When a bonsai hasn’t been repotted in a while, the broken down soil and roots can fill most of the gaps between soil particles and make for a compacted root ball. It’s hard to keep bonsai healthy when water doesn’t move through the soil well, so the goal for repotting a tree with compacted roots […]
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.
Repotting nursery stock – sekka hinoki
One species that I’m excited to work with over the next few years is sekka hinoki, Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘sekka’. Sekka are a dwarf hinoki cultivar with incredibly small foliage making them a popular choice for cultivation as shohin. I have a number of sekka hinoki in one gallon nursery containers that need repotting this year. […]
Branch refinement – controlling vigor with decandling
It’s been fun watching the branches develop on some of the older pines I’ve grown from seed. When these trees are healthy, it only takes a few years to reduce the internode length and fill out the basic silhouette. The main challenge at this stage is managing the tree’s vigor to reliably produce two shoots […]
Repotting a young exposed root pine
Last week I received a reminder that it’s time to repot the pines in my garden. Strong winds had knocked over a young exposed root pine revealing lots of new roots. Broken pot My favorite time to repot pines is after the roots start growing but before the buds begin to open so the timing […]
Repotting a Japanese maple forest planting
Tips for removing old soil to improve the surface roots on a Japanese maple forest.