Three years ago I started working on a small coast redwood (see “Creating redwood bonsai: step 1” for details). Since then I’ve grown out some sacrifice branches and removed them when they reached the desired thickness. From here on out the goal is to create a silhouette that complements the trunk. The main way to […]
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The middle stages of pine development – my favorite!
When you have a good trunk to work with and the goal is to improve the branches, you’re working with a tree in the middle stages of development. For pines with large trunks, this stage can last five to ten years or more, depending on your goals for the silhouette. The two pines below were […]
Timeline for preparing bonsai for exhibit
Years ago, I remember pulling trees off the bench for their final prep ahead of a Bay Island Bonsai exhibit when I started thinking about what trees I’d show the following year. We had a rule in the club that we couldn’t show the same tree two years in a row so the planning typically […]
Cork oak branch development
Healthy oaks can grow quickly in spring. When the spring flush hardens off, it’s a good time to prune. Cork oak – container by Sara Rayner I last worked on the tree in August. Because it’s grown so much since then, I expected the wire to start cutting in. Wire starting to cut in Wire […]
A two-year air-layer project
Two years ago, I picked up a field-grown Korean hornbeam salvaged from the fire that struck Telperion Farms in 2020. The tree had a fun trunk but there was room to improve the roots so I started an air-layer. After making the cut I’d just heard about an interesting approach to layering and wanted to […]