Last week John Eads of Left Coast Bonsai was in the garden to help get my young trees into shape ahead of repotting season. As John studied with Michael Hagedorn, he’s a great resource for developing the dwarf Japanese flowering quince known as chojubai. Here are a few of the trees he worked on this […]
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Highlights from the 40th Anniversary BABA Exhibition
Last weekend the Bay Area Bonsai Associates, affectionately known as BABA, held their 40th Anniversary exhibition at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California. Below are some of the trees on display with brief notes about what made them good choices for the exhibit. Shimpaku juniper The juniper above is a great example of a […]
Conifers vs. deciduous bonsai: evaluating different species
For this fall’s Pacific Bonsai Expo, we have some judging categories for narrow groups of trees (Best Large Conifer is an example) and other categories (like Best Medium Bonsai Display) that include a broad diversity of species. For these latter categories, it can be difficult to compare species as different as pine and beech. One […]
Cutback and wiring a root over rock black pine
Even though it’s January, I’m just now starting my pine fall work. This entails pruning and thinning extra needles. When time allows, I wire the branches too! Here’s what this looks like with a young root over rock black pine grown by Eric Schrader. Root over rock black pine – 14 years old I’ve had […]
Coast redwood cutback and repotting
I’ve been working on a large coast redwood for the past few years in fits and starts. After an initial pruning and repotting (see “Coast redwood” for details) I’ve worked on the tree in earnest several times only to let it grow out again. After a few cycles of this, I removed almost all of […]