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My name is Eric. I’m a dork who loves bonsai…
by Eric SchraderIt can be so frustrating
Aug 7th: I have been at this little hobby of ours for a few years now, six I believe. When I first started I got a little Japanese Maple from my father and began the process of turning it into a bonsai. It was in a five-gallon can and it was four or five feet high. I took it to the 3rd thursday workshop and proceeded to cut the top 90 percent off, leaving it only about 8 inches high. There were branches, but those all had to go because they were as large as the trunk and wouldn't be good for the final design... read more »
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by Eric SchraderI went hiking so you don’t have to
Jul 24th: I love hiking, and I love being out in the wild; the time that I manage to spend putting one foot in front of another is almost as good as the time I spend wiring my trees :-)
Over the fourth of July I went hiking in the Sonora Pass area. My main goal when I am hiking is to find trees that will inspire my bonsai designs. These can be anything from the blue oaks that I saw on the drive up there to those gnarled windswept bushes that are white pines at tree line... read more »
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Tags: Hiking, inspiration, jin, Shari, Wilderness | No Comments »
by Eric SchraderStyling Live Oaks
Jun 17th: A few years ago I bought a large live oak tree from super-collector Tim Kong. It has a nice root base and two trunks, one of which splits a little above the base into two smaller trunks. The architecture of an oak is so far removed from that of a traditional bonsai shape that I cannot even begin to comprehend styling one with a first branch, second branch, back branch structure as is taught in many books... read more »
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Tags: inspiration, nature, oak, Wiring | 3 Comments »
by Eric SchraderThe future is looking sketchy…
Jun 7th: Possibly one of the most important things that I try to do with my trees is to plan what they will look like in a few years. Whether I do this mentally or on paper or in the computer, this is an important part of the bonsai process. When I first acquire a tree it is usually because I have seen it and found some potential in it that the current owner did not see, or did not care to take the time to execute... read more »
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by Eric SchraderKeeping up with the work…?
Jun 6th: I have as many trees as I really need. So does nearly every person reading this article. But are each of my trees the best that they can be? Are my trees improving with each passing month and year? Bonsai is an art that definitely takes a long time to learn, and each tree takes many years to bring into top form; but am I making the most of the time that is passing? Am I moving each of my trees along the road to becoming a refined bonsai as quickly as I can... read more »
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by Eric SchraderOak Flowers
Apr 13th: Who needs "fruiting and flowering" trees when you have an oak I say! A few times in the past I have seen Tim Kong's large Valley Oak flowering at the Cow Palace show, but I had never seen one of my own oaks flower until this spring. I am torn between taking off the flowers to keep the tree focused on producing a nice canopy and just sitting back to watch the pretty little things bloom.
Oaks are not renowned for their flowers, but, as is well known, all trees flower in some manner or another... read more »
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Tags: oak, spring | 1 Comment »
by Eric SchraderWabi-Sabi
Mar 30th: I have been trying to get a grip on the concept of Wabi-Sabi for a while. I was standing in front of a pine tree this January at the Bay Island Bonsai show in hayward with Morten Welhaven, a former president of BSSF, when he pointed at a small dangling piece of bark on the trunk and said "this tree has had that one piece of bark hanging off like that for more than ten years. I keep expecting it to fall off, but it never does... read more »
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by Eric SchraderSpring makes everything look so good.
Mar 27th: I was wandering around my garden today and was so pleased to see the way everything looks. For San Francisco, where you are lucky if you don't have just dried paper for leaves by the time fall rolls around, spring is the most beautiful season for foliage. It's not only on the deciduous trees, but also on a lot of evergreens. In the spring the junipers put out a beautiful flush of new growth and so do evergreen oaks, maples have more color in the spring, and the new leaves opening look like a fan unfolding... read more »
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by Eric SchraderIt was a great show…
Mar 20th: I have to say that I enjoyed myself greatly while in attendance at the show, both during setup and while the exhibit was open. This was the first year that I was able to spend a lot of time there because my work had previously prevented it. I did five demonstrations on the stage in the exhibit...and the most often asked question was: "do you have to prune the roots?" followed closely by "do they have to be kept outside... read more »
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by Eric SchraderSeeds
Mar 7th: Well, it's that time of year again -time to start some seeds. I actually think that I should have started a month ago. Oh well, the trees will just be a little smaller. On the left is a bag of Japanese Black Pine seeds and on the right is a bag of Green Atlas Cedar seeds. I've never started either from seed, but last year I started a California native pine, the Knobcone, from seed as well as about 50 oaks... read more »
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Tag: seed | 2 Comments »
