When repotting coniferous bonsai growing in nursery soil – typically soil with a lot of organic material – I try to remove all of the soil from a portion of the rootball. How much old soil I remove or bare-root depends on how many roots I find and the overall health of the tree. In […]
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.
Reducing the rootball
When repotting a bonsai for the first time, I begin by looking for the transition from trunk to roots. After finding this transition, I can then determine how much of the remaining rootball to keep. Options for reducing the rootball include carefully combing out the roots and reducing their length or simply cutting them, soil and […]
Initial repotting
Repotting bonsai for the first time is not without an element of excitement. When the transition from trunk to roots is buried, it can take some work to find out what the nebari, or surface roots actually look like. And considering that the roots can be very important to the overall look and value of […]
Creating cork bark black pine – follow-up
Earlier this year I grafted a few cork bark scions onto 3-year old black pines (see “Creating cork bark black pine“). As the new shoots inside the grafting bags began to harden off, I opened the bags a big to prevent the foliage from rotting. A few weeks later I removed the tape shading the […]
Graft after-care
This past spring, I grafted shimpaku foliage onto a Utah juniper (see “Grafting Utah juniper”). While getting the grafts right is important, I’ve learned from past experience that the after-care is just as important. Some simple takeaways – don’t open the bags too quickly; open a little bit at a time; leave the tie at […]