Bonsai From My Teacher

by Andy Rutledge, USA
Photos by Andy Rutledge

I recently visited my teacher, Nick Lenz, and took home a few bonsai and some developing material. The trees (below) are all between 22" and 30" tall. These are all Nick's work; I have done nothing but remove some of the downward-pointing foliage from the first shimpaku pictured below.

I apologize for the very poor quality of the photos and the setting (in my nursery), but I hope you enjoy them. I am certainly enjoying the trees.

Shimpaku

Juniperus chinensis. This juniper was grown from a cutting taken from Wm. Valavanis' yatsubusa stock in 1970. Nick grew it in the ground for 30 years and put into a container around 2000.

shimpaku

Above: And I chose to take the tree into a different direction.


Trident Maple

Acer buergerianum. This maple was taken as raw material from Jerry Stowell in 1997 and then grown in the ground. It has been in a container since 2007.

trident maple

Above: I soon decided to chop the tree down to its second branch, turn it back to front, and remake the tree. It is coming along nicely.


Honeysuckle

Lonicera. This honeysuckle was taken from the yard of one of Nick's friends. This is but half of the plant that was collected. The trunk is 8" wide and the root base is 14" wide. Note that Nick has carved a face into the shari of the trunk, giving this bonsai the appearance of a walking tree-man, complete with arms, horns, and feet.

And here below is the same honeysuckle a few years later, after I developed the structure a bit:

honeysuckle after growth and styling

Above: The honeysuckle in 2017 was coming along nicely. Same pot (a Lenz pot) and same front. The styling is odd for a vine, but I thought it made quite a handsome bonsai.


Red Cedar

Juniperus virginiana. Nick collected this red cedar from the Sunderland cliffs in 1995. It is still very early in its development and still reaching to find its form. It is quite old, but not yet a mature bonsai.

And here below, is right after I turned the whole tree upside down to make a cascade.

Red Cedar

Above: I was not happy with the rather boring lines of the original tree so I flipped the whole thing and made it into a cascade tree. The structure is very primary and sparse, but it is a fast grower and I knew it had a future in this direction.

easter red cedar

Above: And here's the current state of the tree; overgrown as it should be during summer, as iot is still in a growth phase. It'll get reined in soon and the pads will be much. more defined.