This winter is turning out to be a big repotting year for me. Throughout the season, three themes are guiding the work. 1. Work in Batches To get through as many trees as quickly as I can, I’m repotting in batches. When the trees are young, I’ll prepare the pots, remove the trees from their […]
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.
Pruning and repotting coast live oak
I thought I was in for a simple before and after post about a coast live oak until I began the root work. Live oak before pruning Live oak after pruning After removing a few large roots, I found a pocket of old soil. Old soil Curious about where this would lead, I began picking […]
Field-grown black pine progression – part 2
In last week’s post we left off in 2017 – about 10-15 years into the development of a black pine that was field-grown at Lone Pine Gardens in Sebastopol, California. Here’s the tree two years later. March, 2019 Because the tree hadn’t been wired in several years, the large gap between the lower and upper […]
Field-grown black pine progression – part 1
I’ve been waiting a long time to share the progress on one of my black pines, and now is a great time for it! Let’s start with the back story. In 1993 – by coincidence it’s the year I started growing bonsai – Kathy Shaner started a batch of black pines from seed that ended […]
Creating redwood bonsai: step 2
The first step when creating branches from scratch on coast redwood pre-bonsai is to stimulate lots of new shoots. Once this new growth appears, the next step is to trim the shoots on the upper portions of the trunk to begin developing compact branches (aka short internodes). (See “Step one” for details about starting the […]