Some time ago, Alexi Goranov asked if I’d be interested in a list of trees that have won Kokufu prizes. I was. I was curious what varieties these trees were and interested in flipping through old books to see what the winning trees looked like. The index includes show number and year, variety, style and […]
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Recent Posts
Review of Bonsai Fundamentals Course by Michael Hagedorn and Bonsai Empire
The Bonsai Fundamentals Course is the latest installment from Bonsai Empire’s series of online courses. This course is hosted by instructor Michael Hagedorn and is filmed at Shinji Suzuki’s garden in Obuse, Japan. For those who have yet to visit Suzuki’s garden, the course is a good opportunity to see what it looks like in […]
Making a big cut on an ume bonsai
I’ve had this ume bonsai for a long time. Several years ago, the tree lost all but a single branch due to fungus. The branch survived, and I’ve been letting the tree grow freely so it can regain some vigor. Now that the tree is strong again, it’s time for some cutback. Semi-cascade ume One […]
Pinching spring buds on Japanese maple
Spring is a busy time for keeping after refined Japanese maples. In order to keep internodes short, I pinch new shoots as soon as they emerge. Shohin Japanese maple – 6.5″ tall, 13″ wide Because the buds open at different times, I check this tree daily to see if there are new shoots to pinch. […]
Removing the last sacrifice branch
Once the trunk on a pine in development reaches the desired size, it’s time to focus on the branches. After 13 years in development, the pine below is now ready for the refinement stage. 13 year-old black pine The branches are quite undeveloped at this point, but the basic trunk is set. Here’s a better […]