Cathedral

Botanical Name: Buxus sempervirens

Common Name: Boxwood

Story of the Tree

Twelve years ago, I dug this boxwood from the front yard of my neighbors and good friends Sherry and Roger Taylor — with Roger's help. It was seven or eight feet tall. I cut the roots on the spot with a reciprocating saw.

It lived first in a large wood box for two years, then in a large ceramic grow pot, before going into a real bonsai pot for the first time in 2018.

In February 2020, I took my first carving lesson with Will Baddeley in Steve Iwaki's backyard. Afterward, I carved the stumps on this tree — and fell in love with carving bonsai.

The front of the tree is in dispute. The view I'm showing doesn't highlight the carving as well, but it does show the triple trunks. I've heard all kinds of opinions about this tree. Some don't think it fits the traditional bonsai mold — most boxwoods are styled to look like oaks. But this one I think of as my cathedral tree. It simply flourishes.

Exhibited by Idris