I’ve been working for the last few years on a Japanese maple my mother collected as a seedling. The last time I worked on the tree, I removed a couple of large branches. Since then, the tree has grown freely to help heal the scars. Japanese maple Now that some of the new sacrifice branches […]
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.
Getting the balance right – a follow-up
One of the more common challenges with refining pines is balance. Last summer I wrote about a red pine forest with uneven growth (see “Getting the balance right“). To improve the balance between trees, I decandled the weak trees early and the strong trees later. Here’s how the pine looked last spring before decandling. April […]
New growth on redwood bonsai
Five weeks ago I cut back and wired a coast redwood. Even though it’s mid-November, the tree is filling in quickly and some of the wires are already beginning to cut in. Coast redwood – 5 weeks after wiring and cutback The main goals of cutback and wiring are to ensure that light gets into the […]
Coast redwood branch refinement
I’ve found that my coast redwood is one of the fastest growing trees in the garden. After cutting the tree back in July, it was completely full again by October. Coast redwood – 3 months after cutback I cut back again, reducing the long shoots to about half and removing unnecessary shoots. After cutback I […]
Refining a Sierra juniper
Ned Lycett was one of the happy exhibitors at the inaugural Artisans Cup held in Portland, Oregon, last month. The tree he displayed was a Sierra juniper he collected in 2006. Here is the tree as presented at the Cup. Sierra juniper by Ned Lycett aka Deadwood Bonsai This month, Ned got to work on […]