Andrew Robson’s Garden
Andrew Robson sitting in his display space and next to his exceptional Japanese maple.
About a month ago I had the honor of visiting Andrew Robson’s garden in Portland, Oregon. What a treat this was.
Andrew’s garden is nestled in a quiet suburban neighborhood where redwoods and Douglas fir tower over homes, laurel hedgerows line yards, ferns encrust branches, and, curiously, the occasional palm tree can be spotted -a reminder of Portland’s unique climate. What an interesting environment to grow bonsai.
The view from Andrew’s bonsai studio.
Andrew’s garden was constructed very thoughtfully.
Peering out at Andrew’s studio, you almost get the feeling of staring through a portal and into another realm. There is a beautiful contrast between the elegant studio and the eclectic garden where color and texture merge. As you stroll past his benches you notice the wide range of species he is working with: trident maples, Japanese maples, beeches of all varieties, cottonwood, birch, stewartia, quince the list goes on. I was not only impressed with the quality of the bonsai on the benches, but was also taken back by Andrew’s ambitiousness. There were a lot of trees in this garden and at all different stages of development. It takes an enormous amount of commitment and determination to produce this many high level bonsai in the two years since Andrew opened the garden.
While walking through, I found myself stopping and admiring an enormous dawn redwood. Andrew told the story of collecting it as a pre-bonsai with no roots. It was essentially a giant cutting. A sense of power and uniqueness is starting to emerge from Andrew’s work on this bonsai. I’m looking forward to seeing it an exhibition someday.
Andrew’s giant dawn redwood project.
More bonsai from the garden.
A lovely broom style Katsura tree. These are uncommon as bonsai. What a great example!
A wildly interesting Ponderosa pine in development.
A beautiful selection of Japanese maples.
Another view of the garden.
Here are more examples of Andrew’s work:
Japanese maple ‘shishigashira’
A lovely three point display with chojubai quince, shimpaku juniper and an accent -perhaps wintergreen.
After spending time in the garden, Andrew invited me on his podcast to discuss my experience collecting deciduous bonsai and our upcoming March 15th study group at Bonsai Forge. Last year, I asked Andrew to headline the garden opening at Bonsai Forge and it was a great success.
Moving forward, Andrew will teach a Spring deciduous study group here at Bonsai Forge starting on March 15. If you’d like to come and learn from one of the best, please RSVP : Email. Class info : About-Upon opening, click ‘learn more’ to be taken to the class info.
To hear Andrew and I on his podcast, please check out the video here: