Nov 18
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Phoenician juniper – Juniperus Phoenicia

This Phoenician juniper became part of my collection in June this year, after a dear friend decided to part with it. Not having a juniper of this variety and being a plant in an advanced state of cultivation I couldn’t resist the possibility of having it in my garden. In fact the plant is very interesting with abundant areas of dead wood and veins starting to swell. The natural movements and those created with the folds make it very interesting and dynamic. Over the years an intense work has been done to contain the vegetation that can only be done with continuous pinching. Here is the Phoenician before the works:: Front / back   Right side/Left side   Some details:     After assessing the perfect state of health, it’s time to work on it. In this long work I will always have the precious help of Andrea, a very dear friend of mine. The first thing we do is a careful cleaning of the bark and vegetation. It is thus highlighted the beautiful colour of juniper in addition to all the movements often hidden by a bark too thick. I do not deny that I was very fascinated by […]
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Nov 18
by Francesco Santini in PHOTOS, Preparation 0 comments

Baby Cupressus Sempervirens THE “CIPRESSINO”.

The story of a small cypress tree:     2008 – the plant is grown freely      
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Nov 18
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Buxus – Sookan style

This buxus is in my collection since 2009, purchased by a friend a few years after collecting it from the wild. As always, I wait at least a year before starting any work on it. A time necessary in my opinion to know and asses, firstly, the health of the plant and, secondly, to cultivate it according to the working necessities. In April 2011 I organized at my laboratory the “Buxus day”: a day in which I invited my bonsai friends to work on 8 boxwood samples, which were part of my collection. This is the tree:   A detail of his “tough” nebari.   The meeting was just an excuse to spend time with friends and the work done was essentially cleaning and selecting the ramification. We immediately decided to move and lower the branches before they got bigger and then impossible to move. The boxwood is very hard and difficult folds. The branches must be positioned before they become too rigid. With the same diameter with other species, the range of folding of boxwood branches is considerably lower.   Since the day of collecting the tree has never been re-potted. The clay-based soil began not to drain any […]
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Nov 18
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Juniperus Chinensis var. Itoigawa

I’ve always liked this multi-trunk juniper! This bonsai is a very fascinating specimen: many light trunks with the finest vegetation of the itoigawa. The Costantino Franchi Museum in Pescia hosts this lovely piece. In 2009 the juniper looked like this: Front   Left side   In December of the same year I decided to work on it. The vegetative masses are not yet very thick and dense, but it is still time for a reorganization of the pads. In this process, after the usual cleaning, the main objective is the selection and reopening of the vegetation. All this happens without substantially changing the character and shape of the bonsai. What I am interested in highlighting is the character and personality of each single trunk to achieve what is the real goal: the harmony of the whole.   Here is the final result:   The individual tufts are opened and positioned to form pads and secondary-tertiary pads.   A detail of the Nebari and trunks.   The juniper in 2010 and 2011. The pads begin to swell!   In April 2012 I proceed with the re-potting. In this regard I choose a lotus flower vase of the same width as the […]
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Nov 18
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Juniperus Chinensis

I began to work on this juniper chinensis var. Kaizuka owned by the company “Franchi Bonsai” in 2012, one year after its arrival. The trunk of this bonsai is quite peculiar as it descends straight down and, after two bends, one of which is very sharp , goes up close and parallel to the descending part. The branches are basically situated only at the end of the trunk and the presence of old shari give some movement to the more cylindrical and straight areas. The vegetation is not of the most valuable. The Kaizuka variety has, by nature, a long and not very turgid scale and also turns quickly to needle. Here is the bonsai in March 2012 before being working on it for the first time Front / Back   Right side / Left side   The first phase is the cleaning of the foliage, where all weak and hanging vegetation is eliminated. Then follows the cleaning of the bark and perfecting the shari. Once all this has been done, all that is left to do is to proceed to pruning by selecting the useful branches for the project. Although there is already a well defined structure of branches, […]
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Nov 15
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Dress redux for a Juniperus var.Formosana turned into Juniperus var.Itoigawa

I decided to wait several years before styling this Formosana juniper (commonly known as Taiwanese juniper) grafted with a Juniperus chinensis var. itoigawa. The juniper came into my collection in 2006 as a prize at the KOKORO-NO BONSAI TEN exhibition in Naples. It is a tree with a beautiful trunk up to about half of its height, then ending with a very thick cylindrical section. The vegetation is strong and this witness the perfect health condition of the bonsai. Here is the juniper from the four sides:   The trunk has a nice movement in the first section and the nebari includes a woody appendage that represents what remains of a second plant that no longer exists.   Every tree that enters my garden is properly cultivated and prepared for at least one year before  styling. At the beginning of 2008, in view of a workshop, I carry out the preliminary operations: cleaning the bark and the vegetation, highlighting the dry parts and creating new shari. The juniper is ready to be worked:   Detail of the dry wood and shari:   The decision is drastic: cut all the upper part in order to lower the plant and eliminate the […]
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Nov 15
by Francesco Santini in Preparation 0 comments

Juniper by CHIANTI BONSAI

The juniper chinensis owned by the company CHIANTI BONSAI of our friend Luigi Daddi has been a lovely occasion for a refinement work in march 2017. The bonsai is about 40 cm high and has already  shown the signs of age: the size of the branches, the living vein already swollen and outlined clearly show this is a very good bonsai. Making bonsai does not always mean making “bends” or fill with wire all the branches. Sometimes the work may seem simple or insignificant, but it is not always so. This is the case of this juniper where, together with Luigi, we decided not to change the shape but to finish the foliage and the various details. Simple work (doesn’t mean easy). Perfecting a bonsai doeasn’t mean to exceed in wiring as this would give artificiality to the foliage. Instead I find it very stimulating to work the foliage with less wire as possible, some small pull or stroke of scissors. in this way the foliage is very soft and with a more natural bearing. Of course, such a process can be performed only if there is already an adequate and well-defined structure of the branches. Here is the plant […]
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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 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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