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 […]
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.
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 […]
Repotting chojubai in fall
When do you repot your chojubai bonsai? They’re one of a handful of varieties that can be successfully repotted at different times of the year. I planted a chojubai in a small container last winter ahead of an exhibit, but didn’t get around to putting the tree back into a larger pot for the growing […]
Fall maintenance tasks – removing old leaves
As the weather cools and the days shorten, I find myself making adjustments in the garden to help trees transition into the dormant season. Common tasks include moving trees around the garden so they get more sunlight, removing shade cloth, and pulling old leaves from deciduous trees in the process of shutting down for the […]