For as much as I’ve written about pine care, I haven’t said much about cutback. Cutback can be tricky as there are many reasons to remove or not remove branches in given situations. Different teachers approach the topic differently, and often multiple approaches can yield good results. Ignoring any complexity for the time being, I’ll […]
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.
Wiring 3 year-old black pines
Once black pine seedlings have developed a bit of a trunk, typically after two or three years, it’s time to start wiring. Following Daisaku Nomoto’s advice that young seedlings should develop slowly, I skipped repotting and wired the trees in their current 3″ pots. First I stripped away the lower needles to facilitate wiring, then […]
Repotting 1 year-old black pine seedlings
Last year I tried two different approaches to planting black pine seedling cuttings – planting them in individual containers, the approach I’d most often taken in the past, and planting groups of them together in terra cotta pots (see “How to pot seedling-cuttings“). While the seedling-cuttings planted in 3” pots did well, the ones planted […]
Repotting a red pine forest
Late last year, I brought my red pine forest in to a workshop with Daisaku Nomoto to see about preparing it for show. To my surprise, Nomoto was more concerned with the way the group was planted than he was with the branches. A repotting was in order. Nomoto’s chief comment was that he didn’t […]
Japanese plum before and after
This year’s work on a Japanese plum didn’t involve much more than minor cutback and repotting. Daisaku Nomoto trimmed the branches and I repotted the tree in the same pot. Japanese plum – before After minor cutback and repotting When I reviewed the photos from the work, I was struck by how different the feeling […]