Bonsaify | How to Make Amazing Tanuki Bonsai with an OG Trickster

[@MrMackanno]

Wat I appreciate the most is Mr. McDonald's clear and straight emphasis in mentioning your bonsai is Tanuki. To me this gives the tree and the work done on it a greater value. Very nice video.

[@sagebonsai]

Great video, I have a three massive tanuki in my life. Everyone who walks by my apartment complex has to take a photo of my Grey Owl juniper attached to a massive american elm root.

[@stephencreswell229]

Everyone needs an uncle Moss King!!! Cool video Eric!!!

[@estherlovesveges]

Thanks for this Bonsaify. Jay is a fun & friendly Bonsai Black belt. Fitting music selection 👍🏽

[@Foxtrot1967]

I'll be damn! Never heard about a "tanuki". Now that I have, I will be performing a few tricks this spring. Thanks!

[@zenobibonsai]

Beautiful and stunning! Thanks to Jay for sharing his knowledge and skill! 🙏

[@GertsBonsaiLog]

Thanks for the inspiration Eric and Jay!

[@MaryannFahl]

I'm inspired! Looking forward to go out on a search and find mission.😊

[@jacques_TRIKO]

Magnifique "escroc"! Je ne parle pas de Jay mais de l'arbre 😉😉😄😄Merci Eric pour cette très intéressante vidéo 👍👍

[@bobcatbonsai]

Such a cool lesson on tanuki. Maybe 1 day I will give this a shot. Thank you for sharing!

[@Benw3790]

This dude is awesome and I love his honesty. I wouldn't mind having 1 or maybe 2 tanuki/Phoenix grafted trees in my garden but I don't think I'd ever have the conscious to show them. Whether I'm truthful about jt or not. They are still very beautiful and still total works of ART but I just can't get completely over the fact that it is "cheating". Not my cup of tea but kudos to this man for perfecting and appreciating the Phoenix graft style. I love his outlook on it and happy for him with the joy it brings to his garden, in terms of instant gratification. If I could carve deadwood just half as good as he does, I'd be happy. Great content!!

[@bobmccarlie382]

Best video on Tanuki that I've seen. 👍

[@KennetDeBondt]

Since pruning, wiring, etc. is not ´natural´, tanuki is a proper way to create bonsai.

[@t.regnerus301]

Learned something new about bonsai today. Really cool seeing stuff like this in bonsai. So much diversity to accomplish the same result.

[@sharonbone330]

Yay Jay! Very entertaining and inspirational video.

[@TupeloHoney6104]

Insanely gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

[@naturezaespetacular.]

Fantastic Idea 👏👏

[@VintageVibesRadio]

absolutely excellent.

[@paulholtzen7007]

Very nice, Jay. Just did the same to may cork pine after Greg told me about yours.

[@martinkinley8989]

Amazing work 👏 🙀. These tanuki are masterpieces 💪💪. Thanks for sharing and for the inspiration 🙌

[@harrietb2141]

Beatiful😍

[@petrvranovsky5662]

This man has pretty amazing knowledge and unique form, how to share his skills with other people. Dam I like him so much. Respect sir 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏

[@NimrodTargaryen]

Congratulations 🎉 and thank you

[@donnanelson9181]

This is beautiful. You’re very talented. I’d love to work on something like this, maybe on a smaller scale. Just beautiful!

[@blueridgebonsai9155]

Eric-I love his work and the tanuki is especially timely for me. Last summer I pulled up a dead juniper stump in my yard and have 2 shimpaku whips growing to go with it. For this video I would like to have heard him comment on how to preserve the lower portions of the stump from rotting once installed. Certainly just one lime sulfur treatment is not adequate. Also did he flatten the bottom to fit better in the pot? Will the live roots eventually take hold and support the dead wood? It also would have been helpful to get his insights on cutting the channel for the junipers, especially focusing on where to place them. For example the best old junipers seem to have the live veins along the outer edges of the trunk. Thanks for bringing him back-always great to see his work-Larry

[@Bonsaify]

This is great feedback Larry, thank you!

[@Bonsaify]

regarding the bottom - this particular piece had been a bonsai for a long time, so any old large wood below the soil line was already gone, and it was reasonably flat. You're right - and using wood hardener on the under side would be better for a wet summer climate. Here in CA we don't have much in the way of rot problems - it will rot but it will take decades as long as you keep moss and dirt off the wood.

[@chris_jeske]

Fantastic video thank you

[@sugarpeas45]

What kind of junipers are people like Jay using for tanuki? Looks awesome.

[@Bonsaify]

Shimpaku / Kishu - I find to be the best. Itoigawa is also great. Procumbens works but I don't like it.

[@jawwadhaider5908]

Wow beautiful work ❣️

[@starscream4067]

Nice work Mr. 😍

[@caseyvillemodelrailroad3877]

Great vidio, like your tree very much, i do 0 gauge trains in the back yard and bonsai my alberta spruce sooo mybe ill do one of your trees on the layout. Thanks for the morning coffee...

[@TheUncleLem]

I wanted to try to make a tanuki for some time now, but finding a piece of deadwood is the biggest challenge for me. I'm not even talking big chonkers like in this video, I'd happily settle for something shohin-sized. But bonsai scene in my country isn't very big, so there aren't many people I can ask, and I can't think of any other deadwood sources.

[@carlmcclain6934]

So cool! I actually made my first attempts at Tanuki today! Yours are stunningly gorgeous. Btw, your soil looks like Wigerts, or do you make your own? It’s exactly what I use.

[@Bonsaify]

Jay's soil is local dark lava and akadama mixed 50:50 in most cases.

[@Serentropic]

Great video. Tanuki is underrated. There's no reason to waste great deadwood when you can make something so beautiful. Besides, nature is usually doing the deadwood work whether the deadwood is from a collected tree or a tanuki. I'd love to try it but it's difficult to find good deadwood locally because it's so wet and everything is dumb and healthy, lol.

[@buddytrent1351]

Love your trees wondering if you were getting into Tunuki Is there any junipers you would stay away from for this method? Thanks in advance.

[@Bonsaify]

I would consider the mature state as the important thing - that's what makes me like shimpaku/kishu/itoigawa. Others are more coarse, run too quickly, or are too prickly.

[@Happy_Buddah_Bonsai_UK]

Awesome 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🇬🇧

[@kpettersen9316]

Definitely not cheating Still looks like art and horticulture rising from a pot to me. Love these they are as beautiful as any "proper" bonsai

[@lankydude]

Looks great! Approx. how long will the base of the wood that is touching the substrate, last before it rots away

[@Bonsaify]

It might take a long time in NorCal - but they do rot. Probably no appreciable difference in the next 10 years. We could have slowed that down by treating the bottom portion with wood hardener.

[@hyperionhelios190]

I used deadwood in terrariums before. In that scenario I baked the wood first to make sure there were not pest transfer. Would you recommend the same pre-treatment for tanuki?

[@Bonsaify]

In this case the wood was baked in some hot sun for a while. Pathogen transfer is always an issue, but i don't think a piece of deadwood is particularly problematic. Still, not a terrible idea. Did it smell bad?

[@hyperionhelios190]

@@Bonsaify only when I accidentally little the tips on fire.😅

[@s.k.9891]

Can we see some more of your trees?

[@Bonsaify]

if you have not seen it check out this other video from Jay's place: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqHKo6aua8aSp7s

[@markwoodard659]

Do you have a preferred source for big chunky deadwood like that?

[@Bonsaify]

Bonsai collectors’ scrap pile. 😂

[@buddytrent1351]

I have a question for you, so if I’m connecting deadwood to my plant, how do I connect the deadwood to the pot so everything stays in place thanks

[@Bonsaify]

In this case we drilled a hole through part of the wood that was hidden under the soil and stuck the wire through that hole to help anchor it. You can also use props - eg a block of wood under one part with a wire over the top if that helps. Each situation is slightly different, but the anchoring technique is largely the same as standard for established bonsai or for Yamadori. In established bonsai a Four-point tie is used with wire laying over the rootball. When there is no rootball, then using anchors that combine a prop (to hold it up) and wire (to hold it down against the prop) are common. The rock at 07:13 and the hole drilling around 07:40 are both elements of the anchor.

[@buddytrent1351]

@@Bonsaify thanks I live near some lakes that have some ancient driftwood. I’m gonna give some Sergeant junipers a shot. Got lucky on some lime sulfur old stock about 45 minutes away from my house. I want to grab two bottles of that for 10 bucks for 32 ounces. So of course, I’m gonna go all them as per usual for me. Thank you so much for your help and your videos. I guess it’s gonna be trial and error.

[@dudesjirbonsai]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@OjaiBonsai]

OG trickster😂. Not a fan but I have 2 because I killed the original tree and felt bad. Funny thing is friends and family can’t tell

[@АлександрСавостьянов-в6о]

Молодец что честно всё рассказал .

[@onizukateacher7992]

Where to buy deadwood for tanuki ? I dont have junipers here

[@Bonsaify]

Not sure. As we discussed, it's not always easy to find. Sometimes aquarium people have dead wood.

[@onizukateacher7992]

@@Bonsaify thanks anyway dude great guy

[@joannetanner7282]

Nailing the tree to the dead wood does not cause harm to the tree?

[@Bonsaify]

I would say it does harm the tree; but, the amount of harm is low enough as to not cause a problem. Think of it like if you stuck the end of a stick into a stream of running water and held it there - it causes a slight change in the flow of the water, but ultimately there isn't much difference. Trees compartmentalize damage, and the nail will only harm a small part of the cambium, which will continue to grow all around it. The nails he uses, and the nail gun minimize the damage - no head on the nail so the tree will just grow right over it.

[@boxCatalogue]

So he didn't like the piece you kicked off the Utah juniper?

[@Bonsaify]

I kept it.

[@boxCatalogue]

@@Bonsaify Does this mean another tanuki video is in the works?

[@Bonsaify]

Most likely, yes. I disagree with some of Jay's techniques - hence this is presented as his take on the idea.