I was contacted recently by someone looking for help to revive and redesign their Zen garden. They had lost the person that had done it before me and had difficulties finding someone to care for the garden. I must admit I was very excited about the idea, and knew that this was something that I had wanted to do for some time. The following pictures are of the garden the first day I saw it.

As you can see the garden was very cluttered and didn’t offer the relaxing feeling of a real Zen garden.

The owner and I agreed that the previous design included too many features and elements. It just has too much going on. I think the most important aspect of the Zen garden is the rakes gravel. With the current design you barely noted the sand.

From this angle you can see how jagged the outside edges of the gravel flowed. It wasn’t smooth and soothing, but instead had hard drastic lines. I could see I would have a lot to do.

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So I thought I’d share with all of you what I have in my Bonsai Tool bag. Many of these tools are used quite frequently, and some have been there in a pinch. However all of them have come in handy at one time or another.

The bag I use is one that I found at a local home improvement store. I liked that it was an open design and had a solid structure.

Most important to me are the side pouches. These are useful for a number of reasons. First is that it is easy to see the tools you have to work with without having to take them out. Secondly they are easy to grab when you are working on a tree. Lastly, is that the tools can dry after being used so that they don’t rust. I do dry my tools with a towel when I use them, but this allows for additional air drying to occur.

My most used (and some of the more expensive tools) are the Root cutter and Large Knob Cutter. Both very large and very heavy tools. Its nice to be able to get to them quickly. Also shown is a stainless steel brush, Nylon brush, root hook, and two rolls of wire (probably 1.5mm and 2.0mm).

From this angle you can see my camera (a nice camera that STAYS IN THE BAG), cut paste, root sickle, and chop sticks.

My most expensive tools (and my favorites) reside in a leather tool roll inside my tool bag. Most of the time I use my other tools. However if I am working on something special or participating in a workshop I bring these out.

All of these tools are available at Orlando Bonsai, and I really do use them. I hope you found this interesting and useful.

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I have been asked by a lot of people what tools are needed for bonsai. However that is not the easiest of questions to answer. Sure as the owner of the Orlando Bonsai Store I am always looking to make a sell, but depending on level of experience of the individual a sell isn’t needed. I always suggest to new people to bonsai to take it slow. Many tools that they most likely already own are enough to do the basic pruning, trimming, and maintenance of any entry level tree. So I recommend not just buying any and every tool that there is, and to focus on quality. BUY THE GOOD STUFF. In the long run it will pay for itselt by not having to buy the same tools over and over.

However once the bonsai artist begins to aquire more skills and learn more advanced techniques they will need tools specially designed for the bonsai artist in each of us.

First and foremost is the concave cutter, This tool works like no other cutter in the lawn and garden center of any home improvement store. It is designed to remove the branch in a manor that allows for the natural healing of a tree to roll over the wound and leave a flat and very reduced scar.

In future posts I will continue to review other tools in my tool bag, and preovide suggestions on which options exists. If you have questions please feel free to ask.

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