Three months ago I pruned and repotted a coast redwood. Coast redwood After cutback After root work Repotting complete The tree responded well and produced new foliage. New growth three months later Foliage detail This is the response I’m used to from redwoods. I repotted a second tree that same day, however, and it’s recovery […]
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.
Teach Yourself Bonsai #2: How to create a bonsai calendar – Japanese black pine
If you’ve been working with bonsai for several years, you may have an idea of what needs to happen when. If you’re new to bonsai, or to a given species, it can be helpful to create a calendar to keep track of annual maintenance tasks. Here’s a guide to help you develop your own bonsai […]
Bonsai Development Series #15b: removing unnecessary growth, part 2
In the last post we looked at the benefits of removing root sprouts on developing bonsai. We can take the same approach with water sprouts. Water sprouts are shoots that emerge from the trunk and generally grow straight up. If we don’t plan to use these branches in the final design, it’s best to remove […]
Bonsai Development Series #15: removing unnecessary growth
Although I typically wait until May or June to start working on deciduous bonsai, there are a few jobs that I try to do sooner rather than later. One of these is removing unnecessary root sprouts. Root sprouts, or root suckers, are shoots that emerge directly from the roots. As you can see from the […]
Refining the roots on an exposed root pine
One of the more fun parts of developing exposed root pines is adding movement to the roots. If you use a columnar container for the roots, the roots will grow in the shape of the column. Exposed root red pine It’s easy to add character to the shape of the roots as long as they […]