When it comes to juniper bonsai, spring is great for watering, fertilizing and letting new shoots grow freely. It’s also a good time to remove newly formed berries. Chinese juniper grafted on California juniper – 17″ Chinese junipers, or shimpaku, can produce both male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers, which […]
Bonsai Care
The bonsai care category includes topics like Watering, Fertilizing, Repotting and Bonsai Soil. You can also find information about the Pests commonly found on bonsai, and read Interviews with bonsai professionals.
Removing flowers on satsuki azaleas
Satsuki azaleas are beautiful when they bloom. Cutting-grown satsuki They are somewhat less attractive when the petals fall away. Azalea flowers after losing their petals Once most of the flowers on a satsuki have wilted or fallen away, it’s time to remove the parts of the flower that are left behind – most visibly, the […]
Repotting out of season – bringing new trees into the garden
I generally don’t do a lot of work on new trees until I have a good idea what shape the roots are in. I’ll water, fertilize and maybe do some cutback but hold off on wiring until I know the tree is strong enough to recover from the work. When trees are healthy and have […]
An alternative approach to repotting trees in development
For young trees growing in colanders, a repot isn’t always necessary when the roots run out of space. Here’s an overview of an alternative approach in two photos. Red pine in 6″ colander After nesting the colander within a larger colander The theory behind this approach is that large roots are less likely to develop […]
Protecting bonsai from hail damage
Here’s a topic I never planned to address – protecting bonsai from hail damage. As most readers know far better than I do, hail can quickly damage bonsai – especially deciduous varieties with foliage that has yet to harden off. Upon realizing that it was hailing yesterday morning, I ran outside and grabbed my smaller […]