My shohin Japanese maple grew well this spring which makes it a good candidate for defoliating. I removed the leaves, pruned a few long shoots, and covered the surface of the soil with moss. Before defoliating After defoliating – 7″ tall When the new shoots begin to emerge, I’ll pinch them the same way I […]
Bonsai Development
Bonsai Development posts form the heart of Bonsai Tonight. Learn about varieties like Black Pine, Shimpaku and Japanese Maple, techniques like Decandling and Grafting and Air Layering, and bonsai features like Deadwood.
Creating redwood bonsai: step 1
A common first step in creating redwood bonsai is to remove most (or all) of the branches. Removing the branches makes it possible to develop new branches with short internodes, and with short internodes, we have much more flexibility with how dense the resulting tree can become. For the tree to respond well to initial […]
Thinning a Japanese maple forest planting
Last year I repotted a Japanese maple forest that was created by Gene Lynch. As a result, the tree is far more vigorous this year than it was last year. I pinched it for a few weeks as the new shoots emerged but quickly fell behind as more new shoots appeared. Japanese maple in April, […]
Pinching candles on small exposed root pines
While repotting a batch of two-year old pines this past winter, John Eads and I paused to create a handful of miniature exposed root bonsai. We hadn’t intended to make small trees, but when we found that the roots we were working with weren’t as good as we had hoped, we decided to make exposed […]
Coast Live Oak update – plus submission tips for the Pacific Bonsai Expo
For the past five years I’ve been working to rehabilitate a semi-cascade coast live oak. Now that the tree is healthy, the silhouette is filling in quickly. Here’s the tree after cutback and wiring last summer (see “Rehabilitating a coast live oak – part 2” for details). Coast live oak – July 2021 And here’s […]