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 […]
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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 […]
Leaf pruning vs. partial defoliation
Spring is a good time for managing vigor on deciduous species. We can fully defoliate our strongest trees, and partially defoliate less vigorous bonsai. An alternative to defoliation for species with larger leaves is leaf pruning. Leaf pruning works best when you want more light to reach the tree’s interior but you don’t want to […]
Report from the Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai’s 2019 Exhibit
The Bay Area Satsuki Aikokai held its 24th annual exhibit last weekend at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland, California. And thanks to the weather this spring, the timing of the exhibit was perfect for seeing azaleas in full bloom. Osakazuki Sachi no Tsukasa Many of the flowers were familiar, but an equal number […]
Partial defoliation on shohin Japanese maple
Last year I defoliated a shohin Japanese maple in an effort to stimulate back buds (see “Defoliating a Japanese maple“). The approach worked (see the “Follow-up“). This year I want the shoots that developed from these back buds to grow strong. To encourage this, I removed the leaves from the established branches and left the […]