The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest sits at 10,000′ elevation in California’s White Mountain range, just east of the Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley. The main draws are the ancient specimens that are over 3000 – and sometimes 4000 – years old. The trees aren’t huge like their neighbors to the west, the Giant Sequoia, but […]
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Natural deadwood
I happened across some beautiful deadwood on a recent hike. Although carving deadwood features in bonsai is a popular pursuit, it can’t compete with the work produced by time and the elements. Convoluted twists on a dead trunk Dead branch Sculptural deadwood I’ll say more about the location – likely obvious to many of you […]
Where lava rock comes from
On a recent vacation, I had the opportunity to visit a mine that produces scoria. Scoria is the proper name for lava rock. The locals, however, refer to it as “cinder” – an older name for the substrate. Unsurprisingly, the mine itself is a big hole in the ground. Scoria mine The scoria is scooped […]
Repotting an olive bonsai
I could have guessed that an olive I took home a few years ago had a trunk that extended below the soil. It was potted in a deep container and was far heavier than I’d expected. I confirmed this was the case the first time I repotted the tree. There wasn’t much to do about […]
Cutback and partial defoliation on trident maple
Healthy trident maples are among the most vigorous deciduous bonsai species. When they are growing well, they can be defoliated three – and sometimes four – times each year. Climate and tree health determine exactly how many times makes sense for any given tree. I partially defoliated a root-over-rock trident back in June. Two weeks later, […]