Some of my cascade black pines are almost six years old. Black pine pre-bonsai Now that the basic curves are set, the main focus is to improve the branch structure. I do this by cutting back to two branches per intersection. After cutback It’s much easier to wire trees that have recently been thinned, so […]
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Setting design goals for refining mature bonsai
On Tuesday, I posted an update showing fall work on a cork-bark black pine (see “Cutback” for details). Today I’d like to critique the tree and talk about design goals for future development. For reference, here’s the tree after thinning the foliage and wiring key branches. Cork-bark black pine in a Gyozan pot – 24″ […]
Cutback on an old cork-bark black pine
It’s been a year-and-a-half since my last update on an old cork-bark black pine. I didn’t thin the tree last fall so the foliage was extra dense when I brought it into the workshop. Cork-bark black pine The cutback took several hours. Although it doesn’t look like it, I removed close to half of the […]
Ume observations and cutback
I’ve been curious, for the last month or so, if my ume was planning to drop its leaves this winter. Ume with green leaves in December Upon taking a closer look this week, I noticed that the lowest branch had lost all of its leaves. The lower branch after losing its leaves Although it’s not […]
Refining cork oak – initial styling
I’ve been preparing a cork oak for its initial styling for two years now. In winter of 2018, I worked on the roots and planted the tree in its current container. This past February, I reduced the branches that I didn’t plan to use in the final design (see “Refining cork oak” for details). The […]