Advanced Bonsai Course

Redesign your bonsai when movement or angles misalign, using transplanting and angle changes to reveal the trunk’s movement and improve the composition as the tree matures.

Redesign a pre-bonsai by using a plastic bag to visualize eliminations, then trim with a handsaw and wire the branches for a smaller, simpler bonsai with future branching.

Track the redesign progress of an advanced bonsai, including a transplant into a Kurama pot in September 2022.

Discover how to grow a small ficus ingens into a thick trunk and impressive nebari fast, using fast-growing species, proper potting, root growth, watering, and pruning.

Identify good rocks for rock planting in bonsai, focusing on character and curves, angles and front-facing views, and learn how to make rocks stand by themselves.

Learn how to make a rock stand by using hydraulic cement and a cut plastic pot, set the rock at an angle, and secure it to dry for 24 hours.

Learn to plant a rock-bound bonsai by guiding roots to grow down into the soil and fix the tree to the rock with wire and tubing.

Grow roots over rock by progressively cutting the pot and removing substrate, uncovering white, strong roots on a wrightia religiosa bonsai as they thicken over months.

Plant a ficus retusa on rock using method 2 with sphagnum moss, sackcloth, bonsai wire, and oxygen tubing to encourage roots to reach the soil.

Identify the four deadwood types: jin, shari, uro, sabamiki, and distinguish natural versus artificial deadwood on buttonwood, with notes on suitable species.

Learn to create deadwood on bonsai to enhance beauty and to fix ugly cuts, becoming an artist of wood; next lectures demonstrate how to work these two kinds.

Discover how to create deadwood on a juniper bonsai by converting branches into jins, removing bark with jin pliers, and shaping the trunk to reveal nebari.

Create deadwood to fix a defect in a pre-bonsai, using a die grinder and carving bit to shape natural-looking deadwood, with eye and nose protection and planned maintenance.

Maintain bonsai deadwood by brushing away fungus, applying lime sulfur as insecticide, fungicide, and whitening agent, and allowing 24 hours to dry before returning the tree to its place.

Learn how to use a guy wire to reposition thick bonsai branches, protect branches with oxygen tubing, anchor to a root or pot, and create an invisible, long-lasting wiring solution.

Learn how to bend thick bonsai trunks and branches using wet raffia, tight wrapping, and dual wiring to prevent breakage, with a juniper example and pruning prep.

Learn to craft kusamono, or accent plants, to accompany bonsai, with a small and a large example using pots, moss, substrate, and wiring.

Prepare a bonsai for exhibition by maintenance pruning, cleaning the pot, weeding, and applying moss or river gravel, then set it on a stand and capture a nice photo.

Learn how bonsai stands enhance display and photography by matching stand shapes, heights, and colors to pots and bonsai for compelling exhibition compositions.

Master the art of bonsai compositions by pairing elements such as a bonsai with kusamono, or three-element sets of bonsai, tanzaku, and suiseki, using gaze direction to achieve harmony.

Learn to take beautiful bonsai pictures with a DSLR or smartphone, using white or black backgrounds, natural sun, and camera level with the bonsai for exhibition and social sharing.

Learn to recycle bonsai soil mix by reusing river gravel and volcanic rock, save money, and remove old compost with a soil sifter.

Recycle bonsai wire by using two pliers to straighten it, then reuse it in another bonsai or pre-bonsai, saving money on supplies.