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 […]
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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 […]
Stimulating new buds on cork oak
One of the best things about working with cork oak bonsai is that you can cut almost anywhere on the tree and expect new buds to pop. The buds don’t always appear where you want them, but there are usually enough to work with. A year ago I repotted the cork oak below and then […]
A brief visit to Bonsai Mirai
I had the opportunity to visit Ryan Neil’s garden, Bonsai Mirai, last week. It was a perfectly beautiful day and the trees looked fantastic with fresh spring growth. Visiting gardens like Mirai gives me the opportunity to study trees that don’t grow in my climate and see different approaches to styling. It’s as much an […]
Shohin redwood creation
I follow a similar approach when I acquire coast redwood pre-bonsai. First I repot, then I let the tree grow for a year, then I can get to work. In this case I let Adam Toth get to work. Adam helps me keep up with the work in the garden and he recently helped out […]