Developing black pine
I really like working with Japanese Black Pine. Although they keep needles year round, their appearance changes with the seasons. The pine below is flush with last year’s growth – a mix of spring and summer foliage.
Spring growth above – Summer growth below
As you might imagine, the future silhouette of this tree will be much smaller than it is now. I plan to remove the top half of the trunk when I get a few more grafts in place – more on that next week. After some cutback, needle pulling, grafting and repotting, the tree looked a bit more manageable.
All set for Spring
I learned years ago that bonsai folk can benefit from a deep sense of delayed gratification. Today this tree is both gangly and unbalanced – it looks like it’s waving its arms in the air in dismay. But it’s looking better every year and before long it will look great in an exhibit. The effort will be worth it.
I’ve also learned that there’s far more to bonsai than making trees “pretty.” Routine tasks like repotting provide me with plenty of gratification. While repotting this tree, I was very surprised to see the condition of the soil.
Bonsai soil after 3 years in the pot
After at least three years, the bonsai mix had barely begun to break down. I’d used Clay King – the pre-mixed bonsai soil that comes from Japan. It’s a mix of pumice, lava and akadama. Normally I’d expect to repot this tree every or at least every other year. It’s a large tree in a small pot and it’s growing vigorously. But because the soil is so hard, the drainage remained good and the roots developed well.
Combing out the roots
I also appreciate the time savings. Getting an extra year out of bonsai soil saves time and money. Getting that with no cost to the tree’s health is a super combination.
Repotting and grafting ume
Almost 15 years ago, I signed up for my first Kathy Shaner workshop. I’d been informally studying with Kathy for some time – this would be my first opportunity to work with her on one of my own trees. Or soon to be mine. The trees for the event were included with workshop registration – ume from Muranaka Bonsai Nursery in Nipomo, CA. I drew the second largest tree of the lot. I was happy. It had a large trunk that split to three trunks/branches above. And I was told to expect double pink flowers.
Several years passed – no flowers. I’d already carved away the lower 3-4 inches of the trunk and begun developing the nebari. I carved the trunk and helped new branches ramify. But no blooms. I’ll admit I’m no fan of double pink, but the point of ume is the contrast between new flowers and old trunk. So I started grafting.
Another 5 years passed. The tree looked great with white blossoms – the fragrance was unforgettable – and I’d had fun learning how to care the variety. But ume don’t bud back well, and the grafting became a regular affair. Then, out of nowhere, a few dark buds appeared from some of the original branches. Before long, I saw the first few double pink flowers. Which confirmed my decision to graft.
This year I’m mid- re-grafting the entire tree. I let the branches grow past where I can safely cut back so I’m essentially starting from scratch. Here’s the tree a few weeks ago with the last few white and pink blossoms.
Ume – early February
White flowers
Double pink flowers
Last year I had good luck with my grafts – over half took and I ended up with around 7 new shoots. Another dozen or so grafts and I’ll be back in business.
Scion – one year after grafting
Another one-year old scion
Typically I graft in years when I don’t repot. This is supposed to maintain the vigor of the tree and help push energy to the scions. I hadn’t repotted the tree in a few years – not a problem because the pot was large and the drainage good – but I remembered doing things differently the first time I grafted the tree.
I looked through old photographs and found that when I grafted I cut the branches back heavily and repotted at the same time. I thought I’d try the same this year. Here’s a shot from below half-way through cleaning the bottom of the rootball. Not standard practice, but clearly demonstrative of the amount of roots removed.
Half-way through the rootball
I removed all roots up to the base of the trunk. I knew the base of the tree was flat because I hand carved through three inches of wood ten years ago and still remember the blisters. The work was far easier this time. To further encourage outward growing roots, I removed all growth from the base of the trunk.
Removing downward-growing roots
Bottom of the rootball prepared
I cleaned the remainder of the rootball and realized the nebari was developing well. When I first changed the level of the nebari, only three or four large roots emerged from the base of the trunk, the rest emerged a couple of inches higher. Now fine roots circle the trunk. Not necessarily expected of ume bonsai – trees on which deadwood is far more important than roots – but not undesirable either.
Rootball trimmed
As several years of residue from organic fertilizer displaced most of the bonsai soil left in the roots, I decided to wash the rootball to improve the drainage.
Rootball after washing away excess soil and fertilizer
I set to grafting right after repotting. Here’s a brief step-by step:
1. Insert scion in branch
2. Tie scion in place with grafting tape
3. Secure grafting bag around scion
Graft completed – note condensation from moist sphagnum moss in grafting bag
Grafting and cutback really cleaned up the tree. Here’s how it ended up.
Ume after grafting and repotting
I’ll have a good idea of which scions will make it around Fall. Some usually brown out immediately, others offer a green tease and then flame out in summer. If the grafts make it to Fall, I can usually count on their success. The goal is to get enough in place to begin thinking about showing the tree at a future BIB exhibit. When that time comes, I have just the pot in mind – a yellow oval I picked up in Japan last year – great motivation for me to keep up the work.
Repotting a Western juniper
While preparing a Western juniper for exhibit, I became curious as to why the tree was planted so far to one side of the pot. I was somewhat concerned because I couldn’t show the tree as it appeared below.
Western juniper
My worry was that all of the roots came from a single spot at the far end of the pot. After removing the tree from pot, I learned that the roots were healthy.
Western juniper roots – note new growth in December
The mystery would wait for a few minutes – first I had to prepare the pot. The pot was made by Michael Hagedorn and has a number of features that make it bonsai friendly.
Wired pot from above
Note below the recessed areas on the bottom of the pot for the wire. Note also the recessed area mid-way along the grooves. It’s designed to make room for wire cutters. A number of bonsai pots have similar grooves but no easy way to get to the wires. This can make removing them a challenge. If you find a pot with such grooves, you can avoid future trouble by running the wires perpendicular to the grooves.
Wired pot from below
Once the pot was ready, I combed out the roots. There were plenty after just one year of growth.
After combing the roots
I clipped away the roots that hung down and found the large root that forced the tree to the side of the pot. I removed a fair chunk of it.
Large root distil from the trunk
I combed out the sides and top of the rootball and was left with an odd shape to work with. The rootball was high on one side and low on the other; flush with roots on the right and devoid of roots on the left. The tree was tippy – some engineering would be required to secure it in the pot.
Rootball prepared
The solution Boon and I came up with used a block of wood, an extra wire, and a chopstick. Unorthodox, yet effective.
Tree secured
An extra bit of chopstick held the distil wire snug. After working the soil between the roots, the tree stayed put.
Chopstick to keep tie-wire in place
A few weeks after repotting I prepared the tree for exhibit – what a difference.
Tree and accent as displayed at BIB’s 11th annual exhibit
Although the result was an improvement, I expect an even bigger gain when I repot next year. I’d like to center the tree in the pot and rely more on new roots growing on the left side of the trunk. I’m looking forward to the work – every little bit helps.
Moss technique
It’s common, when displaying bonsai at indoor exhibits, to cover the surface of the soil with moss. The alternative – dirt – doesn’t really compare. Scott decorated his Ponderosa Pine with a great arrangement of mosses and lichens at this year’s BIB exhibit.
Depending on where you live, you may have found that moss doesn’t just show up the week before exhibit. Either that or you find it difficult to keep it under control, a problem I do not have in Northern California. For years now, I’ve taken note of all of the patches of attractive moss I run across that grow on public property. Come January, I go moss-collecting. If all goes well, I end up with a few trays like the one below.
Collected moss
One other ingredient is necessary to make the process a succes – moss. White sphagnum moss, to be specific, the kind usually available from orchid growers. It typically comes in clumps. Run it through the large screen you use when sifting bonsai soil to produce the fine particles shown below.
White sphagnum moss
With these two special ingredients close by, it’s time to get started. The first step is soji – removing, or “cleaning” the top layer of soil. Depending on the quality of your soil, this step may not be necessary. Because I use organic fertilizers like cottonseed meal, I find that in January the decomposed fertilizer becomes gunky and impedes drainage. Now’s a good time to remove it. I do this with bent-nose tweezers – possibly the most used tool in my bag.
Removing the top layer of soil
If any roots stick out, I clip them with root scissors.
Clipping an exposed root
I then fill the pot with bonsai soil but stop a quarter-inch below the lip. This is to make room for the moss. If your moss is thicker, leave a bigger gap.
Fresh bonsai soil (akadama, lava, pumice and charcoal)
Here’s where the sphagnum moss comes in. Sprinkle a thin layer over the soil.
White sphagnum moss
The sphagnum moss helps keep the dollups of fresh moss moist. Watering it down before placing the fresh moss makes the work easier – and keeps it from blowing away.
Sphagnum moss moistened – ready for fresh moss
This is where the moss work becomes technical. Clipping the base of a dollup of moss helps it fit into the pot.
Preparing a clump of moss
Some folks start in corners – others begin around the base of the trunk.
One down, more to go
It’s possible that somewhere, someone has written a treatise about moss-laying. I like to think so anyway. Turns out it’s much easier to do a bad job than it is to make the moss smooth and attractive. I’ve seen many workshop students shrug their shoulders and breeze through a tree only to find themselves reapplying the moss under Boon’s supervision.
Half-way there – Jeff always does a good job
Where can moss-work go wrong? Some things to keep in mind. Like-sized clumps look good together. Placing large clumps on the left side of the pot and small clumps on the right side stands out something awful. The same rule applies to moss color, character, and direction. Yes, direction. Look closely and you’ll notice that most moss leaves that grow together point the same way.
Some of the most attractive work blends together different kinds of moss. It’s worth experimenting to see what effect you like. Bonus points for good use of lichen. We’ll save antenna-theory for another day.
Freshly applied moss
Tamping the moss with tweezers or trowel helps it stay put. As moss frequently grows in mucky soil, firmly pressing the moss into place really sets the clumps into the sphagnum and bonsai soil below.
Tamping the moss with tweezers
Tamping the moss with a trowel
For a final touch, feel free to sprinkle tiny soil particles over the moss and sweep away the excess. By filling in the gaps, the edges of the clumps don’t dry out so quickly. A popular BIB top-dressing is black lava, or “pepper,” as you’ll hear folks refer to it in Boon’s workshops. The purple lava works well because it stays fairly dark when dry – pumice and akadama are lighter-colored when dry.
Sweeping away excess “pepper”
Moss-work complete
Once all’s set, water in the moss-work. Bonsai with freshly applied moss can be placed in full-sun, but care must be taken so it doesn’t dry out. The longer between the moss application and the exhibit, the more the clumps will fuse together and the taller the moss will sit in the pot. Some day I’ll lay moss early and let it grow for a month before exhibit. It makes for a somewhat rangy look that complements rough-hewn bonsai well.
Here are a few more examples of moss-work from BIB’s 11th annual exhibit.
Black pine with green moss
Ponderosa pine with moss and lichen
Root over rock procumbens juniper with green moss and a small fern
Gooseberry with green mosses
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