I really like working with Japanese Black Pine. Although they keep needles year round, their appearance changes with the seasons. The pine below is flush with last year’s growth – a mix of spring and summer foliage. Spring growth above – Summer growth below As you might imagine, the future silhouette of this tree will […]
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 and grafting ume
Almost 15 years ago, I signed up for my first Kathy Shaner workshop. I’d been informally studying with Kathy for some time – this would be my first opportunity to work with her on one of my own trees. Or soon to be mine. The trees for the event were included with workshop registration – […]
More pine cone technique
[8/16/16 – See the updated and expanded version: How to grow Japanese black pine from seed] After picking and prepping your pine cones, sunshine, when available, and dry air, work to open the cones. With good weather, which we’ve had in spades lately, this only takes a few days. When you remove the open cones […]
Pine cone technique
[8/16/16 – See the updated and expanded version: How to grow Japanese black pine from seed] I’ve often heard the lament that there isn’t enough good black pine bonsai available. I can sympathize. Returning from a visit to Japan can forever skew one’s perspective toward very high quality trees – trees that are hard to […]
Big bend
What to do with a large Western juniper with one large branch that grows the wrong way? Bend it. To bend juniper branches over 2″ in diameter, hollowing out the branch before bending greatly increases the severity of the bend one can apply. Ever since Kimura popularized the technique in Kindai Bonsai and later in […]