Photographing Bonsai With Stephen Voss: A Visit to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum During Quarantine

On May 13, the sun was shining on a beautiful spring day in Washington, D.C. As I drove through Rock Creek Park, trees formed a vibrant cathedral of green over the road, which was nearly empty of cars as Washingtonians remained home to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

I’d been given the unusual privilege of going to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in the midst of the District-wide shutdown to take photographs for the National Bonsai Foundation’s 2019 Annual Report.

On the premises of the U.S. National Arboretum, the Museum has always been a quiet and peaceful place, ideal for reflection and for connecting with nature. Usually the parking lot is fairly full, and both visitors and staff can be seen walking the grounds.

But May 13 was different. Only essential staff were allowed on site, and work days were staggered to encourage social distancing. Walking toward the Museum, with the Capitol Columns in the distance, I didn’t see a single person. The grounds felt emptied out, reclaimed by the quiet.

At the Museum, staff had been doing the vital work of keeping the trees healthy. The lack of visitors meant more ambitious projects could be undertaken, like repotting the famous Yamaki pine and letting the foliage of other trees grow out because they wouldn’t be on display.

Walking through the Museum alone, I felt both enormous gratitude and a sense of sadness, that others could not currently experience this living monument to bonsai.

But in these trying times, under the watchful eye of Museum staff, the trees have thrived. Their tenacity is a sign of hope, a reminder that the trees have persevered through other trying times. Outside these walls, the world shifts, our country convulses – but the trees endure. 

---

As a photographer who now makes a living snapping pictures of some of the world’s most influential figures, Stephen Voss didn’t always know that photography could be more than a hobby.  Once a bonsai novice, he certainly didn’t think he would publish a photography book of bonsai.

Now that he’s an accomplished photographer, Voss wants to share his “tricks of the bonsai photography trade.” This entry is part of his regular guest blog series, “Photographing Bonsai with Stephen Voss", published on NBF’s blog, covering everything from lighting, angles and mindset needed when photographing the trees. This has been a special entry in this series given the times.

Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to never miss one of his entries! Read his last entry here.

Bonsai Basics: Soil and Fertilization Techniques

Bonsai Basics is a NEW blog series dedicated to providing beginner’s tips, tool recommendations and facts about basic bonsai tasks. Thanks to all of our readers who recommended we start doing this on our 2019 survey!

Getty Images

As the repotting season continues, you might be thinking about switching up your soil and fertilizer. But with so many brands and options available, how do you know which is the best for your bonsai? 

NBF Co-President Jack Sustic spoke with us about the myriad choices for the second installment of our Bonsai Basics blog series. Sustic said there isn’t a panacea to rely upon – if you ask 10 people what their preferred mix is, you’ll get different answers from each.  

“Bonsai soil is no different than Grandma’s biscuit recipe – all the grandmas have a different one and it is better than the other grandmas’ recipes,” he said. 

The type of soil you need first depends on the tree you’re working on. Sustic said deciduous trees typically like soils that retain moisture well, while evergreens like pines and junipers prefer slightly drier mixtures. But don’t be mistaken – using a drier mixture doesn’t mean you should adjust the amount of water you’re giving the tree because the soil types absorb water differently.

“If you put an evergreen in a mix that’s extra dry and you don’t water it that much, it could be dangerous for the tree,” Sustic said. “If we have a deciduous tree in a mix that retains water pretty well and we have a conifer in a mix that drains really well, I end up watering them the same.”

Getty Images

The chemistry of it all

Soils are amalgamations of nutrients and materials like sand or bark. Some bonsai artists buy premixed soil formulas and others forge their own. 

Sustic usually prefers to mix his own from local ingredients, first sifting the finer particles from a store-bought potting mix, then adding pine bark and a combination of filter sand and pumice in ratios dependent on the type of tree that needs soil. The more sand and pumice you add to a mix, the faster water will drain from the soil, Sustic said. 

“The goal here is to have good drainage, and I don't want the real fine stuff in the potting mix to clog up the drainage holes,” he said. “Maybe I'll have one part sand in a deciduous mix, and I’ll add two parts for the pine because it likes to be a little drier.” 

But Sustic said someone new to bonsai who is only repotting once every two or three years would find buying a bag of soil the easiest method. Akadama, a type of clay soil from Japan, is the best performing premixed bonsai soil and will last years for people with small bonsai, like shohin.

When determining which soil will suit your bonsai best, Sustic’s main piece of advice is simply to avoid any heavy mixes. Sifting out fine particles from premixed soil is a must to ensure that your soil drains well and keeps your bonsai healthy, he said.

“Sand doesn’t hold nutrients very well at all,” Sustic said. “If you planted a tree in sand, you would have to fertilize it a lot because it doesn’t hold the nutrients. Potting mix and pine bark hold a lot of nutrients.”

The nitty gritty of fertilization

Fertilization techniques also range far and wide. 

Sustic uses a combination of fertilizers, switching up his materials with the seasons. He tosses rapeseed fertilizer pellets on his evergreens in the winter. But he fertilizes with Miracid, a liquid that he mixes with water, once deciduous trees have budded out in the spring and summer to help make up for the high pH levels in his water. 

Some people use organic fertilizers, like cakes or a fish emulsion, to prevent salt from building up in their soil, which can happen with commercial fertilizer and is dangerous for your trees.

“Salt can inhibit the tree's uptake of water, so the tree can’t transpire as fast,” he said. “The most common sign of salt damage is burned leaf margins.”

But Sustic said incorporating the horticulture technique of fertigation, or mixing fertilizer into water and flushing the soil with each watering, eases his worries about salt build up. He added that commercial brand fertilizer, like Miracid or Peters, immediately provides nutrition for bonsai, while organic mixes can take longer to produce an effect. Sustic often cuts the suggested measurement in half to avoid excessive fertilization and uncontrollable growth.

“If they say one tablespoon per gallon I use half a tablespoon per gallon,” he said. “I want them to be healthy but not growing too fast.”

Now that you’re equipped with soil and fertilizer knowledge, you’re ready to help your bonsai grow strong. Share your progress by tagging us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

Bonsai Basics: Repotting Techniques and Tools

Bonsai Basics is a NEW blog series dedicated to providing beginner’s tips, tool recommendations and facts about basic bonsai tasks.
Thanks to all of our readers who recommended we start doing this on our 2019 survey!

---

Photo Credit: Bonsai Empire

There’s the holiday season, spring cleaning season and back-to-school season – but as a bonsai beginner, there’s one season you should really familiarize yourself with: repotting season. 

You might have a lot of questions about when to repot, what to use to repot and how repotting works. We spoke with NBF Co-President Felix Laughlin about the basic tools and steps you need to get your repotting off to a great start this spring.

“We’re at the critical point where most bonsai are about to leaf out if they haven’t already,” Laughlin said. “This is when the bonsai are the healthiest for repotting and cutting back roots.” 

He said younger bonsai should be repotted each year, but more developed trees can wait longer. 

“Repotting is like renewing the life of the tree and giving it a chance to live a lot longer than it would growing in the ground,” Laughlin said. “That’s why you have 1,000 year bonsai – repotting helps bonsai roots not wrap around the pot, get old and stop feeding the tree.” 

How to Tackle Repotting

An eight-piece tool kit featuring the snips, three-pronged ranks, sickle and pliers discussed below. Available on bonsaioutlet.com for $69.95.

The first step to repotting your bonsai is cutting the wires tying the tree into the pot. Grab your root hook and transplanting sickle or scythe – a curved, sharp saw or cutting edge – and saw or cut around the edge of the pot to remove the root ball without tearing it apart.

Then use a three-pronged root rake to scrape the bottom of the root ball, removing soil and exposing the downward-growing roots.  For root balls removed from deep pots, you may first need to use the curved sickle or a saw to cut off the bottom portion of the root ball.

Next you’ll want to use some scissors or hand snips to cut back the exposed roots, including those growing laterally around the sides of the root ball. You might use bent-nose tweezers and a root hook to help untangle the roots.

This seven-piece tool kit includes: root cutters, root rake, sickle, angled scissors, broom, bent-nose tweezers and root hook. Available on bonsaitonight.com.for $135.

But pay attention to which kind of bonsai you’re working on. Laughlin advises that the roots of deciduous bonsai can be cut back harder than those of evergreen bonsai. 

“It’s a balancing act,” Laughlin said. “You want to rejuvenate the roots without diminishing the ability of the tree to recover.”

Next, place some fresh soil into your pot and tie the tree back in with wire, pliers and wire cutters. Laughlin said any pair of pliers from a hardware store will work, but some technical bonsai pliers offer more precision – though they cost more. 

Watch bonsai master Boon Manakitivipart as he demonstrates some of these repotting steps and illustrates the use of the repotting tools. 

Sickles, three-pronged root rakes and root hooks generally each sell for around $10.  Laughlin likes the Okatsune heavy-duty hand snips, which can be found at Bonsai Outlet for $40. 

“They’re top-notch Japanese shears that are great for cutting heavy roots and getting the root ball back down to where you want it,” Laughlin said.

Bonsai tools can rack up a lengthy bill, but Laughlin said you can cap your costs at about $100 if you do your research. He said not many brick and mortars offer kits with all the tools he discussed, but you can find reasonably priced starter sets or individual tools on sites like Amazon, Bonsai Tonight, Bonsai Learning Center, Stone Lantern, Bonsai Outlet and Brussel's Bonsai.  

When Should You Start Repotting?

NBF Co-President Jack Sustic works with NBF board member Dr. Joe Gutierrez to repot a bonsai.

NBF Co-President Jack Sustic said you’ll want to repot deciduous trees first, which grow more vigorously and sooner than conifers, which are generally ready for repotting in late April. 

Sustic said the repotting season can change depending on where you live – someone in South Carolina might be done with repotting for the year but someone in Michigan could just be getting started. Sustic says to start repotting once buds have started to swell up and gain a bit of color. 

For Sustic, the frequency of repotting depends on the tree itself. Your bonsai likely needs repotting if water sits on the soil and doesn’t drain well or if the overall health of the tree is poor.

“I look at it from a horticulture standpoint,” Sustic said. “Questions like, ‘Is the tree healthy, is it growing, is the soil draining well?’ Ultimately, the tree will tell you when it’s ready to be repotted.”

---

Check out our Youtube page for a demonstration by Danny Coffey repotting a boulevard cypress.