I’ve been working on the black pine below for twenty years. Every year, near the end of May or the beginning of June, I remove the spring growth and reduce the number of old needles. Japanese black pine I typically begin the work by removing the spring shoots (decandling) before reducing the number needles on […]
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Spring maintenance for a refined Korean hornbeam
After fifteen years of branch development, my Korean hornbeam has slowed down considerably. When I started working on the branches, I’d often see new shoots with ten-to-twenty new leaves all over the tree. Now I can expect between two-to-five new leaves on all but the strongest branches. Korean hornbeam This slowed growth rate simplifies spring […]
Bonsai on display at Sei Boku Bonsai Kai’s 36th annual exhibit
Last weekend the Sei Boku Bonsai Kai held their 36th annual exhibit at the San Mateo Garden Center in San Mateo, California. By hosting the show on the first weekend of June, Sei Boku gives members the opportunity to display trees with flowers, with fruit, and with plenty of new growth. Azalea Eleagnus Coast redwood […]
Initial branch refinement on Japanese black pine
The pine below, grown from seed by Eric Schrader, is in the early stages of branch development. The major sacrifice branch came off a couple of years ago, and the tree has been decandled at least one or two times before. Japanese black pine – 13 years from seed Lower trunk (tachiagari) and surface root […]
Transitioning from trunk development to branch refinement – Japanese black pine
A common approach to developing bonsai from scratch is to focus on trunk development first and branch refinement second. When we focus on developing the trunk, we generally encourage rapid growth until the trunk reaches the desired size. Much slower growth is useful when focusing on branch ramification. Between these two stages of development is […]