I find mid-summer to late fall to be an interesting time of year in bonsai. It’s a good time for the little tasks – the maintenance work. In cooler seasons, I can bring one or two trees to a workshop that will keep me busy all day. This time of year, I tend to load […]
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.
Brushing branches
I recently learned, a bit late, how to treat black pines that were decandled in fall – see “Fall decandling, year two” for details. After decandling the tree, I took the opportunity to wire it in a workshop with Akio Kondo. After reviewing my wiring, Kondo asked if I had a toothbrush. Too soft, he […]
Witnessed in a recent workshop – grafting follow-up and junipers
You can’t have too many branches on ume – or at least I can’t. Getting ume to ramify has proved difficult for me. I made several grafts this year and fortunately most of them took. See “Ume – cutback and grafting” for details about the grafting process. My job now is to help the scions […]
Restoring a Japanese black pine bonsai
A Japanese black pine caught my attention in a Bay Island Bonsai workshop a few months ago. The tree perfectly exemplified the signs of recovery common to pines that have been struck with pests, poor care, or general neglect. Weak pines typically take on a yellowish color, the buds become weak, and interior buds wither […]
New bonsai tweezers
Many people who work a lot with black pine bonsai develop a special relationship with tweezers. Fall, winter, and sometimes spring and summer offer opportunities to remove copious amounts of needles from pine bonsai in later stages of development. I like tweezer work because it leaves pine foliage looking clean and even – balanced, in […]