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 […]
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.
Of red pines and black pines
I’ve found that mature red and black pines can sometimes be hard to tell apart. Leaf character and bark can vary wildly from specimen to specimen and many trees exhibit qualities associated with both varieties. Younger trees, however, are generally easy to distinguish. The black pines I’ve grown typically have straight, sturdy needles while the red […]
Cleaning up deadwood on a procumbens juniper
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. […]
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 […]