gold, held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. That experience changed my life and things have never been the same since. In my experience one of the most educational and beneficial things...
Limited Time Offer Summer Sale
I have a particular passion for olive trees. I have a lot and tend to buy them just because I love them so much. The trouble is I am also running a business and there are now just too many holed up here. We have a LOT of new tree stock coming in the autumn and I now...
The Other Golden Rule.
I recently received an email from someone who was very concerned about the size of the leaves on his bonsai trees. The concern was that a change of fertilizer may have become an issue. In thinking about my reply it became obvious there was a little misunderstanding on...
The Golden Rule
Graham Potter’s Guide to Bonsai Watering It's been said many times that I have the best job in the world but I am a 'glass half empty' kind of bloke and find it hard to get too excited about what I do. I typically spend 7 hours a day in front to a screen, a business...
Bonsai Styling Demo’
Thought you might like to see the progression of this oak tree. Collected 3 years ago and arrived here in March (first photo). Did the first styling at a recent demo'. This variety (quercus faginea) develops quickly and grows fast. It's early days for this tree as...
Demo’ Dates Coming Up
Persuading me to leave home isn't easy these days. I like it here and have everything I need. Just the thought of getting on a congested motorway brings me out all maudlin. However a couple of folk have been quite persuasive and there are a couple of trips coming up....