In Lingnan Penjing, there are three main ways to attach a tree to a rock for landscape penjing. Root-Attaching (附根) Stem-Attaching (附莖) Ride-on-Rock (騎石, similar to Sekijoju) Since the first day I learned landscape penjing, I have been told that root-attaching method is the most challenging, yet, yields the most spectacular scenery in landscape penjing.
[continue reading...]

Earlier, I had a few friends asking me about the difference between landscape penjing (shanshui Penjing, 山水盆景 in Chinese), and water-and-land penjing (shuihan penjing, 水旱盆景 in Chinese). It seemed that they were quite confused. Same here indeed, when I first learned bonsai, I always got mixed up between landscape penjing and water-and-land penjing too.

It is said that Chinese penjing is a landscape painting in three dimensions. Unlike Japanese bonsai, Chinese penjing portrays and recreate a scene we find in nature. Similar to Chinese poetry and landscape painting which rely on a very limited amount of content to portray a vast scene in the mind of listener/viewer, Chinese penjing
[continue reading...]

Put aside the argument of whether or not Saika Bonsai style is real bonsai, Saika Bonsai (彩花盆栽) has surely given the ancient bonsai art a refreshing look. And Kaori Yamada (山田香織) – the daughter of one of the most famous bonsai artists in Japan – definitely is one of the most prominent in Saika Bonsai
[continue reading...]

I unexpectedly found a few videos called “How to make your own bonsai” when I was watching some other videos on YouTube last night. There are quite many videos on YouTube demonstrating bonsai techniques and sharing bonsai tips, but what caught my attention are that these videos I found are demonstrated by a Japanese girl, and what she is showing is not any traditional bonsai style, but a new bonsai style called Saika Bonsai (彩花盆栽).

In this program, CBS Sunday Morning explains what bonsai is, the difference between Japanese bonsai and Chinese penjing, as well as how the art of bonsai is introduced to the United States. This program of bonsai is a short, yet, well explained one, giving the viewers a quick and clear idea of what bonsai really
[continue reading...]

Bonsai can be classified into different groups by size. The size of bonsai is generally measured as the distance between the top of the soil and the apex of the bonsai tree. Below is the classification of bonsai of different sizes. Keishi Bonsai (thumb size) – Up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) in height Shito
[continue reading...]

You probably know that bonsai are the miniaturized versions of the big, aged trees found in nature. But do you know that bonsai have their miniature versions as well? These bonsai trees are commonly known as shohin bonsai and mame bonsai. “Shohin” is a Japanese word. It means “tiny thing” and in the bonsai world,
[continue reading...]

Here is a list of suggested bonsai pot shapes for different style of bonsai trees. These are not strict rules, but good guidelines when choosing a bonsai pot for our bonsai tree. Bonsai Style – Formal Upright & Informal Upright Bonsai Pot Shape – Square, rectangle, oval, round Bonsai Style – Slanting Bonsai Pot Shape
[continue reading...]

Since my first bonsai class, I have learned that there are two distinct regional variations in Chinese bonsai (penjing) – the Southern style and the Northern style. My teacher kept telling us that the Southern style is the better one, and I always thought what he said was a bias statement that purely based on
[continue reading...]