Spring is a great time for defoliation – the removal of leaves from deciduous bonsai. As defoliation is very stressful for trees, it’s only for healthy specimens that respond well to the procedure. I’ve learned from past experience that fully defoliating my Korean hornbeam can lead to dieback of weak, interior shoots. Now I partially […]
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.
Japanese maple bonsai – working from a sub-optimal starting point
This past winter, I received a number of Japanese maples with good roots but no movement or taper whatsoever. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I considered my options. I figured I could: give them away develop them for landscape material destroy them, or make a big cut and start from scratch […]
Cork bark black pine from graft – removing the original foliage
Three years ago I grafted cork bark black pine scions onto several young, non-corking, black pines. Once the grafts took hold, I gradually reduced the foliage of the understock. Now that the desired foliage is strong, it’s time to remove the original foliage. 6 year-old cork bark black pine – the tallest branch is the […]
Black pine from landscape material – follow-up
I recently received a request – thanks Chris – for an update about a landscape pine on its way to becoming a bonsai. Here’s what the tree looked like in 2012. January, 2012 (see Part 1 and Part 2 for the rest of the story) After removing the top half of the tree and repotting, […]
Cork oak
This past winter I picked up some field-grown cork oaks. Most of the soil fell away from the roots when they were dug so I potted them the day they arrived. The one question I had at the time was whether or not to remove the leaves. I’d seen the question posted a number of […]