The lowest area of bonsai is one of the most important features which creates beauty and the character of the bonsai. We work the surface root area quite a bit when transplanting. Please note that nearly all of these bonsai have spent their entire lives in a container, carefully shaping and allowing the trees to mature slowly during the past 60 plus years under my care. The Ginkgo, Chrysanthemums, Larch, Satsuki, Korean Hornbeam and only one Trident maple were trained from field grown of collected material. All others have been completely container grown.

Today, just before, watering (and weeding and clean up too!) a few of my bonsai trunk bases looked interesting, so I’d like to share them with you. Yuji Yoshimura taught me to photograph bonsai when the trunks are dry and show more details and rich colors. Once I had to delay a formal photoshoot because it rained the night before. The professional photographer did not understand and I had to wait several days to capture the beauty of the trees on film, not digital, as it was decades ago before electronic imaging.

Please note that these are actual photos of my bonsai tree trunks as growing outside in a full sun exposure. Many have weeds, old needles and moss growing on the surface roots. The dozen or so bonsai selected for formal display at this weekend’s Open House & Sale have been moved from the growing tables to another area where they have been prepared for my 10 formal indoor displays. I can’t move the heavy trees alone so must wait until my friends come tomorrow to move them inside. The display tables, scrolls and accessory plantings are all cleaned and set up. 

I’ll post a few photos of my formal displays which have been carefully selected to greet my visitors at our 2022 Autumn Bonsai Open House & Sale this coming weekend, September 10 &11. Finally I watered my bonsai for almost two hours, while Diane spent three hours watering the sales and nursery areas.