The Kaizen Bonsai Blog by Graham Potter

No ‘bloke’ would admit to owning a bonsai tree just because he liked the flowers. I know we are all supposed to have our radar tuned to ‘sensitive’ these days but bonsai, in many circles, remains a macho sort of pastime for ‘real men’. I was bought up in a place where flowers were for girls. But take a look around social media at this time of year and bonsai pages are awash with images of flowers. There’s a mixed message here perhaps but in my book flowers on bonsai trees are great so long as the bonsai beneath is a good one. These days a lot of plants go through my hands, in excess of...

Scots pines are coming along early this year. I'm not normally troubled by them until the beginning of May, but this year we are definitely early, probably spurred on by last summers good weather and a mild winter here. This big lump arrived here about four years ago. I took a risk on it simply because it looked very weak and was not long since it was collected. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If everything in life were as simple and reliable as a scots pine I think we would all be a lot happier. This image tells the story. Three years of needles 2018 on the end preceded by a gap...