After doing some cutback on a corkbark black pine, I saved the clippings so I could do some grafting. Corkbark pines aren’t as strong on their own roots as they are on black pine roots. As a result, most of the corkbark bonsai we see are grafted. The earlier these trees are grafted, the better. […]
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.
Developing olive bonsai from scratch
I’ve been working with the stump of a small olive this year. After removing most of the trunk in winter, I now have plenty of shoots from which to select new branches. While there’s not too much to this work, it’s important in that it sets the structure for the tree’s future. Olive – front […]
Wiring a Western juniper
I got around to wiring my Western juniper at a recent Bay Island Bonsai workshop. It doesn’t look like much now, but the main branches are in place and need only to lengthen and fill in. Here’s the before and after. Western juniper After removing the main branch and widening the shari (see “Refining a Western […]
Refining a Western juniper
It’s been two years since I last showed my Western juniper at Bay Island Bonsai’s 11th exhibit. It hasn’t changed a lot since then. Knowing it could use some attention, I brought it to BIB’s recent workshop run by Akio Kondo. Here’s the tree before the workshop. Western juniper In the space of 10 minutes, […]
Defoliating a Korean hornbeam – part 2
On May 6, 2012, I defoliated my Korean hornbeam. Here is what it looked like after removing the leaves. Defoliated – May 6 (the few leaves in back belong to an escape branch) One of my main goals for defoliating the tree was to expose the interior buds to more light (see Decandling a Korean […]