I'm going to use the new spoon that Tom Sent me the long-handled cocktail spoon For reaching in to put sand around the Base of the tree the sand really allows Moss to grow nicely in a forest it's Better than you know trying to grow moss On top of bonsai soil the bone size soil Dries out a little too quickly but a Layer of sand on top really allows that Moss to grow so Here I go All right I have my sand and my spoon so Look at this I can reach right in there No problem that is awesome This is perfect for forests I find that Force are kind of like a Ship in a bottle that you know you have To have all these special tools to reach In there because you can't get your hand In a lot of forests They're just so dense Especially these small forests which With a lot of trees it's really hard I Could never get my hand in here you have To use tools Okay that's looking good I'm going to Give that one more water and just to Settle the sand in a bit just a light Water and here I go There and I find that sand never fully Integrates with the soil it always stays As a layer on top of the bone size soil A lot of people ask me does it mix in With the soil does it clog all my bonsai
Soil up but no it doesn't it's just a Layer on top and it always stays on top So now I'm starting the cleanup getting Rid of all this excess soil that I Spread all around the place and made a Real mess here I think this cleanup work will involve a Lot of tweezering Just picking out all these particles of Perlite Cleaning the soil surface up And then I'll have to plant my Moss when I've got this all Looking good I'll use the same Moss that I took out Of the forest So it matches all the surrounding Moss And hopefully by the end of the day You'll never tell That I planted a new tree in this Forest It'll look like it's It's always been there I'm just moving some of these branches That have fallen down I've knocked them Off the main tree or the dead tree And It may be something that you know Eventually all these branches might rot Away and fall out fall down Now we'll see Lots of cleanup here I'm going to have To use My spatulas a shovel here and try and Get
All this soil out of here I should have used my spoon when I was Putting the soil in it would have been Better A little more accurate I've got a lot of the force cleaned up Of that Bonsai soil so I'm going to Start planting some Moss now And then I can do the final cleanup when The Moss is in place so here's the old Moss that came from in here So again I can't reach in with my hands So I've I need to feed it in with the tweezers I don't want the moss growing right at The base of the tree but I do want it Kind of in between all the trees So I think there is good and push it Down Making good contact with the bolt-sized Soil Sand So it should grow really nicely And I may need to add some more Moss Around here It's a bit bare in some areas So I have my tray of moss on hand here With some nice mosses that I can Apply to the surface So I'll put some nice Moss right here Between these trees That down Put some Right deep in the forest here
Like that Pressing it down It's looking good Then I better go around the back of the Forest And do the same there's a good clearing Here that I can reach in and plant Moss Which is really nice so I'll put that Behind the tree here I use my root rake to kind of push that Down Pushing it firmly into that new soil That looks good I need Another patch Right here between these trees That That looks good There's no Moss here at the back Plant some there I don't know what happened to it there Maybe I borrowed it that one time That's always possible Whenever you're putting a tree in a show I'm always looking around for the best Looking Moss Sometimes it comes off another tree Uh just a little bit more here Okay I think that's good I think I can Do a cleanup on the landscape now I've got enough Moss planted that it'll Spread and fill in all the spots It is a beautiful afternoon for doing This I I really enjoy Being out here in the greenhouse working
Away at the forest Now when I'm finally done picking out All this perlite I'll put some more sand Down kind of filling in all the spots Between the Moss clumps And that'll really encourage that Moss To kind of grow across the sand And it'll really Fill the forest floor in nicely And then Maybe it'll fill it in too nicely and I'll be picking it out around the trees Again But that's okay I hear the crows in the background Okay I need another spoonful of Sand in here So I use my New spoon And this sand is just Playground sand mixed with white Sandblasting sand and it just lightens The sand up a bit I find the playground sand is a bit too Dark And the White Sands definitely too light And I find Kind of the mixture of the two is about Right to kind of Yeah it just looks about right and you Can vary it I mean you can have Playground sand in one area The lighter sand in another area in it You know some variation in the forest
Floor always looks good I think the sand in my Pathways is a bit Darker Okay so I've got a lot of perlite to Clean up here but you can see the main Tree is looking pretty good now Happy with it Looks natural Looks like it's always been there I love the sunlight on the forest I Think it's so cool Sunlight is the best lighting ever It's almost when you know you take your Trees through a bonsai show you know The lighting is going to be not so great And the tree You know in the sunlight they always Look the best But at a show You know usually the lighting's way up High in the ceiling and it's not so Bright and it's not directed at your Tree So you know your trees can always look Better in sunlight The uh they look more natural you get Shadows Highlights the bark more It's an interesting thing Um when trees are photographed at a show The lighting is usually very soft And Soft lighting could be nice on some Trees
Like a tree that has smooth bark Can look good with soft lighting but if You change it to You know almost like a flashlighting That creates sharp Shadows it creates a Totally different look in the Photographic and bring out the rough Bark of a tree It can bring out the circular look of The trunk you know the diameter of it Doesn't look so flat I don't see a whole lot of Experimentation around with photographs On a on both sides they're generally You know pretty Portrait lighting is what I would call It kind of flat Smooth portrait lighting that lights There's usually a key light And then fill light and sometimes a Backlight that kind of highlights the Edges of the trees The same as you would do with someone's Face Very rarely You see like a direct overhead sharp Lighting that simulates the Sun at High Noon or Sunset lighting low angle lighting That's kind of Got a bit of a Yellowish reddish tone to it You see Pretty standard photographs
I think If I were Creating a bold side book I would tap photographs under different Lighting conditions sunlight You know The evening light the Morning Light Foggy days Really Really bring a variety of pictures into The book One of my favorite books is the four Seasons of bonsai And it shows The trees in all the different seasons Spring Summer fall And winter and it's It was the first book that I saw that Showed trees under different conditions Other than like You know Trees that are prepared for spring or Summer Showed the winter silhouette and the Leaves coming out in Spring and then The mature full look of Summer And then fall colors and then the winter Silhouette again Really cool I think I need a little more Sand in here Right here Like that And maybe a little
Right here too And when I water that it'll all blend in Nicely I haven't had the vents open up in my Greenhouse yet this year But I'm sure one of these days they will It is getting quite warm in the Greenhouse here I've got the heat right Off it's getting close to 30 degrees Celsius so I'm going to open my door Here try and cool it down I just Realized how warm it was in here here I Was working away nice and comfortable And that's the reason why is that it's Super warm in the greenhouse I prepped the soil surface with the sand Picked all the perlite out so now I'm Ready to give it a watering to kind of Wash all that sand into the Moss and Kind of integrate it with the landscape So here I go with the watering now All right here I go with the water Coming from above Blending it all in with the landscape You see there's a few bits of perlite That have being exposed but we'll pick Those out Foreign Good watering in the sand I've cleaned up the forest floor it's All looking quite nice now I think it's time to step back And have a look and see how the forest Looks
I'm standing back having a look at the Forest now I can see there's a couple of Trees There's one here a Larch that's on a bit Of an angle but it's not too bad So that could be straightened up in the Future Maybe the one at the back the black Spruce is on a bit of an angle too but Nothing too bad most of the trees are Vertical I think I could add another tree maybe a Spruce up front here I think that would look good and maybe A few more trees in the very back behind The main part of the forest there If I look through the kind of trees There's a bit it's a bit open looking Could be a little denser I think back There This Forest is a very young Forest a Very immature Forest the oldest tree in This Forest is no more than five years Old from seed So that yeah all these trees are very Young and they have a lot of refinement To go And I think that refinement will just Add to the miniaturization of the forest I don't think you'll see dramatic Changes It'll just be refinement to the branches Getting to weep over the years and Improving the structure and the
Character and building up bark on the Trees and yeah I think It has a lot a lot of improving to do Before it becomes kind of a nice Showpiece but It's getting there I I'm really happy With the arrangement I think it just needs time and care now Foreign Foreign Foreign To this Forest maturing into the future I think it's going to look really good Someday that is all for today I'm Nigel Saunders thanks for joining me in the Bonsai Zone
Creativity in writing is becoming a scarcity.
Between the constant temptation to dance for the algorithm and the staggering advance of artificial intelligence, our world is spiraling into what I believe to be a creative crisis.
For us to remain an emotionally-aware race, while at the same time pushing humanity forward, we must cultivate and champion creativity both in ourselves and in the generations to come and write as we feel.
This is why I’m dedicating the next decade of my life to exploring the subject of creativity as both an artist and teacher.
I hope you enjoy my content
Best
James
My Bonsai Journey
