Andrew Robson was in town last week to deliver a presentation for the Bonsai Society of San Francisco. For those who don’t know Andrew, he recently wrapped up a three-year apprenticeship with Michael Hagedorn in Portland, Oregon. Andrew working on a dwarf quince Andrew is an incredibly talented bonsai professional with a focus on deciduous […]
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.
Coast live oak – initial styling
Back in March I posted photos of several coast live oaks after cutting off all major branches (see “Reducing branches on coast live oak – follow-up“). The trees have grown vigorously since then. So much so, they were ready for their first styling last month. The goal was to select primary branches and begin setting […]
Early branch work on large cork oak bonsai
Creating branches on cork oak bonsai can be a fun process. I wire the shoots that will form the primary branches and remove all other shoots. Instead of wiring the branches all the way out to the tips, I focus on creating one or two curves near the trunk as I plan to reduce these […]
Spring maintenance on black pine – pulling needles and decandling
I’ve been working on the black pine below for twenty years. Every year, near the end of May or the beginning of June, I remove the spring growth and reduce the number of old needles. Japanese black pine I typically begin the work by removing the spring shoots (decandling) before reducing the number needles on […]
Spring maintenance for a refined Korean hornbeam
After fifteen years of branch development, my Korean hornbeam has slowed down considerably. When I started working on the branches, I’d often see new shoots with ten-to-twenty new leaves all over the tree. Now I can expect between two-to-five new leaves on all but the strongest branches. Korean hornbeam This slowed growth rate simplifies spring […]