Bay Island Bonsai maintains a tradition of putting its newest members in the spotlight. Since the organization got its start back in 1998, new members have been subjected to the bonsai “stand exercise.” A group of stands are placed on a table and new members are given the instruction to “arrange them from least formal to […]
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Spring bonsai display
Bay Island Bonsai’s annual exhibit is held in January each year. It’s a great time to show bonsai, but it’s not always the most colorful time of year. At a recent BIB monthly meeting, we worked on a display that included a Japanese black pine and a Japanese maple. In winter, the maple would be […]
Repotting a Japanese maple
Back in winter I took a few photographs of an air-layered Japanese maple getting repotted during a Bay Island Bonsai workshop. Combing out the roots – Japanse maple ‘sango kaku’ The new roots are well established. The next step is to get them to fuse while improving the ramification. Jeff, the tree’s owner, kicked off […]
Bonsai fertilizer
I had a strong desire to post the smell of my garden today. I’ve been using more liquid fertilizer than normal this year. The result is that it smells more than normal. Watering can with liquid fertilizer There are many options for fertilizing bonsai, and individual varieties – and sometimes specimens – have specific requirements. […]
Pine seed prep
Seeds, we know, are best planted in Spring. But when is Spring? In northern climes, it’s the season in which snow is replaced by rain. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it means highs of 64 degrees farenheit versus winter highs of 58 F. As is often the case in bonsai, specific dates for seasonal […]