I’ve been pruning and wiring my young quince twice a year – once in spring and once in fall or winter. I’ve been doing this work to set the shape of the trunk before I let the trees grow on and thicken up. Five year-old Chinese quince Reducing sacrifice branches early keeps wounds small so […]
Bonsai Blog
Search
(Enter search terms and press 'Enter')
Recent Posts
Reducing internodes on Japanese maple
The small Japanese maple below has proved to be quite vigorous. In an effort to slow the tree down and produce shorter internodes, this past year I pinched spring growth, applied very little fertilizer, and fully defoliated the leaves and cut back the branches in spring. Here’s the result. Japanese maple Overall there are lots […]
Pot selection exercise – semi-cascade ume
Years ago, my ume bonsai grew upright as an informal upright tree. After losing all but one of the branches several years ago, I decided to change the tree to a semi-cascade style. When it was ready to go back into a bonsai pot, I found I didn’t have any good options for it. The […]
Teach Yourself Bonsai #1: When do I repot my bonsai?
Common wisdom holds that the best time to repot bonsai is in early spring. This is good advice, but it’s not very specific. If I were to refine the statement, I’d suggest that a good time to repot bonsai is when they begin to wake from dormancy. The idea is that different species respond to […]
More Millettia bonsai
This week I received a lot of hints, clues, and suggestions for the botanical name for dwarf wisteria. For everyone who contributed, thank you! By far the most detailed information came from Bill Valavanis who published an article on the species Millettia japonica ‘Microphylla’ in International Bonsai (2004, No.1). The article, “The Care & Training of […]