Three years ago I acquired a large olive that had come from the Blue Oak Nursery collection. Olive, July 2020 Although the tree was in need of styling, I wanted to gauge the health of the tree before proceeding. After letting it grow for a year, I repotted it into a deeper container. After pruning […]
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.
Creating redwood bonsai: reducing the sacrifice branch
When developing primary branches on bonsai with large trunks, it’s common to create them with sacrifice branches that grow freely until they reach the desired thickness. Once the branch is big enough, it’s time to reduce it. Here’s what this looks like on a medium sized coast redwood. Coast redwood Reducing the sacrifice branch (thanks, […]
Creating shohin beautyberry
Beautyberry is a great deciduous shrub known for its purple fruit in fall and winter. This show of color makes it a popular choice for shohin as it provides contrast and color to multi-tree displays. I repotted a young beautyberry this past February and have been letting it grow freely since. It was time to […]
Cork oak pruning follow-up
After pruning broadleaf evergreens in summer, you may see lots of small shoots emerging close to the places that were cut. I usually let these grow a bit before thinning them in fall, but this year I’m removing all of the buds that I don’t plan to use and shortening the buds that are already […]
Post-bloom thinning satsuki azalea
When healthy satsuki finish blooming, it’s a great time to thin trees that have grown dense. Normally this work happens earlier in the growing season but I didn’t get to it on time and I know that the dense foliage will weaken interior growth and invite insects if I wait any longer to prune. Here’s […]