Six Ways to Incorporate Positivity into Your Urban Dwelling
Incorporate these six positive influences into your urban space to help you overcome anxiety, fear, loneliness, or any other negative emotions you've been experiencing.
Shrinking a Juniper
Eric has an “ah-ha!” moment while contemplating the trunk of a small, cutting-grown Kishu Juniper bonsai. He walks through how to compress the existing bends further to make the...
OUR MISSION
Bonsai for You
Our mission is to educate and facilitate enjoyment of bonsai as a hobby sustainably, with a carbon neutral impact to the planet. We are committed to producing modern mini-bonsai that anyone can easily care for and enjoy
Developing Chinese Elm Mame: Mini-Bonsai Manipulation
Eric Schrader shares his work on four Chinese Elm mini-bonsai trees, known as mame. This includes pruning, removing stubs, thinning shoots, and wiring. Most Mame Bonsai are arou...
My Particular Brand of Bonsai Photography
If you follow me on Instagram (@ericschraderbonsai) then you’ve seen my feed of photos – most of them contain a light grey backdrop with a gradient on it and a single tree lit f...
Why Bonsai Hobbyists Do Crazy Things (and You Can, Too)
Bonsai can take many years to grow and develop, but it's the fun had along the journey that bonsai hobbyists find so interesting and fulfilling. If your interest in bonsai expan...
Review of The Little Book of Bonsai by Jonas Dupuich
This short review of Jonas Dupuich's new book, "The Little Book of Bonsai" also includes commentary from Eric on how a few of his bonsai trees which Jonas featured have changed ...
Four Key Elements of Prepping Bonsai Trees for Display
Learn how the four key elements to preparing for a bonsai exhibition work together, and what you can learn by deciding to show a bonsai tree. Show prep is about more than a tree...
What Your Bonsai Collection Would Look Like if I Had a Say
What is Eric's ideal composition for a bonsai collection? In this post he explains the optimal mix of sizes, shapes, and species of trees that provide an ideal learning path for...
To Saulieu, France and Back - 2019 Bonsai-San Show
A quick review of the 2019 Bonsai-San show in Saulieu, France. Includes a video walk-through of this global bonsai show, one of the largest and best bonsai shows in Europe.
Mame Kishu Juniper Bonsai
Eric offers advice and five key points to consider when making mame Kishu juniper bonsai. They are so much fun to work with; just some cutback, fine wiring, and additional shari...
Bonsai Kayak
That time Eric Schrader designed and built a kayak specifically for a white pine bonsai clump to show at the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco's Japantown, and then took ...
The Artisans Cup Judging
In their Sunday afternoon panel discussion Ryan and Chelsea Neil expressed a desire for creating professional standards in bonsai and for consistency and transparency in judging...
Reflections on the Artisans Cup
Eric walks through his experience at the 2015 Artisans Cup, where he showed a grafted California Juniper at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon.
A Conversation with John Boyce
An interview with John Boyce, one of Eric's first teachers and a founding member of the Bonsai Society of San Francisco. John's approach to bonsai incorporates minimalism, Japan...
Yamadori Junipers - Inspiration for Bonsai
A yamadori tree is a wild tree growing in the mountains and sculpted by nature. They are great subjects for bonsai; they can often carry large price tags and are highly sought a...