I’d gone several years without a Japanese maple in my collection and I missed working with the variety. It’s hard, however, to find good specimen. I resigned myself to starting a tree from scratch, either by layering nursery stock or by working with an old tree that needed help. A few months ago, I found […]
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Restoring a Japanese beech
You never know what you’re going to find when you repot a tree for the first time, or when you finally get around to addressing a tree’s major flaws. The Japanese beech below was due for a reboot. The tree’s owner began by working on the roots. Japanese beech Poor nebari In addition to removing […]
Evaluating bonsai at Bay Island Bonsai meeting
Learning to evaluate bonsai is a big part of the Bay Island Bonsai experience. If one doesn’t understand a tree’s good and bad points, it’s hard to improve the tree, and it’s hard to know how much to pay for it. We’ve been using a simple form designed by Boon for over 10 years. The […]
Cryptomeria from air layer
I started an air layer last May on a cryptomeria shoot. I saw a few roots peeking through the plastic after a couple of months, but I didn’t know how many more roots were hidden within the moss. Figuring that too many roots is preferable to too few roots, I decided to remove the layer […]
How to air layer cryptomeria for bonsai
I like cryptomeria bonsai a lot. Unperturbed by the warnings of how much work they can be, I’ve looked for a good specimen with little success for 10-15 years. Maybe they are too much work. Upon hearing that he would no longer be required to maintain a large cryptomeria, Boon Manakitivipart cried out, “I’m free!” […]