I recently worked on an atlas cedar that hadn’t been repotted in many years. The basic steps are the same as they are for recently repotted trees, but the extent of the work is different. In short, there are far more old roots to be removed. Here’s the tree. Atlas cedar At a glance, the […]
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Fall cutback on Japanese maple
The Japanese maple below is another beautiful tree from Gene Lynch’s collection. The basics are all in place which means the next step is to continue increasing branch density through pinching and pruning. Japanese maple In fall, this means making small cuts to improve the branch structure and overall silhouette. In places where one branch […]
Three reasons to start growing red maples
I’ve only recently started caring for a red maple, Acer rubrum, but I’ve already been impressed by its charms. If you’re looking for a U.S. native deciduous species to experiment with, the red maple is a good place to start. 1. Fall color Red maples – aka swamp maples – can produce spectacular fall color. […]
Fall cutback on an informal upright hornbeam
Thoughts on future development for a mature hornbeam bonsai.
Big branches and little branches on Chinese quince
Over the past few years I’ve wrestled with a question about developing Chinese quince: how do you encourage branches to bifurcate after pruning? I haven’t come up with an answer, but I did notice something heartening when I cleaned up an older specimen last week. Instead of keeping the summer growth in check, I let […]