Although cleaning up deadwood can be painstaking work, the actual process is relatively simple. To prepare the procumbens juniper below for exhibit, I used toothbrush and water to scrub the deadwood and then rinsed away the debris. A few hours later, after the wood had a chance to dry, I painted lime-sulfur onto the deadwood. […]
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.
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 […]
Signs of health
A friend brought a healthy California juniper to a Bay Island Bonsai workshop last weekend. I don’t think I’d ever seen such a healthy specimen. Healthy California juniper Junipers tell you when they’re ready for wiring and cutback – the shoots at the ends of branches elongate. The most vigorous shoot Although I’ve seen plenty […]
Winter watering
I find watering this time of year to be challenging. Yesterday only about 6 of my trees needed water – the others were fine. Before and after work it is dark out. This morning the hose was frozen and no water would come out. Watering in spring – how nice! In colder areas, trees are moving […]
How to remove leaves from deciduous bonsai
There are a number of ways to remove old leaves from deciduous bonsai. Depending on the variety, branch age or density and how dry the leaves are, I’ll use a combination of fingers, tweezers and my whole hand. The first two examples below are from a Japanese beech. Beech leaves don’t always fall off on […]