When decandling pines throughout decandling season – late spring and early summer where I live – at any given time one can find summer buds at many different stages of development. The most recently decandled trees in my garden are barely showing signs of summer growth, while some of the first trees I decandled now […]
Search Results for: decandling
Developing young pine bonsai
Have you ever found yourself unsure about a young tree’s future? Me too. As young pines transition from trunk development to branch development, the main focus is on slowing the tree down and increasing branch density. I begin this process by decandling the tree and removing extraneous branches. I don’t need a final plan at this […]
Preparing a small pine for exhibit
Two years ago, I showed a young black pine at Bay Island Bonsai’s 13th annual exhibit. Shohin black pine – January 2012 The tree has continued to develop, so I thought I’d show it again at BIB’s 15th annual exhibit. Here’s what the tree looked like last week. January 2014 I brought the tree to […]
Repotting a shore pine
The shore pine is kin to the lodgepole pine. Both are native to California and parts north, but the exact relationship is open to some debate (see Pinus contorta for details). Shore pine bark is great, if slow to develop, and the needles are relatively short. Not strong enough to withstand decandling, it can be trained like white pine […]
And if I don’t make a square cut?
I’ve written on a number of occasions, and you’ve doubtless read here and elsewhere, that when decandling black or red pine bonsai it is important to make a square cut (see “Decandling black pine – making the cut”). Square cut Until recently, however, I’d seen little evidence that the long end of a slanted cut […]