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 […]
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.
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 […]
A project pine
I’m fond of referring to selected trees as “project” trees when the journey to become a bonsai is a long one. The black pine below has something resembling a bunjin feel – a euphemism, in this case, for a tree with no branches along the lower part of the trunk. I removed the top half of […]
From landscape tree to bonsai – part 3
Last year I started working on a Japanese black pine that was developed as a landscape tree (here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of the story). This year’s work was less exciting than last year’s, but it made me much happier. Why? Because I’m now committed to a design direction (i.e. I cut off most […]