One of the most fun stages of development is when the trunk has reached the desired size and the focus switches to improving branch density. The black pine below was field-grown at Lone Pine Gardens in Sebastopol, California. For the past few years I’ve been slowing the tree down in an effort to develop shorter […]
Search Results for: black pine development
Pinching candles on small exposed root pines
While repotting a batch of two-year old pines this past winter, John Eads and I paused to create a handful of miniature exposed root bonsai. We hadn’t intended to make small trees, but when we found that the roots we were working with weren’t as good as we had hoped, we decided to make exposed […]
Young pine work with John Eads
Earlier this year I spent a week working on young pines with John Eads of Left Coast Bonsai. We pruned and/or wired almost every young pine in my garden to give us a chance to review the approach for trees at different stages of development. For some of the younger trees, the work was simple. […]
Bonsai Development Series #25: Pruning exposed root pines
Some of my exposed root pines are close to seven years old. They have long sacrifice branches to help thicken the roots. Although the fastest way to thicken the roots will be to let the tree grow freely all summer, I often prune this time of year to improve the branch structure. As an added […]
Aligning containers with development goals
I use a variety of containers in my garden, but over the years I’ve narrowed the types of containers I use at different stages of development. Here are some common options for our trees and some of the reasons why we might want to use them at a given stage of their development. Plastic containers […]