Can it be split ?

Creating stunning bonsai from garden material
Using just a saw and some common sense Bruno Wijman shows how to create a slanting style bonsai (shakan) from a garden yew, Taxus baccata, ‘summergold’
The yew arrived in the studio of Bruno some time ago. It belonged to one of his clients, who’d lost interest in the tree. It seemed impossible to style because of its long straight trunk. Yet it’s in a very healthy state, as seen here, with its plentiful strong shoots. Your eyes directly go to the base of the trunk, which is the best part and makes this material very interesting. But how to deal with that straight part? If it were a juniper, the long trunk would not cause problems because of the adaptability of their live veins, so enabling dramatic changes. With yews, however, things are slightly different and more limited. But for Bruno this was the challenge - to see if the impossible was possible by bending that long trunk and creating a stunning bonsai. Go to: www.bonsaifocu...