A recent hot spell left its mark on a number of trees in my garden. On the day temperatures peaked, brown needles appeared on some Sierra junipers. Brown needles on Sierra juniper While brown needles can be scary, it really depends on which needles turn brown. If the old needles turn brown, it’s good to […]
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.
Decandling shohin black pine
The steps are simple. 1) Remove spring shoots. Shohin black pine – 21 years old After removing spring shoots 2) Remove extra needles. After removing extra needles 3) Perform light cutback as needed. The first branch on the right is long After shortening the first branch on the right That’s it. In all I removed 14 […]
Effect of hormone treatments on P. thunbergii cuttings for the production of surface roots on trees cultivated for bonsai
Abstract Pinus thunbergii is a popular species of conifer cultivated as bonsai. In an effort to produce superior surface roots on P. thunbergii, bonsai enthusiasts have developed a method of making cuttings from young seedlings to replace any taproots with radially distributed lateral roots. These lateral roots are developed to improve the look of the tree when […]
Basic refinement on olive bonsai
I started working on an olive bonsai last summer. After taking the tree home and letting new shoots grow out, I wired the ones I needed and removed the rest. One year later, I’m doing the same thing. Olive bonsai – one year in training The idea is to establish the main branches. Once they […]
Cutback on coast redwood
After wanting a coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, for many years, I now have one in my collection. As the first order of business is to get it healthy, I’ve been feeding and watering heavily this year. Just in the past two months, it’s put on a lot of new growth. Coast redwood It’s still too […]