Two years ago I started a number of crabapple from seed. They’re due for some wiring. Two year-old crabapple seedlings The variety, Malus sieboldii, or zumi, must like it cold because they have yet to lose more than a few leaves. Zumi leaf Before wiring, I removed the foliage. After removing the leaves One tip […]
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.
Refining a young exposed root black pine
One of my favorite techniques for developing exposed root pines is bending the roots. To recap some of this work done last year, here are before and after photos on a 13 year-old pine. Before bending the roots After bending the roots and wiring primary branches Now that the basic form of the tree is […]
Cutback on root over rock trident maple
I recently cut back a root over rock trident maple during a live Q&A for Bonsai Empire. Here’s the tree before I got started. Before cutback And here it is after removing the leaves and cutting back the branches. Front Right side Back Left side The goals of the cutback were simple: Replace large branches […]
Exposing the roots on a young black pine
A few years after planting a seedling with the intention of exposing the roots is a good time to take a peek and see what’s happening beneath the soil. The black pine below was planted in its current container about three years ago. Black pine Based on how much the tree has grown, my guess […]
Creating exposed root pines – follow-up techniques
In the last post we looked at a technique for starting exposed root pine bonsai. When all goes according to plan, the tree will grow into its new container and look something like the photo below a year later. Exposed root pine one year after planting in a deep container The next step is easy […]