Deadwood, beyond fire scars, is not a major characteristic of mature sequoia. It is, however, a major characteristic of their environs as dead trees take a very long time to decompose. The beautiful and sinuous grain of the deadwood offers suggestions for our own deadwood carving. Nature, it seems, always gets it right. Toppled tree […]
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Giant redwood – Sequoiadendron giganteum
I don’t know why it struck me so, but one of the first things I noticed about the giants in Sequoia National Park is the ground immediately around their feet. Typically, very little grew close by, and the ground was blanketed by fallen foliage. The golden-brown setting made the base of the giants stand out. […]
Evaluating bonsai
As we prepared to begin a judging exercise at this month’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting, Morten asked a good question. It was something to the effect of, “Is the highest scoring tree the most valuable tree?” I knew the two were closely related, but had to think for a moment before coming to a conclusion. […]
Restoring an old Japanese maple
I’d gone several years without a Japanese maple in my collection and I missed working with the variety. It’s hard, however, to find good specimen. I resigned myself to starting a tree from scratch, either by layering nursery stock or by working with an old tree that needed help. A few months ago, I found […]
Restoring a Japanese beech
You never know what you’re going to find when you repot a tree for the first time, or when you finally get around to addressing a tree’s major flaws. The Japanese beech below was due for a reboot. The tree’s owner began by working on the roots. Japanese beech Poor nebari In addition to removing […]