From an early age, I’ve been enchanted by the natural world. While studying Horticulture at The University of Georgia, a classmate introduced me to bonsai and the dream of having  a bonsai nursery of my own began. After graduating, I worked at Samara Farms in Nashville,  TN as the manager for the next 4 years. While there I refined my understanding of horticulture.  The next phase of study in was under Keiichi Fujikawa, the owner of Kouka-en Nursery for two  years. Three months stints to help my teacher during the following four years also occurred.  While there, I gained experience with a wide variety of species and styles along with Kusamono  creation and bonsai display.

Studying bonsai in Japan has been a stepping stone to creating bonsai using not only  Asian species, but also to applying those techniques and design principles to our American  trees. Deciduous trees and broadleaf evergreens have always held the most interest to me.  This area of bonsai is where I hope to have the greatest impact by sharing techniques for their  creation and maintenance. My teaching style is “laid back and practical”, and the most impor tant thing about bonsai is that this stuff should be fun!

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Continuing work with public / private soon to be public collections, networking suitable bonsai professionals as well as horticultural consulting, styling services and purchasing collections / accessioning bonsai to public collections.Perpetuating America’s bonsai culture and noting the patrons and creators of bonsai art continues to be Owen’s goal, which started in 2006 with his move to Nashville.