The easiest way to tell if a deciduous tree needs watering is to look at the soil. For most deciduous species, I want the soil to start drying out before watering. Here’s what this looks like. Moss covering the surface of the soil Wet soil – no need to water Later the same day Soil […]
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Watering conifers
I’ve seen signs, recently, that some of trees in my garden are staying too wet. What does this look like? On pines I might see yellow at the base of the needles. On junipers, new shoots may extend too far or mature growth may turn juvenile. In a few cases, I’ve spotted signs of damage […]
Pruning and repotting an exposed root ficus
It’s been almost one year since I started caring for an exposed root Green Island ficus. I pruned the tree toward the end of summer last year and have been waiting until this year to repot it (see “Cutback and wiring” for photos of last year’s work). Ficus respond best to repotting when the weather […]
Decandling young bunjin pines
A few years ago I came across a batch of slender black pine seedlings from a corkbark parent. They were wired for the first time one year ago and are now ready for decandling. Seedling from corkbark pine I shortened the apex and decandled the remaining branches before removing the old needles. After cutback After […]
Decandling a shohin black pine
Late June through mid-July marks the end of the decandling season in my area. This means it’s time to start working on the smaller pines in my garden. The tree below is sixteen-years-old. It grew strong this spring which is a reflection of the fact that the tree is still young and not fully ramified. […]