Jun 12
by Francesco Santini in Uncategorized 0 comments

Juniper Chinensis var.Itoigawa

The story of this juniper chinensis owned by the company “Franchi Bonsai” begins in 2012. Here is the tree before being worked on for the first time:     The first thing to do is the cleaning of the bark and vegetation and the subsequent application of jin liquid. The result is the highlighting of the living vein that wraps on the long thin trunk. The position is completely horizontal and in my opinion does not highlight the beauty of this juniper. Here is the plant after cleaning           The most interesting point is definitely the tight curve on the trunk where live vein and dry wood have a twist of almost 180 degrees.     I always imagined to uplift the plant in order to place this curve at the top and make a bunjin style bonsai. From the careful analysis of the nebari I realized that raising the plant would be difficult if not impossible: the wood is quantitatively smaller than the trunk and the bulk of the root system is positioned on the wrong side compared to a possible vertical positioning of the trunk.   …and so, if it is not possible to lift, […]
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Jun 12
by Francesco Santini in Collections 0 comments

Visiting the garden of master M.Kimura – February 2015

Visiting the garden of master M.Kimura – February 2015 Here are some pics taken during my visit to Master M.Kimura’s garden in February 2015:    
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Jun 12
by Francesco Santini in Exhibitions 0 comments

This juniper owned by “Franchi Bonsai”, was the subject of the demo held by master Minoru Akiyama in February 2012 at the exhibition “Sotto il cielo d’inverno” (“Under the Winter Sky”) in Pescia (Italy) at Franchi’s Bonsai Center. On this occasion I had the honour and the pleasure to assist the Maestro throughout the work. Let’s start with the choice of this tree: it was a quite big juniper chinensis. The vegetation was vigorous, abundant and so dense that you could not even see the trunk.   It was impossible to have any idea of the styling development unless we thinned out the vegetation. Unfortunately, there was little time and a lot of work. Better to get started quickly!   The master began by cutting the big redundant branches in search of movement and valuable branches. I followed the master in all phases: from pruning to cleaning the trunk, from creating the shari and jin to applying the wire.   After a few hours of work here is the final result: In order to help the tree recover soon, and to leave different styling option for the future, the Master preferred to keep more branches than strictly necessary.   After […]
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in Uncategorized 0 comments

Junioerus Chinensis var.Itoigawa

This Juniper chinensis var.itoigawa, owned by the Franchi Bonsai company, is a recently restored specimen after a long period in which the tree has only been pinched. Over time, the growth and containment of vegetation has caused the foliage to become so thick that it has closed all spaces. In this situation, it was necessary to clean, select and wire the vegetation in order to restore order to the branches. Maintaining the original front and appearance of the plant, the work begins by cleaning the bark and vegetation. The subsequent selection of the branches is simple and is based on the elimination of weak and too long branches. The apex replacements and the restoration of the bifurcations are already sufficient to begin the wiring. Starting with the bottom branch, I open up the vegetation with the help of copper wire. as I move upwards towards the top branches, I deepen the branching selection. In the positioning of the branching I prefer the exposure to the light of every single tuft of vegetation, trying at the same time to give volume and shape to as many branches as possible. Below are the photos of the work:               […]
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

CARPINUS COREANA

This week’s work is on a Carpinus Coreana from the Franchi Bonsai company. The bonsai, in semi-cascade style, has now reached the end of the season, giving us a beautiful autumn foliage with colours ranging from yellow to orange. After manually removing the last remaining leaves, the hornbeam highlights the entire branching structure. As this is a recently arrived plant it is not possible for me to know the date of its previous shaping. Spring pruning has further intensified the density of the vegetation. At the moment the peripheral branching is fine but untidy with many small branches crossing each other. The first step is a rough selection of the branches: I proceed with apex replacements, thinning out the bifurcations and shortening or eliminating straight, cylindrical branches. As is often the case, I don’t decide to work too drastically and therefore prefer not to cut too many branches in order to offer a well-branched end result. I also decide not to proceed with a total wiring but only with a tidying up done by pruning in order to keep the appearance as natural as possible. The wire, if used, will only be used in cases where it is necessary to […]
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in PHOTOS 0 comments

Visiting the Shunka en 2015

Here are some photos taken during my visit to Master Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka en in February 2015:    
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Carpinus Coreana

Winter has now arrived and we are witnessing the fall of the last leaves. This Korean hornbeam  was imported this year from the Franchi Bonsai company. As with all deciduous trees in the centre, I clean the plant when it loses its leaves. After removing the last dry leaves, I noticed that a simple pruning would not have been enough to tidy up the foliage. The branches are too long and intertwined with each other, so it will be necessary to reposition them with wire. The preparatory phase is always the same: eliminating dry twigs and a rough thinning. The work ahead of me is mainly wiring with aluminium and positioning all the branches. It is not a question of reinterpreting the plant, since this bonsai already has a defined structure and its own personality. It is above all a meticulous and long work of tying and opening up the vegetation. Starting with the largest gauge, I begin to wire the entire branch, taking care of the finer and more peripheral branches. The same care must be taken when wiring the branches. The movements of broadleaf trees, which are quite different from conifers in general, have softer, more delicate shapes […]
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Black pine – Pinus nigra

This is the only Pinus Nigra at the Franchi Bonsai Centre. This is it in 2009 …and in 2012! The pine is very vigorous and in good health. From an aesthetic point of view it has a balanced but very symmetrical foliage. In particular, unfortunately indeed two very large low branches grow to the same height. The work began by solving these problems. The removal of the two low branches on the right side made the foliage more asymmetrical and gave the tree a greater movement on the left. This is followed by cleaning the needles and a rough pruning. The lowering of the branches and their opening concluded the first work on this pine. The front is moved to the right in relation to the original front. ..and here we are in December 2015! A few years after the last work, the folds have stabilised and the vegetation has thickened. Front Left side Right side Back With correct cultivation it is possible to obtain very small needles combined with good plant vigour. After cleaning the needles their size becomes evident: very small considering that this is a black pine. The copper wire is reapplied and the branches are once […]
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Hornbeam – Carpinus Orientalis

In 2010, thanks to a dear friend, this hornbeam enters into my collection. I have always been fascinated by the trunk of this plant: good movement combined with a nice conical shape and an abundant number of branches. This is what the hornbeam looked like in 2010:   In the winter of 2011, after the plant had been allowed to vegetate freely, everything was ready to be worked on: previously, the primary branches had been selected and shaped. Now the aim is to create order and movement in the branches. The tree before shaping: Front   Right side   Back   Left side   This is the final result:   The same work is carried out again in 2014. Now the branching has increased and the work is getting larger. Here is the hornbeam at the end of the work:   And finally we come to today. After years of cultivation, the branching is getting thicker and thicker. The work ahead of me is still sorting, thinning, spinning and shaping. Naturally, as time passes, the focus shifts to the peripheral branching. It is not my intention to modify the primary branching unless necessary and in any case only marginally with […]
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Jun 11
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Juniperus Sabina

This sabina juniper is in my garden since 2008. I chose it mainly because of its long, dry appendage which I have always imagined to be a ten jin. At the time of purchase, this was the tree : The first thing I did was a good cleaning of the bark which brought out interesting details of the dry wood. This was followed by a rough selection of the branches to be left. By changing the inclination I tried to highlight the long apical jin. The next step is to cultivate aiming to thicken the foliage with a nice vigorous vegetation. Sun, fertilizer and adequate watering are the classic ingredients for achieving this goal. This was the tree in 2009:   It is time for the first shaping: the selected branches are wired and opened outwards trying to focus on the movement of the main branches. It is useless in these cases to obtain more detail. In 2010 I proceed to the first transplanting, positioning the plant with its new inclination.   In 2012 the vegetation is thick and vigorous.   It is time for the second shaping. The first thing to do is to accentuate the inclination for the […]
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