Maintaining bonsai involves letting trees grow and cutting them back. The greater the vigor of the tree, the greater the need for cutback. Of my small collection, my Yaupon holly gets the most cutback. For the second time this year, the tree made a dramatic change in shape. Before cutback – Fall 2010 After cutback […]
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Japanese Winterberry – fall work
Most deciduous trees share the same story this time of year – remove old leaves, cutback, and wire. Doing this work gets trees ready for spring. I’ve been working on the Japanese Winterberry (ilex serrata) below for several years now. Most of the young branches are new to the tree, and will require a number […]
Ume – cutback and grafting
Sisyphus comes to mind when I think about my ume. I’ve been working on the tree for roughly 10 years, grafting, each winter, branches with white flowers onto branches that naturally sport double-pink flowers. Because the variety doesn’t bud back like other deciduous varieties, I find myself re-grafting branches year after year. This year was […]
Fall work – Korean hornbeam
I still remember the moment I fell for Korean hornbeams. Boon had brought several to a BIB meeting when they were in fall color. Some were covered in yellows and greens – another shone orange and red. The trees were vigorous, healthy, dense, and beautiful – I set my sights on getting one. A few […]
Finding the front – Japanese red pine
A number of readers provided suggestions for Jeff’s Japanese black pine this week. Front #1 is the closest to the current front. It’s a great selection based on the current style – one that features balanced branches on both sides of the trunk. The second and third options were both popular, possibly because they present […]