• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Identifying suitable material for bonsai – part 5 of 5

May 2, 2017 by Jonas Dupuich

Over the past few posts we’ve looked at how trees at different stages of development provide opportunities to learn different sets of skills. The same is true for mature bonsai too.

Trees that are close to show-ready can help us address questions like:

  • Can I manage vigor?
  • Can I do maintenance work?
  • Can I do cutback to maintain the silhouette?
  • Can I do show prep?
  • Can I select a show pot?
  • Can I create a meaningful display?

These questions take on extra weight for well-developed trees as these tasks typically don’t change significantly over time. Starting earlier in the process offers opportunities to develop trees and then maintain them once they’ve reached maturity as bonsai. With trees that are already established, some form of maintenance and incremental improvement is the focus every year.

As maintenance work can be time consuming, I’ll think twice about how many trees of a given variety I have and how much I like doing the maintenance work for a given species.

Junipers require annual cutback and regular deadwood treatments. Deciduous trees require relatively frequent repotting and periodic cutback.

Some tasks like the pinching of Japanese maples or the decandling of pines needs to happen with 1-2 week windows for optimal results. If I know I’m generally unavailable or busy during certain times of the year, that may affect how many trees of a given variety I can add to my collection.

The juniper below is a good example of a mature tree that needs a substantial amount of work. The tree is healthy and the canopy is full – a bit too full. Before long, the tree will need a substantial thinning and some branch selection to balance the silhouette with the trunk.

Procumbens juniper – front

Right side

Back

Left side

Where the live vein enters the soil, there are good surface roots.

Trunk detail and surface roots

The deadwood goes down to the soil line on the other side of the trunk. Over time the deadwood will support algae growth – the green-hued growth that appears when the deadwood stays wet. To preserve the deadwood, I’ll need to remove the algae with a brush or blast it away with a spot remover and re-treat the wood with lime sulfur.

Deadwood on trunk

The dead branches need periodic cleaning too

Looking up into the canopy, it’s easy to see that not a lot of light can make it through the branches. The tree will need thinning to maintain the desired silhouette.

The current branch density is too high – time to thin!

Apart from all of the considerations we may put into whether or not we add a tree to our collections, the most important factor remains how a given tree makes us feel. If a tree makes us feel great, it’s likely a good fit. And if something changes over time that makes the tree a less compelling part of our collection, it may be that the tree is just right for someone else’s collection.

 

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit

Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Procumbens Juniper

Previous Post: « Identifying suitable material for bonsai – part 4 of 5
Next Post: Koju-en shohin bonsai nursery »

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2025 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT