There are some obvious signs that indicate when it’s time to repot a tree – like when the water fails to percolate or when a pot breaks. Other signs are more subtle. When there’s a significant change in the amount of time it takes for a tree to dry out, for instance, it might be […]
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.
Restoring an old cork oak bonsai
Toward the end of 2014, I picked up an old cork oak bonsai that belonged to a former member of Bay Island Bonsai. The tree hadn’t been repotted for maybe 5-10 years. Getting it out of the pot took several hours – the whole repotting took more than a day. At the time, the tree […]
Repotting a collected Sierra juniper
When everything goes just right, a tree collected from the mountains begins to grow and gain vigor. After a while, it’s ready to begin the journey of becoming a bonsai. The Sierra juniper below is showing strong signs of vigor. Although it’s strong enough to begin styling work, I wanted to know what I was […]
An approach to organizing a bonsai garden
I often spend time organizing the garden toward the end of the year. I’ve found it’s far easier to keep trees healthy when growing similar varieties under similar conditions. For trees in development, I organize by variety, age, and type of pot. For years I grew trees in colanders on the same benches as trees […]
Cleaning up a Japanese beech forest
Two years ago I found myself with a few dozen young Japanese beech. They were mostly the same size and age, and they weren’t very far in their development as bonsai. They were perfect, in other words, for a group planting. Young Japanese beech Because the trees were so similar to each other, I started […]