Okay this day was pretty brutal. I must have removed about 15 wheelbarrows of soil out of this garden. Backbreaking work, but extremely rewarding to see the final look. So over the past weeks I have worked to uncover the canvas of this garden, and now finally and I can see it. At this point the outline is now defined, and I have identified the items I want to keep. Also I have located placement for the three main stones. The sand is a little dirty, so it is not as white as it should be. I need a good rain to rinse it clean.

The bamboo in the top right of the photo bothers me a bit because it is located in the sand, and gives me an even number of objects. However its not my main focus right now.

From this angle you can see both mounds of soils are gone (thank goodness).

I now plan to add two bamboo screens to bring interest and contrast againt the green background as well as to hide the door. It has come a long way in a rather short period. I should be able to finish up this weekend. Wish me luck!

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So far the Zen garden hasn’t been very relaxing for me. I worked for a few hours just trying to refine the border of the garden itself. I moved much of the clutter from the center of the garden to the outer edges so that the view would be improved. I also had to decide what I wanted to keep, and what needed to go.

In this picture you can see how I removed the large stone areas in the top center and right side of the photo. The large mound of dirt in the foreground really needs to go. It is too large and so unappealing to look at. Once it’s gone it will really change the look of the garden.

The area where I am standing is on the rocks that used to be the center of the garden. I felt they would work better as a border instead of a focal point of the garden

There is just so much in this photo. Zen gardens are supposed to be relaxing and meditative. This picture has your eye so busy looking at everything that you can’t help but be stressed. Still a long way to go.

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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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