Bonsaify | How to Put Moss on Your Bonsai for Show Preparation w/ "Moss King of Marin" Jay McDonald

Join Eric for a tour of Jay McDonald's custom-built bonsai workshop and garden, as well as a full tutorial from Jay on how to select, style, prep, and care for mossing your bonsai. You're in for a real treat as Jay opens up his collection like never before in this video; keep his motto in mind, "Presentation is Everything"!
00:01:11 One of the jewels in Jay's collection, a tanuki he built in 2001 from 2 Junipers and a glorious piece of deadwood. Tanuki bonsai is the practice of joining a living tree to a piece of deadwood to create a driftwood-style composite.
00:02:07 Inside Jay's bonsai workshop, custom built [by Jay with help from Eric!]
00:02:23 Jay built a Tokonoma to take pictures of his show-quality trees. A Tokonoma is a dedicated space to artistically display items for appreciation.
00:03:41 Jay's belief about the composition of a bonsai collection - equal mix of deciduous and conifer. Why? "Seeing the seasons in the trees [is] what I do bonsai for."
00:07:15 Jay's advice on caring for and feeding (fertilizing) fruiting and flowering bonsai.
00:07:43 Watch Jay lay high caliber moss to prep a raft-style bonsai for an upcoming show.
00:09:32 The most important tool for laying moss to ensure "no muddy edges".
00:10:00 Installing the moss!
00:11:50 The fully mossed Juniper grove. Jay has created a beautiful landscape.
00:12:13 A 360 degree view of the composition.
00:13:00 Jay shares the final touches he makes 2-3 days before a bonsai show to ensure top presentation of his tree.
Thank you for watching - did you enjoy this tour of Jay McDonald's bonsai workshop and collection? Do you have any questions about selecting moss or laying moss around your bonsai tree? Let us know in the comments. As always, please like and share this video with your bonsai friends, and subscribe to our channel!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Love the trees, the new architecture and the garden!!

[@user-cm4mc5ub1u]

love the presentation and sense of humour

[@jonathanaristone2468]

Presentation is everything and it shows. Go big or go home. This was worth watching a few times.

[@mikecallender7446]

I'm lucky enough to see them everyday!

[@BenBSeattle]

love how moss can transform the overall look of a bonsai tree

[@stephenboyle4524]

Stephen Boyle. Amazing Jay your shop and presentation are wonderful your a true treasure and I will continue to enjoy your creations and tutelage.

[@capriusacropoles2317]

Beautiful things ...

[@lolpwndk]

What a legend, passion and knowledge just oozing out!

[@treesbonsaiperfect8420]

wow so beautifoll ❤🌳

[@carynludwig6667]

Wow! What a place! What fantastic bonsai trees! Kudos to the owner. Quite the artist and master of the craft.

[@Bonsaify]

Fittingly, Jay called me to tell me how much he appreciates your compliments. 😊

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

Happy New Year Eric and fellow KZbin viewers. May your 2022 be productive, happy and healthy. And I hope your trees grow healthy, with prodigious back budding and short internodes.

[@marcobonsai9394]

Jay is just THE BEST!!!! Total

[@harleymon407]

Amazing work there sir

[@harrietb2141]

What a nice place. Love it😍

[@slametsetiadi4293]

Beautiful place beautiful bonsai beautiful house i like it very much Mr Jay,thankyou sharing video.

[@Kjbrunzo]

Trees look great, never seen a Buckeye bonsai before. I like the Trilobite on the right at 2:35 as well, nice decoration.

[@garlanddavidson6845]

Awesome tour of the moss king! I Really like his landscape around his place really Pleasant and peaceful.

[@BlueJayBonsai]

Fantastic tour! Thanks so much Eric & Jay. 👍

[@Bonsaify]

Jay loves publicity. Thanks for watching!

[@horanbenjamin]

What a garden, what a guy would love to visit this place

[@questionablecooking7019]

Damn, Jay gets DOWN ... hell yeah, great field trip here

[@stephencreswell229]

Thanks for the episode. I love watching these before messing with my trees. I was outside in my building getting akadama/ pumice sifted and separated for the upcoming repotting season when I got the notification.

[@jaycrockett9205]

Wow , incredible place. Thanks these video inspire and motivate me ,to try and do better quality work . It is extremely humbbleing to see people sharing their ,work passions ,and incredible skill sets for no personal gain what so ever. Thanks.

[@SilverF0XX]

Thanks for sharing Eric

[@joannevandyke5112]

Great introduction to yourself and your collection, (for me) thank you for sharing 😀

[@byronlarson227]

That guy is my hero 🙌

[@themichaellerner]

Thank you for the tour!

[@davidmorgan3508]

Aussie Dave here, wow awesome video and fantastic work 🌲👌. It's great to see the old fella ( hahaha since I'm 61 myself hahaha) growing moss the same way I do. 🤗👍🤗. We need more people like him...

[@Bonsaify]

Thanks Dave! Jay's a seasoned veteran of the bay area bonsai scene. We could definitely use some more like him.

[@davidmorgan3508]

@@Bonsaify 👌🌲🤗

[@CrazyCow500]

Proud man. God bless.

[@lefthandluke8923]

What a great video. I'd give anything for that workshop and garden. Jay is certainly The Man!

[@Bonsaify]

He will definitely appreciate reading that "The Man"! ;-)

[@bradleyc9538]

Another fantastic video. Thanks Eric!

[@Bonsaify]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@arnopienaar8111]

Just brilliant,warm regards from South Africa

[@nwilliams1540]

Beautiful

[@sagebonsai]

What a legend 👏 👏 👏

[@BONSAIenCORTO]

Espectacular sitio y material. Increíble.

[@bafatakisa]

Great man, thanks allot.

[@Andsabe]

Beautiful bonsai

[@timmywood9677]

I live in the Bay Area to Santa Cruz. My favorite tree is my 17 year old Madrone bonsai double trunk. Not to many people grow Madrone trees. But I really like them with the red flaking bark

[@user-bx2sn4cx3h]

Эстет , художник бонсай и ландшафтник в одном лице.

[@jasongannon7676]

I enjoyed the tour

[@elig2714]

Supercool!

[@dragaumchineis5070]

Bom dia, Flor do dia!

[@lefthandluke8923]

Question about "a high middle number" for flowering and fruit trees @7:12. I thought the middle number was for roots, and the third number was for flowers and fruits. Isn't NPK, nitrogen for shoots, phosphorus for roots and potassium for flowers and fruits??

[@markfreiberg9906]

Great video! Is there a "Bible" of moss for use on Bonsai, or as a garden itself? I'm wondering how best to grow it in my shade garden.

[@Bonsaify]

Timber Press put out a book called "Moss Gardening" a decade ago. I have a copy, and it's somewhat useful - more for your garden than for bonsai. We basically just look for the right kind of moss and use that, most people don't manage to cultivate it. Although I think a few might finally be getting it right.

[@meltdowngrfx969]

If the Big Lebowski was a bonsai artist.

[@GoldenGateSeekers]

👌🏽❤️

[@Islamskie44]

Ма ша Алла

[@adel7933]

Jay's youtube, Instagram or Facebook??? I loved it 6:06

[@Bonsaify]

Lol. Well, Jay is not a man of the internet. One of the reasons I thought it valuable to cover his collection here. If he doesn't either call you or text you photos, you'd never know of him. 🤷‍♂️. Unless you're in Marin county and happen to see him driving around with a bonsai in the back of his truck like a mobile billboard.

[@mikeswain1945]

A question for Jay McDonald I guess. When he collects the moss, does he have to use it straight away or is there a way of possibly 'preserving' it until needed? In the video, Jay has a number of dishes with moss in them and I wasn't sure if he just collected enough for what he needed that day.

[@Bonsaify]

We often collect moss in winter (rainy season). In the tray it can last a few weeks when watered, but it does better if applied to the soil soon after collecting. The moss can dry out and go dormant without dying but extended periods of dryness make it harder to revive.

[@arnoldmmbb]

Is there any place to see the tanuki pictures? awesome tree

[@Bonsaify]

I asked Jay to send them to me. I'll see if I can post them at some point soon for everyone.

[@arnoldmmbb]

@@Bonsaify it would be awesome to see it Eric

[@9daywonda]

Great fence sculpture. I thought Leslie Nelson was dead hey???

[@Bonsaify]

Wait - when I put that name into google all I get is Leslie Nielsen - the actor from Airplane. So I'm confused...lol.

[@9daywonda]

@@Bonsaify Can't you kinda see the resemblance?

[@9daywonda]

Ohh by the way Happy New Year Hey.

[@GrimsleyAllyn21]

What is liquid gold spray?

[@Bonsaify]

It's a furniture polish spray. amzn.to/3JtP4Wt

[@dadrip]

HELP NEEDED. My moss on my trees keep getting white fuzzy mold on it. What causes this and what can I do to fix it???

[@Bonsaify]

Hmm. Are you sure it's mold? White fuzzy mold is not common - if you're indoors with poor air circulation that could cause it. More common is mineral residue from water killing moss. So if you live for example in Los Angeles, the tap water is not such that it will make moss grow well. Switch to a cleaner water source, with lower pH and TDS between 25-75 ppm.

[@dadrip]

@@Bonsaify I am indoors this probably poor air circulation. And I have been watering it with well water should I still treat it for pH and such?

[@sgtrock6213]

Yes well water hashish mineral content

[@MiyamotoMusashi9]

I'm glad to see Hulk Hogan found a peaceful retirement

[@Bonsaify]

Yes, after he killed Gawker to the tune of $115M he took up bonsai.😜

[@MiyamotoMusashi9]

@@Bonsaify lol . Love the trees brother... I've learned a lot from you