Part 3 of 5 I’ve seen it first-hand. Visiting bonsai teachers come to town and whip trees into spectacular shape only to leave the trees’ owners with ticking time-bombs. Until a tree is in outstanding health, it’s a poor candidate for even the most basic bonsai tasks. Great bonsai work requires great health, and great […]
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 trident maple: preparing the pot
Part 2 of 5 The first task of repotting is removing the tree from the pot. The next step is preparing the pot into which the bonsai will be planted. This year I’m repotting the maple back into the same pot. I usually go out of my way to make a change when I repot, […]
Repotting a trident maple: removing the tree from the pot
Part 1 of 5 Preparing a trident maple for exhibit requires a lot of work. Fortunately, most of this work happens long in advance of the exhibit. Having developed what branches I could this summer, all that remains is a little clean-up and repotting. Root-over-rock trident maple Plucking spent leaves and removing extraneous branches doesn’t […]
Unwanted moss, or, Nomoto’s paradox
Covering bonsai soil with moss is a great technique for indoor exhibits. Covering your bonsai’s bark with moss is almost never a good idea. Moss weakens bark by keeping it moist. For trees on which bark denotes age – Japanese black pine comes to mind – moss can quickly ruin a tree’s appearance. In autumn, […]
Removing old leaves
Some deciduous trees are tidy. The weather gets cold, the leaves drop off. More often, dead leaves stick around, waiting for us to remove them. Which is a good thing. It’s easy for bonsai enthusiasts to pay less attention to their trees in fall. Cooler temperatures slow growth and reduce the need for water and […]