I recently acquired a California juniper with two approach grafts. The grafts were struck to change the foliage from California juniper to shimpaku juniper. At first glance, it looked like the grafts had both taken. The key indicator is when the branch swells past the graft union. California juniper with two approach grafts Swelling past […]
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.
Initial cutback on a coast live oak – and Tree Sale!
One of my favorite oaks in the garden has been growing freely for the past few years. Now that it’s showing signs of vigor, it’s time for pruning! New shoots on a coast live oak It turns out that many of the interior branches lacked ramification so I ended up shortening most of the branches […]
Searching for the front of a broom-style zelkova
Earlier this year, I picked up a zelkova in need of repotting. I cleared out the old soil and let the tree grow freely. Now that it’s showing signs of great health, I thought I’d start working on the branches. Before getting to work, I thought about where the front might be. I didn’t find […]
Decandling season wrap-up
Towards the end of decandling season (mid-July where I live), I make a point of checking every pine in the garden to see if it’s a candidate for decandling. Most of my pines are young and don’t require this work, but there are a number of trees between five and ten years old that can […]
Rehabilitating a coast live oak – part 2
It took a while to get to this point, but my semi-cascade coast live oak put on enough new growth to warrant pruning this year. Here’s a photo of the tree from 2019 (see “Rehabilitating a coast live oak – part 1” for details). Coast live oak – March, 2019 And here is a photo […]