The decandling season is starting earlier than normal for me this year. I’m looking to prepare a few trees for an exhibit in September but the pines in my garden usually grow through October and into November. By decandling early, I can increase the odds that a tree will look good in September at the […]
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Caring for recently dug pines
The first few years of growing pines from scratch can be a lot of fun. From sprouting the seeds, to making seedling cuttings, to setting the first curves of the trunk, the early years of pine development include some fun steps. The opposite is true when working with field-grown material. Field-grown Japanese black pine The […]
Spring maintenance for junipers – removing the berries
When it comes to juniper bonsai, spring is great for watering, fertilizing and letting new shoots grow freely. It’s also a good time to remove newly formed berries. Chinese juniper grafted on California juniper – 17″ Chinese junipers, or shimpaku, can produce both male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers, which […]
Focus on defoliation – determining how many leaves to remove
After an experiment with full defoliation on a Korean hornbeam – see the process (here) and the results (here) for details – I’ve made it an annual practice to partially defoliate refined specimens. The question I’ve been asking in recent years is, how many leaves should I remove? Last year I took a fairly conservative approach. Here’s […]
Cutback and wiring on a semi-cascade ume
Mid-May is when I usually begin working on my deciduous bonsai. If a tree has grown well, I’ll reduce the new shoots to 2-4 leaves and wire any branches that need adjusting. An ume in my garden has been growing vigorously this year. It’s time for cutback. Ume It was hard for me to see […]