Bonsai tree

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Maintaining a beautiful bonsai garden

Shinji Suzuki couldn’t possible maintain so many beautiful bonsai without help from several skilled apprentices. Gardens like this require a lot of effort.



Today Matt, Yusuke, and Tyler work at the Obuse garden, watering, wiring, and tirelessly carrying trees in and out of the workshop.



Fortunately not all of the trees require a lot of moving. The two red pines below have lived at Daiju-en and the Imperial Palace. They’ve been recuperating at Suzuki’s for at least the past two years. They’re looking great.



Here is a photo of the same two trees from my visit to the garden on 2009. The trees were very thin at the time – it’s nice to see so much improvement.



Even the assorted accents around the garden looked great. Although they were likely intended for use at Kokufu or some other exhibit, they are another example of the level of care that went into everything at Suzuki’s garden.







With the one exception of the photo from 2009, all photos here are from Boon Manakitivipart’s February, 2011, visit to Japan.











It’s nice to see that not all of the trees in Suzuki’s garden are show-ready. Grafting projects, escape branches, and freshly carved deadwood can be found on many of the benches. What sets the garden apart is that all of the material is outstanding.